HUMBOLDT 鈥� While the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce exited the 2020 year with a surplus, Anne Thomas, vice-president of finance with the board, said it isn鈥檛 a sustainable strategy.
鈥�2020 was a very unusual year financially. We had a deceptively good year from our financial standpoint even though virtually all of our revenue generating activities were impacted by COVID,鈥� Thomas told the board at the Chamber鈥檚 annual meeting on April 14.
鈥淩eally our goal as we went through the year is take the actions to preserve the Chamber and make sure we can remain viable going forward into the unknown.鈥�
Measures taken to save funds included temporarily laying off both executive director Brent Fitzpatrick and office manager Kristal Hart in late March. They returned to full-time in mid-May, with both volunteering more than 100 hours to the Chamber while laid off.
鈥淭he biggest change to highlight is our salaries and wages,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淭hey were down $20,000 or about 20 per cent due to the decision to have a temporary layoff earlier in the year, and then our executive director went down to a four day week for part of the year.鈥�
Advertising, utilities and travel also had lower usage due to the pandemic, resulting in operating expenses lowering about $49,000 or 27 per cent, excluding the campground. This more than offset their losses in revenue.
鈥淲e actually showed a profit over our regular operations of $9,277 dollars, and then we earned a profit from our campground of $31,403. So we had a profit this year of $40,680.鈥�
The campground was heavily hit by COVID-19, with camping revenue down by about $20,000, over 50 per cent compared to 2019.
Thomas attributed factors including no large community gatherings and opening two months late in July.
鈥淲e tightened up and managed us the best we could. We didn鈥檛 do a whole lot of upgrades,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淪o, our expenses dropped more than our revenue.鈥�
The one upgrade to the campground was the installation of a Wi-Fi network on the site.
The executive director and office manager were the sole staff people operating the camp ground, excluding a student position for one month in the summer.
鈥淭his really isn鈥檛 sustainable in the future, so it鈥檚 something we鈥檒l be looking at next year.鈥�
As a result, 2020 ended for the Chamber with a cash flow surplus of $111,460, a better standing than 2019, when they ended with $25,674.
Other factors influencing the Chamber鈥檚 year includes a $40,000 loan, which remains unpaid, as well as redemption of a $55,000 term deposit 鈥� with $30,000 going into cash and $25,000 being reinvested.
鈥淏rent and Kristal just did a great job watching our costs, executively managing them to make sure we can minimize the impact of this,鈥� Thomas said.
Moving ahead into the future, board president Brent Walker said their plan is to be 鈥渙ptimistically cautious鈥� with salaries returning to normal, but some aspects still remain to be seen.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a pretty solid budget for 2021, but we don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen in the future so we鈥檙e just being cautious,鈥� Walker said.
鈥淲hen it comes to summer students and how the campground operates we鈥檙e still up in the air depending on what the government decides on camping regulations.鈥�
When asked if there was a message he would like to get out to the community, Walker used the opportunity to remind community members to shop local, a public relations initiative which he said will continue into the year.
鈥淭he people who are here live in the community, work in the community and support the community,鈥� he said. 鈥淢aybe one of those businesses that are here won鈥檛 be here one day.鈥�
New members elected to the Chamber鈥檚 board of directors include Chris Hergott of Hergott Farm Equipment, Nick Custance of Lube Stop & Tire, and Devan Tasa of the Humboldt Journal. This brings the board to 12 members, with a maximum capacity of 13.
