After a year-long hiatus, The Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce brought back their monthly luncheons, with guest speaker Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) President and CEO Leah Olson.
Although the facility is located in Humboldt, Olson said PAMI serves well beyond east central Saskatchewan.
“Our reach is very broad across North America and I think for an organization that is a little under the radar screen, we really do punch well above our weight,” Olson said.
Her main goal at the chamber luncheon was to raise awareness of the work they do in product development, technology and innovation in the agriculture, mining, and transportation sectors.
“Since our Halloween candy contraption, I had heard people say they didn’t know PAMI creates things or designs or does testing,” Olson said.
Olson was appointed as PAMI’s CEO and president in April 2020 and is getting to know the community of Humboldt. She has found that the general public is not quite as knowledgeable about the test facility located in their city.
Her hope is to get fully engaged with the community as time goes on and to support the Humboldt chamber as PAMI recruits more employees.
“If I’m recruiting people that need to move to Humboldt, I want to be able to quickly introduce them to other business colleagues in the community,” Olson said.
PAMI has another test facility in Portage La Prairie, MB.
In January 2021, a new board of directors for the organization was announced by Saskatchewan Agriculture minister David Marit.
“We have three people that were reappointed and four new additions, two of which come from larger organization that have undergone changes,“ Olson said. “They have had to adapt to COVID, and adapting to when markets aren’t going well and adjusting a business model accordingly.”
She said with the new board, they are emerging from the pandemic much stronger than when they went into it.
The board was formerly comprised of five members and that was expanded to seven.
The board at PAMI is planning a virtual gala to celebrate the past year at the end of March.
“We are like everyone else; we are adapting,” Olson said.
The next Humboldt chamber luncheon will be coming up in March and will feature information into the catering and lodging at the Jansen Mine Project, said Humboldt chamber executive director Brent Fitzpatrick in a previous interview with northeastNOW.
Chamber members are invited to the luncheons free of charge while non-members are also welcome for a $10 fee.
Tuesday was the chamber’s first digital luncheon since the start of the pandemic.
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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca
On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser
