The High River and District Chamber of Commerce held its January Luncheon on Thursday at the Highwood Golf and Country Club.

Chamber President Steve Muth says, he's excited about the future of business in the town and it's time to let go of the past.

"I think it's been alluded to by some of council and other people, we need to move past recovery. The recovery stage can only last so long, I think the business community in High River is strong enough to

grow," he says.

Muth says the Chamber will have a seat on the Economic Development Committee when it's formed, and says he looks forward to working with all stakeholders to move plans for the town forward.

The Chamber encouraged other businesses that aren't part of the group to get on board, so they can start enjoying the benefits and services that the Chamber has to offer.

Among the speakers was Workforce Consultant Cheryl Olenick with the province. She says, the provincial government is rolling out their Summer Temporary Employment program on Monday, January 25.

She says, "The program is targeted to initiate the hiring of summer students and providing them with some valuable work experience. Eligible students will be currently enrolled full time and returning to school

in the fall." She says eligible employers include small businesses, non profit organizations, municipalities and schools.

Applications will be available online and the deadline for submission is February 29. Olenick says, the summer temporary employment program allocates money that will support more than 3,000 summer work

placements this year. She says, " This is a wage subsidy program, providing $7.00 an hour for full time student employment for a period of 4 - 16 weeks and is based on a 37.5 hour work week."

She says applicants have until February 29 to submit an application and, an employer can hire a student as soon as May 1 if approved.

For more information on the program please visit www.abworkforceinfo.com/step