A new exhibition featuring oil and gas industries will be taking over a section of the Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce’s annual Trade Fair on April 25 and 26.
The Energy Expo will be a separate part of the Trade Fair and will be a chance for the public to learn about the local and provincial oil and gas industries that play an important role in Ponoka and Alberta.
Marieke Mulligan executive manager of the Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce believes that the expo will be beneficial to Ponoka and will help shed more light on this aspect of the community.
“The Energy Expo will highlight a very valuable sector of business in Ponoka,” she said. “Oil and gas is a huge part of the Alberta economy and Ponoka, as a local community, is very active in it as well.”
Mulligan trusts that the expo will help educate the public on the different areas of industry in Ponoka and bring more awareness to the increasing presence of oil and gas in the community.
“Ponoka is known as an agriculture community and I think people will be surprised to see how much Ponoka is involved with oil and gas,” she said.
The Energy Expo will not only educate the public but will also be an opportunity for outside businesses to see what Ponoka has to offer.
Currently the Chamber has 20 to 30 booths reserved for the Energy Expo. Invitations have been extended locally and provincially to approximately 100 businesses for this event and the Chamber hopes to have 30 or 40 commit to a booth.
The Expo will offer hands on learning and will be interactive as well as educational. Mulligan also believes that it will bring strength to the community.
“It will be a lot of fun and it encourages community pride and spirit,” she said.
The Energy Expo will be brought to Ponoka by Encana Corporation, Quicksilver Resources Canada Inc. and Enerplus Resources Fund.
The show hours for the Trade Fair will be from 3 to 9 p.m. on April 25 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 26.