The High River Chamber of Commerce reconvened Thursday afternoon for its monthly luncheon at the Highwood Golf and Country Club.

Guest speaker John Lockhart, General Manager of Community Futures spoke about the assistance they offer people who are looking to start a business.

General Manager Community Futures Highwood, John Lockhart.

"We don't necessarily look at credit history or anything else. We look at the character of that business person now, not yesterday."

Lockhart says over the last 23 years Community Futures has invested in 655 new businesses that contributed forty-six million dollars to the local economy.

Among the highlights of his presentation Lockhart spoke about how they differ from banks when it comes to helping people start a business.

"When I was a Banker we'd lend money to somebody and as long as the payments came in we never saw them again. We visit every client we work with twice a year."

"The failure rate in 23 years is only 1.99%" added Lockhart.

He said what's most important is to not jump the gun when thinking about starting a business.

"Think about what you're doing, do not sign leases or anything else. Come and talk to somebody first."