March saw another very busy month especially with International Women’s Day and also March being Small Business Month. There were many events in the area and as this column goes to print the Business Port Macquarie in conjunction with Greater Port Macquarie Tourism Association are hosting Jon Dee for a boardroom lunch on the 30th March. Jon is a social entrepreneur, philanthropist, campaigner and advocate for the small to medium business sectors. You may also know Jon from hosting Sky News “Smart Money”, founding the charity Planet Ark, DoSomething and the international charity Rock Aid Armenia to name a few.
Tuesday 22nd March we hosted the Luminosity Youth Summit launch for their 2022 Conference which will be held 27-29th July. Hard to believe that this year will be the 10th Anniversary of Luminosity and to celebrate they are bringing back some of their past incredible speakers. These will include past Wauchope locals Allison Langdon from 60 Minutes and the Today Show and Nixi Killick, an international renowned designer, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki always a favourite and Dr Jordan Nguyen a truly brilliant Biomedical Engineer just to name a few. The Summit offers opportunities to our leaders of tomorrow. If you would like to sponsor a young person to attend this fantastic opportunity please contact our office.
Part of our purpose at Chamber is to provide Education platforms to help improve and grow your business. On the 14th April we have the amazing Stacey Morgan presenting “Are you Nurturing or Neglecting your Customers?” Customer service is something as a business community we constantly strive to improve. Stacey shares some practical ideas to improve your customers journey, streamline your processes and increase your profitability.
Immediately following the breakfast meeting we will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting for members to vote on two items: Adopting our new constitution; and to change our name from Business Port Macquarie to Business Port Macquarie. With everything that our businesses have been through in the last few years it is a perfect opportunity to update, renew and maintain relevance to our business community.
Chamber Board members recently attended a Strategic Planning day where we revisited our Vision and strategic priorities. Our purpose, ‘to foster a sustainable, profitable and vibrant business community”. This is supported by the four pillars ‘Connection’, ‘Advocacy’, ‘Support’ & ‘Membership’. To ensure that we are meeting these goals I intend to continue with my meeting with business for one on one coffee catch ups to see how we can help you. Please feel free to call me on 0414 772 771 to arrange a suitable time. I would love to buy you a cuppa!
Over the past month the Chamber has also had a number of meetings with Council & Councillors regarding the disbanding of committees and meeting with the now defunct Town Centre Master Plan Committee to see how we can all work together to ensure that the planned projects for Town Green are all completed. We have also commented on the recent Draft Infrastructure Strategy, Joint Integrated Transport Network Plan & Regional Integrated Transport Strategy. We are hopeful that we will soon see these documents on public exhibition as they are vital to the future sustainability of the region.
Our combined Charity Golf Day with Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service is the 11th April. If you would like to take part on the day or sponsor a hole please call our office on our new number 0422 562 300 or go to our website at www.portchamber.com.au. You can register as an individual or in groups of 4. Come join the fun!
Finally, don’t forget to join our Chamber Chats Facebook group. Get involved in the conversation and let us know about your business.
Have a great month.
Alex
