Chair’s Address to AGM

Chair’s Address to AGM

It is my pleasure to present the annual report from the Chair for 2014-2015. It’s been another great year with progress made on several important fronts. This time last year we launched the new website and I am sure everyone will agree it is looking great. We have made a few small enhancements during the year and it is now working extremely effectively to promote our events, provide information to members and potential members and to easily facilitate online booking and membership applications.

We held our usual strategic planning meeting towards the end of last year and reconfirmed our strategic vision of a growing Kapiti which is creating wealth and employment. Our mission is to provide a collective voice for business in Kapiti and our three core strategies are

1. To be relevant to members

2. To be sustainably resourced, and

3. To be influential.

This year the Chamber has made a significant contribution to the Economic Development Strategy for Kapiti. This was developed by a group of stakeholders including the Mayor and Councillors, Council staff, Iwi, Electra and the Chamber. The three representatives from the Chamber are myself, Mark Ternent and Ann Verboeket. The four key planks of the Strategy are:

• Open for Business Council

• Building Capability

• Positioning Kapiti

• Leadership and Responsiveness

The two priority areas are Open for Business Council, which is clearly a Council initiative, and Positioning Kapiti. In 2016 we hope to make significant progress on the strategy for Telling the Kapiti Story and creating an online presence to promote Kapiti as a great place to live, visit and set up a business.

Membership

For the first time this year we have introduced laminated membership cards with QR codes linking to the website to easily display member to member benefits and national discounts. We are now taking a more business-like approach to membership renewals which means that all subscriptions must be paid within three months of the start of the new financial year. This will give us more certainty around our income for the year so we can plan ahead for new developments.

There are now a variety of avenues available for members to promote themselves, including member profiles, member to member benefits and banner ads on the website as well as advertising in the newsletter.

This year we introduced our training events, TA5’s which are proving popular. There is a real need for high quality training delivered locally and we are required to offer training as part of our accreditation as a Chamber. As well as our highly successful BA5’s the Kapiti Business Network and Women in Business continue to be well supported.

Earlier this year we conducted a member survey which ranked most Chamber services as predominantly good or excellent. There are three areas in which improvement was called for; national member discounts, member to member discounts, and member profiles on the website. We are dependent on NZCCI to negotiate national discounts. Recently we added Mercury Energy to our list of Chamber partners. As far as member to member discounts and member profiles go, is that it is really up to members themselves to make this happen. The new website makes it easy, so please take a few minutes and update your details.

Resources

The focus for this year has been on strengthening our financial position so that we can increase the level of paid support for Chamber activities. In so doing, we will reduce the load on the Board and other volunteers and work towards increasing member benefits. A subcommittee of the Board is considering options for structuring paid support for the Chamber going forward and the financial impact of that. We are hopeful that a solution will found and implemented within the next three months. This is a long awaited development that brings us closer to our goal of a part time paid CEO.

Advocacy

Local Government amalgamation was a key issue for the Advocacy group over the last year. A survey of members showed strong support for change. Although the Local Government Commission withdrew their proposal for change, there is still much work being done behind the scenes to look at opportunities for regional collaboration. This is mostly being done through the Mayoral Forum. We need to be ready to respond to the shortlisted options which will be released in early 2016.

Closer to home we have been actively involved in KCDC’s Town Centres and Connectors project which is looking at the future of our town centres and the relationship to the new Expressway. We have also provided input into KCDC’s parking strategy for Paraparaumu and Waikanae.

Work is also continuing on strategies for the Youth Pathways to Employment Initiative which is being run jointly with KCDC. Progress is being made on the concept of a Work Ready Passport which will allow young people to provide evidence that they have the key attributes employers are looking for.

In May this year. the Digital Leadership Forum hosted a highly successful Tech Expo and is now considering strategies for following through with key sectors such as education, senior citizens and businesses.

Throughout the year, I have represented the Chamber at meetings with Mayor Ross Church, key Council staff, Grow Wellington and major Kapiti businesses. I have also attended meetings of the Central Chamber Hub of which we are a part as well as the National Conference.

Looking forward to next year, we will continue to develop our training programmes, and aim to strengthen our financial position by growing the membership and seeking sponsorship.

I would like once again to sincerely thank the many people who volunteered their time to assist with Chamber activities throughout the year, whether it was attending our events, volunteering on one of our committees or serving on the Board.

Finally, we look forward to exciting times ahead for the Kapiti region. I have a strong feeling that the rest of New Zealand is now starting to take notice of the opportunities here. The next few years will require strong leadership and teamwork to make the most of those opportunities. So let’s all work together to make this a thriving economy. Thank you.

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