RCCIWA – Representation and Advocacy
The start of 2023 has been busy with meeting new and existing stakeholders and decision makers. We are continuing to advocate on key issues of priority for all RCCIWA members, which right now across the state are:

• People shortage – not enough people to fill all of the roles regional businesses have to fully optimize their business.
• Continuity of service – because of the high demand for workers, there is a huge churn in personnel in every organisation we are all working with – which does add pressure when trying to building relationships and work on projects and plans in collaboration
• Housing crisis – this is impacting every regional community in WA.
• Lack of childcare
• Ongoing impacts of COVID, particularly in regard to mental health
• The rising costs of doing business

We advocate on these issues by talking to and meeting with all relevant stakeholders, and attending all relevant forums and round tables to ensure the regional voice is being heard. We are often surprised with how little understanding some decision makers have as to how WA works, how big our state is and how spread our our population bases are.

We have also had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time, one on one with our members so far this year, either in person or through online meetings – which is our favourite thing to do! We are constantly impressed by the work and projects all of our members are taking on to grow, support, inform and engage their business and broader community. Aside from the policy and issues conversations, some of the operational topics covered have been:

• Different types of revenue streams
• Communication strategies and platforms
• Funding applications
• Program delivery overview
• Business awards programs
• How to plan and deliver different types of events
• Member engagement strategies
• Constitutional and governance advice

RCCIWA Members Forum– June 22^nd and 23^rd 2023
We are planning for our two RCCIWA Members Forums this year and are looking forward to delivering valuable and relevant events and also of course, to being able to spend time with you over the two days (our favourite part!!).  Our June dates are:

Thursday June 22^nd – Advocacy Day at Hale House

Thursday June 22^nd – Business After Hours

Friday June 23^rd – Operational and strategic day – venue to be confirmed

We have not finalized the logistics yet, however as soon as we have more information, we will share it with you. For now, can you please save the dates – we would love to see you there. For those who have not attended previously, attached is some information we prepared for last year’s June Forum that may be helpful.

Can you also please send me any suggestions on speakers, topics or workshops you would like to see us include. All suggestions are keenly encouraged and very much welcome. We are looking at perhaps including a delivered workshop on day two on Grants and Funding (as many of our members have suggested this) so I would like to know if this is of interest to you and your organisation, or what other workshops you think would be of value.  Please let me know at ceo@regionalchamberswa.com.au

RCCIWA Monthly Online Members Meeting

• On the second Tuesday of each month at 10am we hold an online members’ meeting which usually runs for an hour to 90 minutes. We usually see about 15 members represented each month to give member updates, discuss common issues & possible solutions to these, as well as the opportunity to share and learn from each other. We also hear from experts from the SBDC and CCIWA, as well as others as requested. The monthly meetings are a great way of connecting with our members with each other, as well as working through common issues or activities. Calendar Invites for the year were sent to our members last month. If you do not have a calendar invite, please let me know and I will send you one. The agenda and a reminder will be sent out a few days before the meeting each month. Our first meeting for 2023 will be held on February 14^th at 10am via MS Teams– because we LOVE our members!!

RCCIWA Administrative Items

• We are constantly updating our membership contact list. If you have any changes to your contacts or would like to add any people, please email Emmi at admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au The information we need is name, position/role, email address and mobile number.
• Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and share our page with your members, and in particular your elected committee or board members.
• Please also let us know about any activities, initiatives or events you would like us to include in our weekly newsletter. We love showcasing a great idea, program or event that one of our members is delivering. If you have something you would like us to share – please send through the details to Emmi at  admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au
• Our member portal is being well accessed by our members, but we can always add more content – so please send through any operational documents you are happy to share with your fellow members to Emmi   admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au