RCCIWA – Representation and Advocacy
The first quarter of 2023 was 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 build relationships and work on projects and plans in collaboration
• Housing crisis – this is impacting every regional community in WA.
• Lack of childcare
• General business fatigue
• 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
Planning is well underway 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 at the Novotel on Murray Street

Friday June 23^rd – Operational and strategic day – at the Novotel on Murray Street

We have not finalized all of the logistics yet, however as soon as we do, we will share it with you. For now, can you please save the dates – we would love to see you there.

Accommodation Details
We are thrilled to let you know that we will be holding our Business After Hours (Thursday pm) on day one of the Forum at the fabulous Novotel Perth Murray Street. It is a beautiful property in a great location. Our friends at Accor Hotels WA are looking forward to looking after us all once again. They have generously offered a special discount rate for all of our delegates who will be staying with them. All RCCIWA delegates will receive the conference discounted accommodation rate of the day when booking. Please ensure you use the reference RCCIWA and mention the conference dates (June 22nd and June 23rd) when making your booking so you can receive your discount.  Probably booking by phone or direct email is best (08) 6371 6371      hb6h3@accor.com  novotelperthmurraystreet.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 between 6 to 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 second meeting for 2023 will be held on Tuesday April 11^th  at 10am via MS Teams – we would love you to join us.

RCCIWA Website Members Only Resource Portal
Just a reminder that as a RCCIWA Member you have access to our resource library that contains a wide variety of documents from all of our members. This is a great reference point to refer to when planning events, setting up polices or updating your own collateral. Please email Emmi if you need access to the portal. We are regularly uploading documents however to keep it current, could you please email Emmi at  admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au any documents that you are happy to share with your fellow members. We will assume if you send it to us that you are happy for us to upload this on the members only access section of our website. Please send in pdf format (and in the smallest size you can), documents such as:

• Your Constitution
• Your Strategic or Operational Plans
• Membership Forms, Membership prospectus
• Member Benefits flyer
• BAH information
• Sponsorship information
• Directory information
• Business Awards Information
• Job and Position Descriptions, HR documents
• Events information
• Policies and Procedures
• Committee Induction pack 

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.