RCCIWA Stakeholder and Member Engagement – February
A very busy and productive month of stakeholder meetings, catching up with members and member representation. February activity included:

• Met with Chris Rodwell and Stephen Davison from CCIWA for a general discussion on CCIWA policy priorities, One-on-Many membership services and arrangement, and looking at ways our two organisations will work in collaboration in 2020.
• Several meetings with David Gillespie, the President of the Exmouth CCI regarding the development of their business capability program and business hub, assisting them with program advice and guidance.
• Participated and presented at the Food Relief Round Table, convened by Minister McGurk and attended by The Premier, the Hon Mark McGowan MLA. The purpose of this round table was to discuss strategies for providing food support to people in need throughout Western Australia, utilising a coordinated approach from communities, industry and suppliers. A very constructive discussion.
• Several teleconferences and meetings with our Working Together program providers and DTWD to talk about the current delivery framework and looking at changes to the outcomes and increasing the delivery area from July 1^st 2020. We are currently in our fourth year of delivering Working Together via five of our members. To find out more about the program visit here.
• Held monthly Working Together Co-ordinators teleconference – a great opportunity to share activities, update our progress collectively and discuss program deliverables and outcomes. Our five Co-ordinators from Broome, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Geraldton and Bunbury all attended, and it was a very constructive teleconference.
• Regular bi-monthly meeting with Stephen, Dan and Fiona from Industry Development with the Dept of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation. A great discussion focusing on the policy framework that will encourage more local procurement and local content for State Govt projects and purchasing.
• Held monthly RCCIWA Members Teleconference with 13 members represented. A very worthwhile hour of discussion, as detailed in my weekly report early in the month.
• Held teleconferences and in person meetings with stakeholders, 2 program partners and the Grow Local Program Manager to discuss progress and planning for the Grow Local program we are supporting in The Pilbara. To find out more about this visit here. 
• Presented at the Local Government Act Review panel.
• Held our first RCCIWA Executive Committee Meeting for 2020. Among our discussions we put plans in place for several new initiatives to support our members growth and development. More to come on these in the coming weeks.
• Met with WA’s Small Business Commissioners, David Eaton for a general discussion about areas of importance for the small business sector and ways our two organisations can continue our very strong working relationship.
• Took part on the first Telstra Regional Advisory Council  Teleconference for 2020 as a member.
• Was able to speak with many members over this past few weeks which was just fantastic – learning of their plans and activities and finding ways we can assist them.

The SBDC wants to hear from you - Impact of Coronavirus
The SBDC is interested in what the regions are experiencing in terms of impacts on tourism and hospitality businesses resulting from the coronavirus (and associated cancellations of flights and accommodation) and the misguided international perception of bushfires impacting WA. If you have any insights please feel free to contact Nikki Forrest at nikki.forrest@smallbusiness.wa.gov.au

RCCIWA Members Forum – June 18^th and 19^th 2020, Perth – Save the Date!
Planning has already commenced for the first biannual RCCIWA Members Forum, to be held in Perth at Parliament House on Thursday June 18^th and at a venue to be confirmed soon in Perth on Friday June 19^th.  For this first Forum of 2020, we are again looking at what technology we may be able to utilise so that members unable to make it to Perth, can still participate and contribute. We will keep you posted on this.

We will be holding our legendary Business After Hours on Thursday June 18^th in the PM – and will get back to you with our host details as soon as they are confirmed.

If you have not attended previously, we would love to see you there.

In order for us to plan the Forum so that it is relevant and informative for you, we would love your feedback on the following – just email me on ceo@regionalchamberswa.com.au or Emmi on admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au  with any suggestions you may have:

• Members of Parliament you would like us to invite
• Questions for those MP’s
• Topics and issues, you would love covered on Day two, the Operational Day
• Any guest speakers you would like to hear from on either day
• Any suggestions you have for the format and the timings of both days – what you would like to see.

RCCIWA Administrative Items

• Emmi Taylor is back and is currently 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
• Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and share our page with your members.
• Please also let us know about any activities, initiatives or events you would like us to include in our weekly newsletter. You will notice that we are including an item each week that showcases 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.
• Any events you would like added to our events calendar on our website. If you have a specific logo for that event -could you also send that through, and we will include it.
• Our member portal is live – so please send through any operational documents you are happy to share with your fellow members to Emmi at admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au