RCCIWA September Monthly Members Online Meeting -  Wrap Up
We held our regular monthly members catch up via Zoom on Tuesday and it was great to see ten of our members represented on the line as well as CCIWA and the SBDC. The monthly meeting is such a great opportunity to receive policy updates from the SBDC and CCIWA, as well as to hear about and learn from all the activities and issues our members our working on and dealing with. Our members do find these regular monthly catch-ups valuable, and this month it was very encouraging to hear how positive the updates were from our members. So, if you are available on the second Tuesday of the month at 10am – we’d love to see you. Some of the takeaways from the conversation are highlighted below:

• Nikki Forrest, Policy & Advocacy Officer with the SBDC joined us to give us an update on their activities and main pieces of policy work. We hear from the SBDC each month and it is a great way to keep updated and also to give direct feedback to inform their work. If you have not checked out the SBDC website lately, I would thoroughly recommend that you do here – it is a fantastic resource.  Nikki updated us on:
  
  • Their soon to be launched Local Government Approvals Program. This involves the SBDC working closely with Local Government Authorities on their approvals processes and then working with them to implement changes that will streamline the process making it quicker and easier to do business. They have already trialled the program in a pilot with two LGA’s. This will be a very important program that will make a positive impact for businesses.
  • The SBDC continues to focus on the policy areas of procurement and commercial tenancy
• Ryan Fernie, Manager Member Experience with CCIWA joined us to give an overview of some of their activities as well as sharing valuable information with all on the line. Including:
  
  • They Currently have their quarterly Business Confidence survey open which we encourage all regional businesses to complete. This only state-wide survey is a great resource to inform policy settings and decisions going forward.
  • They have just  delivered their pre-budget submission to Government – you can read the details here.
  • You can find out more  about CCIWA here.  

• Benita Cattalini, CEO of the Albany CCI        
  
  • Biggest issue is employment in Albany and the Great Southern
  • Concerns from their local community that people will not be able to meet the deadline to secure the housing construction incentives available
  • They have just done a review on governance and policies
  • They are interested in how co-working spaces have worked for other RCCIWA members

• Simone de Been, CEO of the KBCCI   
  
  • Full steam ahead with planning events currently including their Business Awards, their What’s Down the Track Forum and their annual Spring Festival.
  •  Very busy advocating for their business community with a high number of meetings with politicians from all parties and all levels of Government.
  • Kalgoorlie-Boulder is very busy and still has over 1000 jobs available – the Chamber is working hard to promote this fact and try and attract people.
• Joanne Fabling, CEO of  the MWCCI              
  
  • They have seen a big upswing in members as the value of their Chamber  is becoming more broadly understood and visible.
  • They are working on the regional membership where towns such as Kalbarri and Dongara have their own sub-committee but come under the broader MWCCI structure. This is going well and has been positively received.
  • The Mid west is busting at the seams, which huge numbers of tourists and lots of opportunities for their local businesses
• Julie Hillier VP of  the Collie CCI        
  
  • Currently doing an organisational capability review of the Collie CCI
  • Will take some time to employ a new CEO/EO – once our review is complete.
  • Working with Chambers in the regional and IPS to deliver training to local businesses – this collaboration is going very well.
  • Collie has been the recipient of some great announcements and projects so there is a feeling of confidence in our community.
  • Will be holding our inaugural Business Awards later on in the year, which is very exciting.
  • The South 32 Grants Program has been well supported and well received.
• Rob Skipsey, President of the BGCCI
• Our CEO Mark Seaward finishes with the BGCCI next week – we thank him for his contribution and great efforts and wish him all the best in his new role.
• Have been very busy with engagement and advocacy.
• Focussing on local procurement opportunities as well as aligning training delivery with the actual needs of business. We need to revisit how vocational training is set up and delivered.
• Strategically involved with the Bunbury Outer Ring Road Project, are leading the local business advisory group as part of this project to develop and promote local content

• Amena Baghdadi, EO from the Donnybrook Balingup Chamber of Commerce (email update)     

• The Chamber had their first Sundowner post-COVID (since Feb) last Friday night and we had a great turnout and a very engaging talk by Adam Riemann from Motology Films about the importance of an online presence and social media as a network.
• Our Shop Local Voucher campaign has been developed and we are in the process of locking in participating businesses.
• We have another Chamber Sundowner on 22^nd September to present the just released 20/21 Shire Budget.

Tina Mladenovic, EO from the Pilbara Inland CCI

• New website launched last week
• Holding our inaugural Business Awards and they are currently open for submissions. This has been extremely well received and supported.
• Concerned about the lack of accommodation available in Tom Price – both for residents and tourists/visitors.

Sumer Addy, CEO from the Denmark CC

• Very busy in town, tourism is flourishing but those businesses are struggling to find workers.
• Still working on their visitor servicing strategy and plan
• Keen to hear from any members as to strategies that have worked to attract workers, or things our members might be doing to assist their local businesses find workers.

Stewart Milne, President from the Derby CC

• Lots of business activity in Derby
• Focussed on confirmed what “buy Local” actually means, as there are still work and projects being serviced by businesses from outside of Derby.
• Local content and local procurement is their priority.

RCCIWA Members Forum – November 12^th and 13^th  2020, Perth – Save the Date!
Planning is well underway for the 2020 RCCIWA Members Forum, to be held in Perth at Parliament House on Thursday November 12^th and at The Ibis Perth in Perth on Friday November 13^th.  For this one and only 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 November 12^th  in the PM – with Accor Hotels WA generously agreeing to host this again – thank Accor Hotels WA! Emmi will be in touch over the next few weeks to get some invitees from you.

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 like 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

Lotterywest Funding Stream – Strengthening and Adapting Organisations
Last week Monday Lotterywest opened up a new Grants stream to support community and NFP organisations called Strengthening and Adapting Organisations. We thought this may be a good fit for your organisation and RCCIWA are also looking at a few projects we have that may work with this as well. We would be looking at governance and resource access if we were going to apply. If you are going to apply for this or have any feedback for us on this, please let me know via email.

NDIS New Provider Virtual Information Session for RCCIWA Members – 17^th September 2020
At the request of our members who missed the first one, RCCIWA will be hosting a second member’s information session to be delivered by the NDIS. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) would like to invite prospective service providers in WA to attend an information session on registering as an NDIS provider. Providers are vital for the delivery of NDIA services, providing life-changing supports to thousands of people with disability across WA and generating wide-ranging economic and community benefits. Opportunities exist across a wide range of support categories. This session will be held via videoconference using Microsoft Teams and will be great information to pass on to your members. We have already had a great response to this second session, for all registration details please read here