Ron's Rant: A word from the President

The Way Forward
...from the February 2012 e-Newsletter

Welcome to our first e-Newsletter and I hope that you, the member, receives value and benefit from this communication.

With the ever changing nature of business, organisations like the Whyalla Chamber of Commerce and Industry also need to reflect upon how it operates. Recently, the Executive members participated in a Planning Day, which established some key actions and drivers, to ultimately deliver value back to the membership.

For those who can remember many years ago, when you wanted to start a business or were looking for information and assistance, it was generally the way that you called a representative from the local Chamber. The representative would come along with an array of documentation that they discussed with you. This was very much a ‘face to face’ service, providing some assistance and direction for the recipient.

Nowadays, with the introduction of the ‘Information Highway’, individuals have information at their finger tips, thus changing very much how we get the support we think we need.

The Whyalla Chamber Executive understands that it must re-assess how it provides support, information and value, not only to the membership, but the community in general.

Our Planning Day has focussed on re-assessing how we create our profile, be a key contact for current and potential businesses, and how we continue to communicate with the membership, in terms of items of interest, updates on significant projects that have an impact on Whyalla and so on.

We have also discussed who are our key stakeholders, partners and why, so we can better position the Chamber alongside these organisations, through understanding our role and relationship with them.

Summarising the discussion from the Planning Day, has clearly pointed to a number of areas that we as an Executive and organisation need to focus on:

 - Our website – to promote the Chamber, who we are, why we exist and how we do it.
 - Represent the membership – by way of engagement with other key organisations.
 - Promote Chamber events – in particular our networking evenings.
 - Promote local businesses – through initiatives such as the Business of the Month.
 - Provide business information and support - seeking partnerships.
 - Create value for the membership – by way of the above.

The Executive believes that we are on the right track to achieve the above and look forward to involving the membership during the coming year and receiving feedback on how we are achieving what we said we will do.

It is clear in my mind that we all need to work closely together, exchanging thoughts, ideas and feedback, so we can continually change to create a sustainable future for business and the greater Whyalla community.

All the best for you and your business in 2012, and we hope to see you soon at one of our exciting events.

Ron Hay, Whyalla Chamber of Commerce and Industry President


Previous Editions

For previous editions, please download the Ron's Rant catalogue.