Make the most of The Spectacle 🏃♂️
Kia ora,
We recently held our annual conference, which this year had the theme Aspire Strong. As with all events like this, the day is really made by the speakers and this year was no exception. So I must thank everyone who graced the stage to inspire, inform and at times entertain the audience – check out the video to see just how entertaining it was 😊.
As you would expect, there were of course some serious and challenging issues discussed. The panel discussion on economic performance and measures featuring Sharon Zollner Chief Economist from ANZ, Justin Lester from Dot Loves Data, and our very own Fiona Wilson CEO of the NRDA, could have taken up half the day in itself, judging by the number of questions it generated.
We also took the opportunity to re-ignite the conversation about regional governance and asked the question, would we be better served as a region by having one council? While we are very (very) aware that there are strong opinions on both sides of this discussion, we are also of the view that this is still a conversation that needs to be had, and in a way that does not have people immediately running for their corners, losing all sight of middle ground. We are fortunate to have access to information from the 2012 amalgamation attempt from the submissions made both for and against. We can use this as the basis for understanding what the key issues were, see if they are still relevant and if they are, work out how they might be addressed by a future review. As I said at Aspire, the Chamber of Commerce has a long-held view that a single council would be preferable. We need to test that with all of our members and the wider business community and will be doing that over the coming months.
A final reminder that this Thursday we are partnering with the team at The Spectacle to launch the inaugural event, one that is expected to feed $3.5 million into the local economy. If you want to see how you or your business can get involved or to learn more about the event, please register here to join us at the Mahitahi Colab.
Next week we also have our Findex BA5 (and Chamber AGM) hosted by Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) at the Nelson Fire Station. While we don’t think there will be any sliding down poles, or spotted dalmatians, there will certainly be some great company among members and lots to learn about our local FENZ team. Register here.
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