ADVOCATE COLUMN 4th WEEK DECEMBER 2012

In my last contribution to the Northern Advocate for 2012 and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people in Northland who have supported the Chamber this year. We are a membership organisation and a vast majority of our revenue is directly attributed to membership subscriptions, sponsorship and sales. We have been fortunate to have a loyal membership which has grown albeit slightly over the last 24 months. Given the difficulties many Northland businesses have experienced I would like to think this growth and loyalty is due to the relevance the Chamber has to them and the opportunities that it can provide for business development. It always amazes me how positive and aspirational many of our members are and how passionate they are about their various enterprises. This year we have been heavily involved with a number of projects that assist Northland business. In particular, the Northland Business Grow team, Business Mentors New Zealand and the Pathway for Parents programme. These focus on improving or strengthening both business and workforce capability. Looking at New Zealand’s economic and business profile, an overwhelming majority (97 percent) of businesses is small to medium sized enterprises yet they account for only about 40% of our economic output. These projects are intended to improve the productivity of Northland businesses to the benefit of all our communities. Our membership base reflects our regional profile with a majority of our members being small or medium enterprises. The nature of these businesses mean they are often by necessity, forced to focus on the day-to-day running of their operations and often with very limited resources. Chamber membership can assist with the challenges they face. We have also been fortunate to receive support and membership from some of Northland’s larger businesses and their desire to be good corporate citizens is to be congratulated. Their membership provides support and networking opportunities to many of our smaller business members which is deeply appreciated. Finally, many of our members have told us that one of the roles we fulfil for them that they value is to provide them with a voice through the advocacy work we undertake. I would like to thank the support we continue to receive through our relationship with various Northland media organisations such as the Northern Advocate and Media Works. We are extremely grateful for them continuing to allow us the opportunity to use their resources to raise issues that are of interest or concern to our members.