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| February Chamber Evening | ||
 Our next Chamber Information and Networking Evening will be held on Tues 23rd February at the University of New South Wales Rural Clinical School – a state of the art medical training facility, providing medical education to university students in a rural setting and supporting Port Macquarie's future health services needs. Also on the agenda for the evening will be insights into the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's Opportunities and Futures Boards (Tony Leahy, PMHC Director Corporate and Business Services), the Education and Skills Forum (Trevor Sargeant, Manager Economic Development) and the upcoming North Coast Innovation Festival (Doug Jones, Festival Chairman). To register your attendance, please RSVP by 3:00pm 22 February 2010 to: Tel (02) 6583 4412 or Email info@portchamber.com.au |
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| Chamber Boardroom lunch featuring John McGrath | ||
Proudly sponsored by Moisture Cure, Healthy Home Solutions.  Chamber looks forward to hosting a Boardroom lunch featuring John McGrath, Chief Executive McGrath Estate Agents, Wed 3rd March 1230-2:30pm. John McGrath took the company from a start-up in 1989, to one of Australia’s most successful residential real estate groups, selling $3.25 billion in residential property in Sydney in 2009. This is a rare opportunity to hear insights into John’s approach to business success, his views on redesigning your business for faster growth and the future real estate market. Tickets are selling fast, so book your seats now by calling the Chamber office on 6583 4412 or e-mailing info@portchamber.com.au. ($77members/$88 non-member, includes a welcome drink and select two course meal at Compass Restaurant, Rydges Port Macquarie). |
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| Where is Australia's housing market REALLY heading? | ||
| Speaking of the property market , if you are interested in a quick update on capital city property prices during 2009, www.smartcompany.com.au recently included an interesting article on house prices and how they are measured. Click here to read more. | ||
| New Chamber Logo | ||
| Thank you to all Chamber members who took the time to review and vote on the five shortlisted Chamber logo designs. Voting closed on Monday. Chamber Executive Officer, Liesa Davies said “Engagement and support from members in this process has been fabulous. We received great logo designs and the response rate on the voting survey was great. We have a clear winner, but are going to keep you all in suspense a little longer. All will be revealed at the Chamber Information and Networking Evening on 23rd March”. | ||
| Chamber Industrial Survey | ||
| Late last year, Chamber's Industrial Sub-Committee held an open forum to hear business views and test its perceptions on the issues facing business in our region’s industrial area, both now and into the future. A number of prominent issues arose at the forum and the Sub-Committee will shortly release a survey to quantify broader business views on these matters. The survey results will better inform our discussions with key stakeholders and to maximize business opportunities for existing and future businesses in our Industrial zones. If you have questions about the Sub-Committee or its work, please contact Sub-Committee Chairman, Kellon Beard on 02 6584 0910 or Chamber Executive Officer, Liesa Davies on 026583 4412. | ||
| Ministerial Meeting | ||
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Chamber President, Robert Turner, took the opportunity to meet with The Hon John Robertson MLC, NSW Minister for Commerce, Energy, the Public Service and Industrial Relations Reform during his recent visit to Port Macquarie. On their discussions, Robert noted, “We touched on various issues of local relevance, but the main focus of our discussion were the new federal awards and the difficulty that small businesses is having with interpretation and implementation. The Minister acknowledged that this was an issue he was encountering across the board”. Robert has encouraged small business to continue providing feedback on their experiences implementing changes under the new national workplace relations system to executive@portchamber.com.au. In addition, feedback from Chamber members who attend the upcoming NSW Department of Industrial Relations workshops (see article below), would be appreciated. The Minister’s office has asked that Chamber ensure such feedback is passed to them directly. . |
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| NSW Dept of Industrial Relations – Fair Work Workshops | ||
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Two free workshops on the new Fair Work legislation will be held in Port Macquarie on Wed 17th March and Wed 28th April, from 9am-midday. Fair Work in NSW - is your business ready? This workshop will assist you to understand your legal rights and obligations as a NSW employer within the new national Fair Work system. It will help you understand the changes that have taken place and how they impact on your business. Modern awards and agreements This workshop will give you an understanding of the content of modern awards and assist you in understanding the impact of the changes which see over 1,400 existing state and federal awards combined into 122 national modern awards. For more details and the link to the registration form click here. . |
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| Retail Planning Policy – Robert Baker paper available | ||
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Many of you may recall a presentation by Robert Baker of the UNE at the November Chamber night, on the importance of a good retail policy, consumer movement and vitality, and the business ‘mix’. The results of Robert’s research have now been published and he is happy for them to be shared with interested Chamber members. To obtain your copy of ‘Towards Robust Development of Retail Planning Policy: Maintaining the Viability and Vitality of Main Street Shopping Precincts’ by Robert Baker and Stephen Wood, please e-mail executive@portchamber.com.au or call the Chamber office on 6583 4412.
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| Chamber Engagement and Sponsorship Opportunities | ||
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In the last issue of the Chamber newsletter we highlighted that planning is underway for the 2010 Greater Port Macquarie Business Awards and sponsorship opportunities are now available. If you are looking to raise the profile of your business, flag a key achievement or change, or demonstrate your support for Chamber and local business, please contact Chamber Executive Officer, Liesa Davies on 0412 661 641. In addition to the Business Awards, we welcome your involvement in Chamber Information and Networking Evenings, Boardroom lunches, through the provision of lucky door prizes at Chamber events. |
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| Supermarkets band together on leases (source: AAP) | ||
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More supermarket retailers have promised the competition watchdog to end a practice which stops rival chains from opening in the same shopping centre. The result will be greater competition. Aldi, Franklins, SPAR Australia, Australian United Retailers and Metcash have agreed with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that they won't enter into any new leasing agreement with restrictive provisions. In the case of existing supermarket leases, it will not enforce any restrictive provisions beyond five years after the commencement of trading. This follows similar agreements reached with Australia's biggest supermarket operators, Wesfarmer owned Coles and Woolworths in September last year. The retail giants promised the ACCC they would no longer insert restrictive provisions in supermarket leases and 80 per cent of shopping centre deals favouring the two companies were abolished. |
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| Chamber Board | ||
| Robert Turner (President) | Kellon Beard | Peter Buckland | Bob Gillroy | Stuart Goodfellow | Mike Graver | Janette Hyde | Daniel Jordan | Scott Leis | Bill Linney | Hadyn Oriti | Anthony Wilson | ||
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Port Macquarie Chamber of Commerce Suite 5, Level 1 Garrison Building Cnr Hay & Clarence Streets, Port Macquarie 2444 Ph: (02) 6583 4412 F: (02) 6583 2766 Email: executive@portchamber.com.au Web: www.portchamber.com.au DISCLAIMER: the views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers. All contents are protected by copyright and cannot be reproduced without the written consent of the publishers. |