Kia ora ,

I had the chance to attend the ANZAC Day memorial service in Lower Hutt yesterday. It was a very moving ceremony. Several people had the chance to speak. They spoke of the 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded in WW1. Around 18,000 New Zealanders died in or because of the war, and about 41,000 men were listed as wounded. More than 2700 died at Gallipoli and almost 12,500 on the Western Front. 

One of the senior military officers spoke of the divisive and ill-informed nature of the propaganda that created the conditions for war. He also spoke of the influence of this type of information today.

Business leaders in the Hutt Valley make decisions every day and many of them are informed or influenced by the people they trust and listen to. These engagements are often face-to-face and have lots of questions to help make decisions. 

I heard recently that our upcoming General Election will have the most online activity of any election in our history. This provides a platform for disinformation (propaganda maybe). 

As we head towards a General Election on Saturday 14th October, I encourage you to be informed and ask questions directly to the people that have answers. Come and listen to the politicians and ask them questions. We have several opportunities for you to do this in May. We'll be covering areas such as the business landscape, our economy, taxation and immigration amongst others that are an important part of the bigger picture of business. If you’re interested, come along and join us.

In this edition of the Hutt Valley Business Weekly:

• Chamber Updates
• 2023 Board Nominations Have Now Closed
• RiverLink Updates

• AECOM Fletcher to deliver RiverLink

• RiverLink awarded NZPI Best Practice Award 

• Regional Updates

• Reducing Speed Limits From 50km to 30km

• 10-Year Vision Of Your Region - Have Your Say

• SH58 Weekend Closure - 28 April to 1 May

• EV Charging – Two MENNEKES Charging Columns Available for Lower Hutt City Businesses

• National Updates

• Hear From One of the World's Foremost Experts in Resilience, Dr. Lucy Hone

• Good News for Subcontractors - Law changed to protect them

• Featured Events

• BNZ Tech Series: May 2023 Edition - Robotics & Biotechnology
• Shane Jones - Election 2023 and the Business Sector, NZ First's behalf
• Breakfast with David Seymour, ACT Party Leader and Damien Smith, List MP
• Space Day: Celebrating Space Exploration - From the Hutt Valley to NASA
• Plus many more
• More Events & Workshops

• Wellington Business Brief - How Does Leadership Impact Engagement?

• Digital Workshop in Upper & Lower Hutt | Driving Traffic To Your Website
• Member Offers

• 2degrees, BAPS Charities, Rotary Hut City, Haven, Upper Hutt Cossie Club and One Day Training

• Employment Opportunities
• Are You Hiring?

CHAMBER UPDATES

2023 Board Nominations Have Now Closed

We have now closed nominations for our Board. Thank you for your nominations. 

We look forward to seeing you at our 79th Annual General Meeting.

The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce AGM provides an opportunity for the Chamber's members to gather and discuss the state of the organisation, elect or re-elect board members, approve financial statements, and provide input on important matters affecting the Chamber and the local business community.

The AGM is a chance for members to engage with the Chamber's leadership, ask questions, and have their voices heard on matters that impact the business community in the Hutt Valley region.

Event Details:
Date: Tuesday 23 May 2023
Time: 5:30pm (Please be seated by 5:25pm)
Location: Level 3, DSV House, 15 Daly Street, Lower Hutt

RIVERLINK UPDATES

AECOM Fletcher To Deliver RiverLink

After more than five years of extensive consultation, engagement, and consenting work by project partners on behalf of their local communities, RiverLink has announced AECOM-Fletcher as the preferred alliance to deliver the programme. 

Waka Kotahi Regional Manager of Systems Design Kesh Keshaboina says finding the right team for the job has been front and centre for project partners over the past six months, and this announcement marks a key milestone in the programme. 

“Strong relationships have been key in getting us to where we are today and will be fundamental in the ongoing success of the RiverLink programme. Guided by programme objectives Ora Tāngata, Ora Taiao and Ora Wairua, we look forward to working together with our partners and the AECOM-Fletcher alliance to achieve the best outcomes for our people, communities, and environment,” Keshaboina says.  

“For us, RiverLink is a unique opportunity to deliver a more integrated, safer, reliable and accessible transport system for all modes, and one that improves the resilience of our regional infrastructure. By working collaboratively together with our project partners, we’ve been able to achieve much more than we would have individually. It’s a testament to the partnership we have built over the last five years, and how we intend to continue going forward into the delivery phase,” Keshaboina says. 

The alliance will also upgrade flood protection infrastructure on Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River. Greater Wellington Chair Daran Ponter says one of the greatest threats to the region is a serious flood on the river, which has the potential to destroy more than a billion dollars’ worth of community, council and state assets. 

You can read more here.

RiverLink awarded NZPI Best Practice Award 

The RiverLink resource consent process has been awarded the New Zealand Planning Institute’s Best Practice Award for Integrated Planning and Investigations. 
  
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry says “RiverLink has been talked about for decades, so not only is it fantastic to get to this stage, but receiving this award is a great acknowledgement of the careful planning, hard mahi and collaboration that has helped keep the project moving forward. It’s now important that we get on and deliver this once in a generation project.” 
 
The consenting process required a high-level approach which brought together three projects into a single consent application. This approach reflected the RiverLink partners’ commitment to collaboration and ‘best for project’ decisions.   

You can read more here.

REGIONAL UPDATES

Reducing Speed Limits From 50km to 30km

The Hutt City Council are working to implement the Governments new nationwide rule for speed management plans. This requires councils to reduce speed limits from 50km to 30km around schools, CBD and busy public areas.  

The council transport team are working on this in phases.

They are currently seeking feedback from the public regarding schools and surrounding streets, you can find the consultation at hutt.city/speedreview. The city-wide public consultation will commence next week.

The city-wide review is planned entirely around safety and in line with the Governments ‘Road to zero’ campaign. The council invites you to review the maps below and provide any feedback via email to roadsafety@huttcity.govt.nz.

Combined school zone and city-wide speed reduction maps can be found here.

10 Year Vision Of Your Region - Have Your Say

Greater Wellington has launched a 2024-34 Long Term Plan pre-engagement survey. This is an early opportunity to have your say on the 10-year vision for our region.

Greater Wellington delivers a wide range of activities across the Wellington Region that protect the environment, enable an efficient, accessible, low-carbon public transport network, and supports sustainable economic development. 

The survey takes 5 minutes.

For more info and to take the survey, click here.

SH58 Weekend Closure - 28 April to 1 May

NZTA is closing the road because they are reconstructing a section of the highway as part of the SH58 Safety Improvements project. This is to prepare the road surface before they add new median and side safety barriers.

SH58 will be closed over an entire weekend, but NZTA needs dry weather to complete the work. They plan to complete the work on the weekend beginning Friday 28 April, but if wet weather is forecast, the closure will be postponed, with the two following weekends the possible postponement dates. 

Planned Closure:
8:00pm Friday 28 April to 4:00am Monday 1 May

Possible Postponement Dates:

First alternative
8:00pm Friday 5 May to 4:00am Monday 8 May

Second alternative
8:00pm Friday 12 May to 4:00am Monday 15 May

More information is available and postponement information will be published on their website at www.nzta.govt.nz/SH58Closures

NATIONAL UPDATES

Hear From One of the World's Foremost Experts in Resilience, Dr. Lucy Hone

The Auckland Business Chamber, in partnership with business.govt.nz invite you to join us for a live chat with Dr. Lucy Hone, a globally renowned expert in resilience.

Dr. Lucy Hone will share practical ways to cope with change and challenges, including when your business overwhelms you, as well as resilience practices that are especially relevant to the pressures of running a small business.

From Fortune 500 companies and government agencies to schools and community groups, Dr. Hone's expertise has been shared across a range of organizations.

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to learn from one of the best. Join us on April 28th for an engaging and insightful conversation with Dr. Lucy Hone.

Event Details:
Date: Friday, 28th April 
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Location: Online via Zoom

To register for this complimentary webinar, simply click on the link below and reserve your spot today!

Link to register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pID772QlQdSBZCTrtNllFg

Good News for Subcontractors -
Law changed to protect them

Changes have been made to legislation to give subcontractors the confidence they will be paid the retention money they are owed should the head contractor’s business fail, Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods announced last week.

Companies and directors who choose to hold retention money against subcontractors will now be required to hold retention money on trust in a separate bank account, which is unable to be mixed with other company money or assets. Information about the retention money held must be reported to subcontractors on a regular basis, at least once every 3 months.

You can read more here.

FEATURED EVENTS

MORE EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

MEMBER OFFERS

2degrees Chamber of Commerce offer refresh 

As a Chamber member, you’ll get 4 months free and 10% off for the life of your plan when you sign up for a 36-month Fibre plan

Chat to one of the 2degrees team or visit 2degrees.nz/NZChamber

Take a Step For Cyclone Gabrielle: 'Together Let's Rebuild Our Communities'

When: Sunday 07 May
Time: 09:00am - 1:00pm
Where: McEwan Park, Petone, Wellington

Join BAPS Charities as they embark on a journey of over 4 million steps in support of regional benefciaries serving those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. The "Take a Step Walkathon" is committed to selfessly serving the community and positively impacting the world, one step at a time.

Interviewing Skills for Hiring Managers

When: Wednesday 24 May
Time: 09:00am - 12:00pm
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, Level 3, 15 Daly St
Price: Non-Member - $350 inc. GST | Chamber Member - $300 inc GST 
Enrolments: RSVP to carol@onedaytraining.co.nz.

Visit onedaytraining.co.nz or call (64+) 021 237 7979

10 Tools For Management and Leadership

When: Tuesday 30 May
Time: 09:00am - 12:00pm
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, Level 3, 15 Daly St
Price: Non-Member - $350 inc. GST | Chamber Member - $300 inc GST 
Enrolments: RSVP to carol@onedaytraining.co.nz.

Visit onedaytraining.co.nz or call (64+) 021 237 7979

Quiz Night Fun - Fundraiser

The Rotary Club and Innovative Young Minds invite you to a fun quiz night. RSVP your interest to gaylene@jdicoach.co.nz.

Extend Your Summer

Refer a friend or yourself for a no-obligation meeting with a Haven Advisor. Go in the draw to win a $4000 travel voucher.

Click here to get started.

Want More Member Offers?

To see a list of our member's offers visit our Members Marketplace on our website here or check out our Hutt Valley Chamber App to see a list of all the deals we have on offer for Chamber members.

You can download our Hutt Valley Chamber App from the Apple App Store here and the Google Play Store here. Please contact Patrick patrick@hvchamber.org.nz for account instructions or questions.

EMPLOYMENT

Are You Hiring?

If you have a job suitable for a student get in touch with our Education to Employment Coordinator Amanda Walters at  amanda@hvchamber.org.nz or call 049399821.

Thank you to all our Partners

As always, special thanks to all our Members and Partners for your ongoing support.