Hi,

Now more than ever your local business needs your support. It’s tough for our hospitality and retail sector at the moment as we all deal with Omicron. Your local café, retailer, shop and restaurant are important parts of our communities around the Hutt Valley. They need and will be grateful for any support you can provide right now. Please think about shopping, eating out, or getting a take-away locally. Our Hutt Valley businesses will really appreciate your support.

In this issue of the Hutt Valley Business Weekly we are pleased to share:

• Supporting Local – “We Are Still OPEN”
• Forging Partnerships Through Partnerships with Hutt Valley Schools
• New Financial Support For Businesses Affected By Omicron
• Financial Support Available For Workers In Self-Isolation
• Ask The Experts – Employer Obligations During Covid Outbreak
• Help Us Measure The Impact Of Covid On The Labour Market – Be In To Win an iPad 
• Finding Staff To Support You Through Omicron
• A New Way Of Protecting Workers And The Economy
• Phase Two Of The Omicron Public Health For Businesses Summarised
• How To Earn Hundreds Of Thousands of Dollars Of Work Over The Next 11 Years                       
• Upcoming Events
  • International Women's Day Event: Women In Business | Celebrating Local Women Challenging The Norm
  • Breakfast with Chris Luxon, Leader of the Opposition
• Upcoming Training
  • How To Stay In Control Of Your Mental Wellbeing During Uncertain Times
  • FREE Counselling For Business Owners
  • How Small Steps Will Lead You To Long Term Change
• Members Offers
• Job Vacancies

Thanks for your support. If you need anything please reach out to me at patrick@hvchamber.org.nz or 021 248 1203.

Supporting Local - "We Are Still OPEN"

The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO, Patrick McKibbin, had the chance to catch up with Michael Gray, owner of Buzz Café in High Street Lower Hutt, and James Scott, Secretary of the Southend Business Group, this morning to discuss how local business Buzz Café was doing during the current Omicron outbreak.
 
“It’s really tough for these businesses right now and it was great to get down and support them by having our meeting there rather than in our offices. Running a small business is challenging at the best of times but right now turnover is down significantly”, says Patrick.
 
The stark reality of the challenges businesses like Buzz Café face is not only about the business but about the impact on wellbeing and mental health.
 
“What we have built is very precious to my wife and I as owners. I could just shut the door, but I care deeply about the people I employ here. I am working 7 days a week and trying really hard to not lose everything and become another statistic. The anxiety is very tough” says Michael.
 
Buzz Café is still OPEN, as are many retailers, bars, restaurants and shops across the Hutt Valley. They would love your support.

If you're shopping in Jackson St Petone check out this opportunity to win a voucher here.

If you're in the Hutt Valley you can find local businesses to support here.

If you're in Wellington you can find local businesses to support here.

Left: James Scott, Secretary of the Southend Business Group | Middle: Michael Gray, owner of Buzz Café in High Street Lower Hutt| Right: Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO, Patrick McKibbin

Forging Talent Through Partnerships With Hutt Valley Schools

Last week the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted employers from our region at Hutt Valley High School to hear about a model to create partnerships between employers and schools.

Across the Hutt Valley, many employers have been struggling to find talent. In the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce's recent Business Confidence Survey, 56% of employers in our region said they were struggling for talent.
 
In Hastings, one engineering employer, Patton Engineering, has been bucking this trend by partnering with a school in their region to develop a model that has seen them build their own talent pipeline.  The model essentially sees employers working with their local schools to support students towards a pathway into employment. The combined strength of schools and employers working together ensures that students are work-ready, have a great attitude towards work, and understand what is required of them.
 
The model really works. There are now 31 employers across Hastings working with the school. For businesses, this has a fantastic ROI with lower cost to recruit, lower churn of staff, and increased loyalty and retention. In the case of Patton Engineering, they have removed the risk of employing a young person that might not be a fit for their business or might not like the work they have taken on. They have improved their apprenticeship retention to close to 100% in the last 3 years.
 
To read more about this work click here.

The story was inspiring to those attending. One attendee commented, “Thank you for a great event, it had left me inspired! I would be keen to discuss further how to make this happen for all our schools”, and another said "Very informative – and definitely an option for some Hutt businesses to get involved”.
 
If you would like to find out more please email Patrick, our Chief Executive at patrick@hvchamber.org.nz.

New Financial Support For Businesses Affected By Omicron

The key parts of the targeted support for businesses affected by Covid include:

• Each COVID Support Payment will be $4000 per business plus $400 per full-time employee, capped at 50 FTEs or $24,000. This is the same rate as the most recent Transition Payment. Applications open 28th of February.
• Changes are also being made to the Small Business Cashflow Loans Scheme to increase the amount of funding available to eligible businesses through the introduction of a ‘top up’ loan.
• The top-up loan will allow those firms that have already accessed a loan to draw down an additional $10,000 with a new repayment period of 5 years and the first 2 years being interest-free.
• The government is also extending the Commissioner of Inland Revenue’s ability to apply flexibility for tax payment dates and terms to assist firms with cashflow pressures.
• Any businesses struggling to pay tax because of the impacts of COVID should log on to myIR to see if they can delay starting payments to a later date, or if any part of the tax could be written off. IR can help with both GST and provisional tax due.

To find out more: click here.

Financial Support Available For Workers In Self-Isolation

There are also, two different payments available when workers need to self-isolate because of COVID-19 or are waiting on a test result and can't work from home. These are the:

1. COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme
2. COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment.

Employers or the self-employed can apply for these payments to help pay wages. There are no revenue tests. 

To find out more about these payment options, click here.

Ask The Experts – Employer Obligations During Covid Outbreak

Chamber CEO Patrick McKibbin will be talking to Tony McKone, Employment specialist from McKone Consultancy as well as Nikki Farrell, Senior Solicitor and Michael O'Flaherty, Associate from Gibson Sheat Lawyers about the Employer Obligations during COVID-19.
 
They will be covering a range of topics including:

• Mandates - Tools to use when deciding to introduce mandates, and how to introduce these into your business
• How to manage an employee who may not want to comply with mandates and the process that you should follow 
• Short Term Absence Payment and Leave Support Scheme - Obligations to your employees when applying for the payments
• Sick leave and annual leave entitlements - How these can be used in conjunction with government financial support
• Obligations to employees who have no leave entitlement available to them.
• How to manage change in business processes - Your obligations if this changes employees' normal working hours, environment, or job role. 

If you have any specific questions you would like Patrick to ask the experts please email anette@hvchamber.org.nz before Monday 28th February.
 
The video will be shared on Wednesday 2nd March.

Help Us Measure The Impact Of Covid On The Labour Market & Be In To Win an iPad

Immigration NZ is interested in collecting employer information from around New Zealand relating to the impact that COVID-19 is having on the labour market.

Each year the Chambers Of Commerce run a survey on behalf of Immigration NZ, specifically interested in employer information from the regions to create initiatives and improve outcomes for migrants along with the impact Covid has on the labour market. We would appreciate hearing your thoughts. Your responses are received anonymously, and all data collected will remain confidential.

On top of providing Immigration NZ with valuable information, by completing the survey you also go in the draw to win an iPad. The survey will take less than 10 minutes. If you would like to be in the running for the iPad, please don’t forget to enter your details.

To take part in the survey, click here.

We will be publishing the results of the survey through the New Kiwis website in the near future.

Finding Staff To Support You Through Omicron

We expect that many businesses will have developed business continuity plans to support your business through any disruption created by the Omicron variant. You may be splitting your teams in some way if you can, or simply planning for the disruption of staff needing to isolate. This may mean you need staff for short periods of time to provide some cover. We can help with this.

The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Jackson Street Programme have worked with the Ministry of Social Development to come up with a way to help:

• Match employers with someone on the Jobseeker benefit for whatever length of time required. i.e. a day, a week or more
• Streamline the process with only a few details required
• Eligibility for the MSD Wage Subsidy if the employment turns out to be longer term.

To view a summary of this opportunity click here.

A New Way Of Protecting Workers And The Economy

The Government, Business New Zealand and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions are proposing a new way of better protecting workers and the economy: a New Zealand Income Insurance Scheme.

It will support workers with 80 percent of their income for up to seven months if they lose their job through no fault of their own. Under the proposed scheme, people will have the time and financial security to find a good job that matches their skills, needs and aspirations, or retrain for a new career.

If you would like to send your feedback to the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce team we will make a submission on behalf of businesses in our region.

To read more about the proposals, complete a short survey or make a submission of your own click here.

Phase Two Of The Omicron Public Health For Businesses Summarised

Last week, New Zealand moved to the second phase of the government's Omicron response.

Phase Two means the start of the Close Contact Exemption Scheme. This would allow critical workers to return to work if they return negative rapid antigen tests. 

Last week, we shared the infographic below summarising what Phase Two looks like for businesses, critical services, critical workers and RATs. In case you missed it here it is.

For clickable links and to view the infographic below in a new window click here.

Want A Share Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Work Over The Next 11 Years? 

Does your business want to learn more about the possibility of new work across our region? Then sign up to attend the online briefing on Thursday 3 March between 2 - 4 pm.
 
Fulton Hogan is looking for potential partners to help deliver work for the Wellington Transport Alliance over the next 11 years. If you operate in the following areas then this might be for you:

• Bridge structure inspection and maintenance
• Tunnel inspections and maintenance
• Road corridor maintenance, renewal and reseal/resurfacing
• Pavement stabilising
• Haulage
• Street cleaning (sump, sweeping)
• Graffiti removal
• Vegetation control
• Road marking
• Street lighting
• Traffic signals
• Traffic counting
• Intelligent transport systems
• Temporary traffic management
• Labour hire
• Professional services (a range of associated specialist services, including for example geotechnical inspection and water quality etc). 

Sign up for the briefing on this work here. If you cannot attend but want to learn more email tenders@resolvegroup.co.nz and they will send you a copy of the session recording.

At the briefing, they will talk about the Alliance, how it will operate (from July 1st), approximate timeframes, potential work opportunities and what the process will be to register interest. A question and answer session will be provided as part of this briefing.

UPCOMING EVENTS

International Women's Day Event:
Women In Business | Celebrating Local Women Challenging The Norm

Join us to celebrate International Women’s Day, with a morning tea & networking session.

Hear from three local businesswomen who have been incredibly successful in industries that have traditionally been male dominated.

They will give a short talk a little bit about why they choose their career path and the challenges and highlights along their journey.

This event will support Dress For Success. Feel free to bring a preloved garment on the day or bid in our auction for a selection of prizes.

When: Tuesday 08 March 2022
Time: 9am - 10.30 am
Where: Dowse Art Museum
Price: Members $45 | Non-members $38

To register for this popular event click here.

Breakfast with Chris Luxon,
Leader of the Opposition

As part of our Gibson Sheat Political Series, the Hutt Valley Chamber is hosting a breakfast with Christopher Luxon, National Leader and MP for Botany.

This is an opportunity for the Business community to hear how National would support the business community in a future government.

When: Thursday 17 March 2022
Time: 7.30am - 9.30 am
Where: Silverstream Retreat
Price: Members $45 | Non-members $55 | Table (Max 8 people) $360 | *Excludes GST*

To register for this event that will fill up fast click here.

UPCOMING TRAINING

How To Stay In Control Of Your Mental Wellbeing During Uncertain Times

It's not easy to run a business and deal with the effects of COVID.

Tomorrow, Patrick McKibbin (Chief Executive, Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce) & Sabina Larsen (Counsellor & Director, Reach Out Counselling) have a sit down to discuss strategies to stay in control of your mental wellbeing during uncertain times in this FREE online webinar.

When: Thursday 24 February 2022
Time: 11:30am NZST
Where: Online on our Facebook Page
Price: Free

To register for this webinar on Facebook click here.

FREE Counselling For Business Owners

As we face further uncertainty from COVID-19 the stress that it causes especially to business owners and leaders is often underestimated.

The constant adaption to change, the long term uncertainty and the responsibility as an employer can take a toll on your mental wellbeing.

Chamber Member, Reach Out Counselling, based in Petone and Palmerston North, specialise in among other things how to deal with the impact of COVID 19.  

We encourage all our members to prioritise health and wellbeing and take advantage of the opportunity for counselling sessions fully funded if you're a business owner.

How Small Steps Will Lead You To Long Term Change

Tomorrow, Wellington Performance and Productivity Coach, Josie Askin, is running her last of three online micro-classes to help people understand the need to ‘think small’ and prioritise the little things if 2022 goals are going to stick. Half the proceeds of these micro classes will go to the Wellington City Mission.

3 areas to be covered include:

• MINDSET | 10 February 2022
• MOVEMENT | 17 February 2022
• NUTRITION | 24 February 2022

When:  10, 17 & 24 February 2022
Where: Online
Time: 5:45pm - 6.30pm
Price: $20 per class | $50 for all 3

To register for this event on Eventbrite click here.

Future Events

We have several more events coming up throughout the year. These will include:

• Business After Five networking events
• Gibson Sheat's Political Series
• BNZ Technology & Innovation Series
• Business Safaris
• Women in Business Events
• Learning & Development workshops from our partners

Plus many more!

To stay up to date with all our events, keep an eye out on future newsletters of the Hutt Valley Business Weekly. You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to see these events as they come up.

MEMBER OFFERS

Members Offer: N95 / P2 Equivalent Masks

Our Hutt Valley Chamber member and government supplier, Survive-it, are offering you a special deal on N95/P2 equivalent masks.

How To Redeem:
To redeem your special offer contact Steven. Email steven@survive-it.co.nz and mention to him you are a member of the Chamber.

Product Details:
Mask product details and specs: View product details.

Torpedo7: Family and Friends Offer

Thanks to Torpedo7, you can get up to 50% off their range of products. (T&C's below.)

Valid Dates: 16 February – 1 March 2022

How To Redeem:

• In store - Show the attached flyer. Store staff to scan the barcode
• Online - See the promo code on flyer to use at the online checkout: F68C80F57

Terms and Conditions: Discounts are off RRP. If the product is already on promotion customer will receive the lower of offer or promo pricing. Not all products are eligible for a discount. Variations in the regional COVID-19 alert levels may cause a delay in non-essential orders being shipped. Not available in conjunction with any other offer. Excludes Bikes and Frames, Electronics, Freight, Gift Cards and Workshop Services. Valid from 16/02/2022 to 01/03/2022.

Job Vacancies

Are you a member and have a role that you'd like to get filled?

Contact Andrew our Employment Coordinator. You can reach him on:   andrew@hvchamber.org.nz or call 049399821.

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.

To view more of our vacancies, click here.

Membership

Are you or your business a member yet?

Your membership includes exclusive offers, members-only events, networking opportunities with local council and other businesses, promotion across our social media channels, website, email and network, FREE employer services, FREE weekly meeting room hire, plus many other benefits.

For more information on our memberships or how you can become a member email annette@hvchamber.org.nz or call 04 939 9821.

Thank you to all our Partners

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