Wow! Wow! Wow!

Earlier this year we asked employers and businesses from across our region to support two events to help students of the Hutt Valley discover, explore and connect to the world of work. We were blown away by the response and we are so grateful for the commitment and effort they all made.

It all came together over the past 2 days when we had over 70 different employers and education providers, and over 1200 students from across the Hutt Valley schools, come to two career pathways events in Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.

The students came to the events excited to learn about the jobs, understand the skills they might need, and learn more about businesses from industries including construction, infrastructure, health, gaming, IT and technology, tourism, transport, services (police and armed forces), hospitality, food manufacturing, manufacturing, science, engineering, trades, recycling, utilities, beauty and just about any other industry you could think of. The students then got to explore ideas and opportunities for them to study further with the many education providers who also attended.

The extremely hard work of my team, particularly Amanda Walters (Education to Employment) and Annette Wasson (Events) brought this together, but it could not happen without the support of employers, education providers, schools and teachers.

THANK YOU.

More information and photos to come next week.

In this edition of our Hutt Valley Business Weekly:

• Chamber Updates
• World-Class Sports Facility Making Progress in Upper Hutt
• Lower Hutt Events Centre Utilise Skills of Youth Inspire Rangatahi
• Local & Regional News
• Getting Your Business Behind Your Region’s One and Only Ambulance Service
• Lower Hutt Events Centre Utilise Skills of Youth Inspire Rangatahi
• Opportunity for Businesses - Maintenance of Hutt City Streetlighting
• Welly Loves WOW campaign
• Pride Initiative Help 100 - By Helping Others, You Can Help Your Business
• National Business News

• Cadetships – Develop, Mentor and Train Your Permanent Māori Staff

• Parental Leave Payments To Increase
• Get More Control of your ACC Account with MyACC for Business  
• Upcoming Training
• *DATE CHANGE* How To Turn Customer Insights Into Sales & Profit - Marketing Workshop
• Upcoming Events
• BNZ Technology and Innovation Series - Save The Date
• Member Offers 
• Some Great Offers from Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni-Professional and The Settlement

CHAMBER UPDATES

World-Class Sports Facility Making Progress in Upper Hutt

We are thrilled to see how the WORLD-CLASS sports training facility is coming together. This will truly be a game-changer for sports in New Zealand. 

Over 100 people ( including our members and guests) joined us for an exclusive tour of the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport (NZCIS) in Upper Hutt.

Jamie Tout, Sports Performance Director at NZCIS started off with a presentation of the project so far and took the opportunity to present the many businesses that have been involved.

It was great to hear the many industry-leading businesses involved including Hutt Valley Chamber members Mexted Sports Turf and NME Group.

"On behalf of Mal, Kev and all us at NZCIS, thank you for your ongoing support and very much today at the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Safari. A great turnout and some extremely positive feedback since the event. Was great to hear a theme of collaboration and inclusiveness when each of you spoke to the 100+ people. It is a very exciting time for everyone seeing the hard work taking shape. Finally a thanks to the Chamber of Commerce for your support of NZCIS." - Jamie Tout.

Thanks to Belinda Wotton, Business Management Consultant at NZCIS for the warm welcome and congratulations to Chamber member Gillies Group on the project.

We can’t wait to see what happens in the next 6 months. Go the Hutt Valley!

Interested in coming along to one of our Business Safari's? Find out more about becoming a member here to join our next one.

Lower Hutt Events Centre Utilise Skills of Youth Inspire Rangatahi

For many years the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce member, Lower Hutt Events Centre, have hosted the ‘Champions Lunch’ fundraising lunch for Life Flight Trust. Hosting over 500 people for a decadent lunch is no easy task. This year the Events Centre reached out to Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce Gold Partner Youth Inspire for casual staff to assist waiting tables. They were able to offer eight rangatahi who were enrolled in the Inspiring Youth Futures programme to the Events Center team to support the event and help ensure its success.

Programme tutors selected rangatahi who had already demonstrated skills such as customer service, teamwork, reliability, café experience and other applicable soft skills.

The rangatahi met the challenge of providing excellent hospitality skills and did so well that they have continued to work for the Lower Hutt Events Centre. Japjot Singh, Hospitality Manager, said “every one of the students did a great job. The whole event went very smoothly, and all the students worked very professionally. We would really like to thank Youth Inspire for connecting us to these wonderful young workers.”

The Lower Hutt Events Centre has a strong history of assisting young people into job opportunities and providing the nurturing and mentoring that they sometimes require to succeed.  They are long-term business partners of Youth Inspire, providing opportunities for the work experience component of both their Youth Employability Programme and their Inspiring Youth Futures programme.

The rangatahi who worked at the event were amazed and impressed by the auction, saying “one of the items up for auction was a 29-year-old PAK’nSAVE pie. It sold for over $11,000!”

Special congratulations to Keara who completed her work experience on the Inspiring Youth Futures programme, she is now happily employed at Tūtaki Café at the Events Centre.

If you’d like to support Youth Inspire by offering work experience opportunities at your workplace like The Lower Hutt Events Centre does, simply email Business@youthinspire.co.nz and join their fantastic group of community-minded and supportive Hutt Valley business partners.

LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS

Getting Your Business Behind Your Region’s One and Only Ambulance Service

Jina’s – a family-run fresh produce business led by Ajay and Sonny Jina - is committed to supporting local, including partnering with Pōneke’s one and only ambulance service, Wellington Free Ambulance. As one of our valued Support Crew Business Partners, Jina’s contributions help keep the wheels turning so paramedic crews can always respond to people in need, completely free of charge.

“Wellington Free Ambulance is there for anyone no matter what. No one knows when they are going to need to call on them for help and we wanted to do our bit to ensure anyone can be helped in any emergency situation, at any time” Ajay explains.

Now, more than ever, Wellington Free Ambulance needs your help. This year, we are celebrating 95 years of being free for the people of Wellington, including Hutt Valley, and we are calling on like-minded businesses - like Jina’s - to support our vital work by joining Wellington Free Ambulance’s Support Crew. Together, we can continue to save lives for another 95 years to come.

Read more and enquire here.

Opportunity for Businesses - Maintenance of Hutt City Streetlighting

The Hutt City Council have issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Maintenance of the City Street Lighting. They require a Contractor to cover routine maintenance of public streetlighting, including pedestrian crossing lighting, access ways, parks and reserves car parks, service lanes. This excludes “Decorative Lighting” and public car parks which are maintained under a separate contract. See appendix One ‘Street Lighting General Specifications’ for full details on all contract requirements. This RFP closes on Friday, 8 July 2022 12:00 PM

If this sounds like you, please contact Colin Lunn at Hutt City Council - procurement@huttcity.govt.nz. Alternatively please reach out to the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO at patrick@hvchamber.org.nz and he can provide access to the tender documents.

Welly Loves WOW campaign

The World of WearableArt Awards Show (WOW) returns to Wellington from 29 September to 16 October 2022 and you’re invited to take part in this year’s Welly Loves WOW campaign.

The Welly Loves WOW campaign is designed to support the retail, hospitality, and tourism sectors by encouraging spending across the region. They've made a few changes to the campaign this year to make it more accessible for businesses to participate;

• Spend & Win Competition (open to all businesses, and consumers of all participating businesses).
• Hospitality to focus on a special WOW offering - could be a cocktail and small plate pairing, a dessert, pre-show menu, or simply a main, the choice is yours!
• The Retail Window Dressing Competition is back! This will be judged by two guest judges with an awesome prize up for grabs.

Registrations are open to retail, hospitality, and paid tourism attractions/experiences in the Greater Wellington Region with a physical site. Participating businesses will be promoted across the WellingtonNZ channels plus you’ll receive branded physical and digital assets to use. Registrations end Monday 11 July.

To find out more and to register your business click here.

 Pride Initiative Help 100 - By Helping Others, You Can Help Your Business

The problem for Pride Lands is that giving children the support they need to thrive isn’t cheap, and if those children have any special needs, the costs escalate.

With the costs of living going up rapidly, and funding from government agencies declining, we need to find different ways to help local children be the best they can and build positive futures, and that’s where you come in.

Pride Lands are asking businesses in the Hutt Valley to join them as part of Pride Initiative and sponsor 100 local children to access the services of Pride Lands.

Every child that gets sponsored is another child and family that Pride Lands can provide support to, when and where they need it most. Local solutions to these issues are the most effective, and the benefits flow back into the local community. It’s a win-win for the Hutt Valley.

If you want to find out more about becoming a sponsor click here.

NATIONAL NEWS

Cadetships – Develop, Mentor and Train Your Permanent Māori Staff

Te Puni Kōkiri’s Cadetship programme supports employers to develop, mentor and train their permanent Māori staff at all career stages into higher-skilled roles.

How do Cadetships work?

Cadetships help Māori staff to develop new skills, improve confidence and leadership abilities and should lead to better employment opportunities.

Up to $10,000 is available per cadet (less for part-time cadets), to go towards a structured and tailored mentoring, training and development programme of at least six months.

How do employers apply?

For more information and to discuss the Cadetship programme contact the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce at patrick@hvchamber.org.nz or 021 248 1203 and we will put you in touch with the local Te Puni Kōkiri Regional Office.

Frequently asked questions about Cadetships and funding can be accessed here.

Parental Leave Payments To Increase

Parental leave payments will increase by 6.33% from Friday, 1 July 2022, to match the rise in the average weekly earnings.

The maximum weekly rate for eligible employees and self-employed parents will increase from $621.76 to $661.12 gross per week.

You can read more here.

Get more control of your ACC account with MyACC for Business  

ACC is making it easy for you to do business with them via their online platform, MyACC for Business.   

Whether you want to access information about your employees’ work-related claims, view and pay your levy invoice, opt in to get your invoices by email or use live chat to talk to a customer service representative, MyACC for Business provides you with a fast and secure way to manage your ACC account online.   

If you’re not registered yet, visit  MyACC for Business and sign up using your ACC or IR number and email address.  

Now’s the time to check your ACC details are correct  

If you’re an employer, you’ll likely receive a levy invoice from ACC from July onwards, so checking and updating your policy details now in MyACC for Business will mean that your invoice will be right, the first time.    

Log in or register for MyACC for Business to check your details are correct and ensure your communication preferences for email are up to date. You’ll be joining the hundreds of thousands of other businesses who have already made the move online to receive their ACC levy invoice via email.  

For more information on ACC levy invoicing for 2022 visit the ACC website.  

UPCOMING TRAINING

*Date Changed* How To Turn Customer Insights Into Sales & Profit - A Marketing Workshop

The value of knowing what your customers are thinking.

The needs of your customers are constantly evolving. Misread their needs, and they may spend their money elsewhere. Now, more than ever, it is vitally important to dig deep to understand your business, your sector, your customers and clients, and how you stack up against your competitors.

For the team at Synthesis Marketing, experience has shown them that deeper insights create better decisions and more powerful marketing.

Join Richard, Brendan and Raewyn to learn how to find out what your customers are thinking and how you make the most of these insights.

At this workshop, Synthesis Marketing will cover…

• The business value of customer insights
• Proven tools and techniques to uncover customer insights
• Sure-fire ways to translate customer insights into tangible results
• Top 5 tips for keeping customer insights front and centre in your business

When: Wednesday 27 July
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber Of Commerce, Level 3, 15 Daly St
Price: No Cost

UPCOMING EVENTS

BNZ Technology and Innovation Series
In The Hutt Valley - Still Time To Register

After a successful event in May, the Hutt Valley Chamber in partnership with Platinum Partners, BNZ will host another three innovative businesses to share their story, the amazing work they are doing and the technology, innovations and inventions they are coming up with and implementing in the real world.

Join us to hear from:

• Dave Waton, Director and Shairae Taepa, Customer Services Technician & Emerging Metrologist of the Year 2022. From RF Test Solutions
• Ray Tomlinson, Director of  JT Group & SummitBWT
• James Fuller, Co-founder & CEO of Hnry
• Dulan Perera, Digital Experience Manager, MEVO

Each speaker will speak for 10 minutes, followed by Q&A and finally an opportunity for networking. Snacks and drinks provided.

When: Wednesday 06 July
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Where: BNZ Partners Centre Lower Hutt, 45 Knights Road
Price: Members (No Cost) | Non-members ($25 + GST)

Future Events & Training

We have several more events and training workshops 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 & training, keep an eye out on future issues 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

Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni‑Professional - Professional Development Offer

Chamber Members, Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni‑Professional help future-focused Kiwis build more rounded, relevant skill sets - that set them up for where New Zealand business is going and give them greater confidence and adaptability at work.

They are the next step in professional development – with a market-leading, constantly evolving range of modules that can be combined and tailored for any individual, in any industry, to address the full range of contemporary business needs.

Right now, WUP has an offer for Chamber members using discount code: HVCC2022. See here for their list of courses.

A Fortnight At The Settlement - On Them

Trial The Settlement in Petone or Upper Hutt, for a fortnight for free!

Breathe life back into your work. Their premium co-working spaces are beautiful, intuitive, and filled with natural light, designer furniture, dedicated desks, and break-out spaces. Fully equipped meeting rooms mean you can be proud to meet your clients, host workshops, and so much more.

Their Petone space is located on bustling Jackson Street, and is a short stroll from the beach, cafes, bars, restaurants, supermarkets, public transport and boutique stores. Their Upper Hutt space is in the heart of the Brewtown precinct, with breweries and eateries on the doorstep, as well as essential amenities and shops just a couple of blocks away.

The Factory is our dedicated events space in Upper Hutt and is the perfect space to hire for your next team-building day, workshop, conference or away day.

Settle for more. Contact The Settlement today on 021 193 7570, work@thesettlement.co.nz or pop in for a look around.

EMPLOYMENT

Do You 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 our vacancies, click here.

Thank you to all our Partners

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