If you follow me on LinkedIn, you’ll know that it’s a tool I really enjoy using. It allows me to share the incredible work of the people I meet in my role here at the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce. I am able to develop connections with new people and keep up to date with our local business community.

There are some other great online tools to help make running your business easier.

This week I found RECOVERIT. Recovering bad debt is a pain for anyone, especially small businesses, it is time-consuming and any conflict is difficult on a personal level. 

RECOVERIT looks like it is easy to use. It’s been developed by specialists who know the law, and the process has been specifically developed for tradies to make it easy and cost-effective for them to recover outstanding debts.  Best of all if there is no recovery then there are no legal costs. Check it out for yourself at https://www.recoverit.nz/

If you have any tools that you think might be worth sharing across the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce network let me know and I will do my best to share them in future issues.

In this edition of our Hutt Valley Business Weekly:

• Chamber Updates
• Economic Outlook with BNZ's Head of Research - Event Invitation
• 2degrees Wellington Regional Business Excellence Awards - JUST Over 1 Month Until Nominations Close
• Local & Regional News
• Hutt Valley Technology Companies Become Finalists At The NZ Hi-Tech Awards + Winner of Inspiring Individual Award
• Hutt City Making Progress on Climate Action
• Corporate Social Good Book Opportunity with MIX Lower Hutt Mental Health
• National Business News
• MyACC For Business Puts You In Control Of Your ACC Account
• Riverlink Updates
• RiverLink Info Session with the Project Director - Event Invitation
• Travel Survey Underway – Tell the RiverLink Team How You Travel To Work
• Upcoming Events
• Tips For Navigating Business Banking
• Upcoming Training
• Driving Traffic To Your Website Through Keywords and Better Google Rankings  with Synthesis Marketing in Upper Hutt
• Spring Reset: Step Into Spring Stress-Free with Spring Coaching
• Cyber Resilience, Risk Remediation and Cyber Insurance Seminar
• Member Offers 
• Offers from Excio, Clarative Media and Aspire2 Business: Workplace Communication

CHAMBER UPDATES

Economic Outlook with BNZ's Head of Research - You're Invited

As part of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce’s new relationship with the German Chamber of Commerce, we are pleased to bring you this event with BNZ's Head of Research.

With a deep knowledge of the New Zealand economy, Toplis will share what is coming next, and break down the major economic trends impacting New Zealand business.

When: 15^th August – 4:00pm to 5:30pm
Where: BNZ's Partners Centre,  The Lookout Room, Level 10, 1 Victoria Street, Wellington

2degrees Wellington Regional Business Excellence Awards - JUST Over 1 Month Until Nominations Close

The 2degrees Wellington Regional Business Excellence Awards for 2022 will be a celebration of the businesses across the Greater Wellington region and with nine categories to choose from there is a place for all organisations to participate.

The awards are open to any business or organisation within the Greater Wellington region, including Wellington, Porirua, Kapiti, Wairarapa and the Hutt Valley. There is no cost to enter. You can nominate your own business or someone else’s.

Entry is simple. Complete the online nomination form for the category of your choice by September 16^th here:   https://wellingtonbusinessexcellence.awardsplatform.com/

The awards are a time for businesses to celebrate their efforts, their teams, their drive and determination, and equally their contribution to jobs, the economy and our communities.

For more information visit the official awards page on our website or contact annette@hvchamber.org.nz.

KEY DATES: 
16^th of September - Nominations close
10^th of October - Earlybird pricing ends for Gala Dinner
27^th of October - Finalists announced at our Finalists Function.
Click here to book your ticket to the Finalists Function.
18^th of November - Winners announced at The 2degrees Business Excellence Awards 2022 Gala Dinner.
Click here to book your ticket to the Gala Dinner.

LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS

Hutt Valley Technology Companies Become Finalists At The NZ Hi-Tech Awards + Winner of Inspiring Individual Award

Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce members and Hutt Valleys' own technology firms, Eight360, Excio and GNS Science were selected as finalists at the NZ Hi-Tech Awards.

They were nominated in a number of categories including:

• Most Innovative Hi-Tech Creative Technology Solution – Excio
• Best Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good – GNS Science (and NIWA)
• Most Innovative Hi-Tech Hardware Product – Eight360
• Hi-Tech Inspiring Individual – Terry Miller (Founder of Eight360)

Wellington-based, Brooke Roberts, co-founder, director and co-CEO of wealth development (online investment) platform Sharesies was awarded the Hi-Tech Inspiring Individual award.

"The judges were impressed with the vision Brooke had to want to change the investment landscape and make it available to everyone regardless of how much they want to invest."

"The judges were equally impressed with Brooke’s willingness to share her experience and learnings with others."

We are fortunate to have Brooke Roberts and 3 other Hutt Valley investment professionals share their knowledge, insights and experience at our Women in Business Lunch: 'Empowerment Through Investment' on Thursday, August 18th at the Lower Hutt Events Centre. This will include a Q&A session and lunch will be provided. Spaces are filling up FAST. For more info or to book now click here.

Hutt City Making Progress on Climate Action

Looking across the world, the devasting fires and floods associated with a warming climate, drives home why we all need to take action to reduce our emissions. For Lower Hutt, key climate impacts such as increased rainfall intensity could lead to more slips. The resulting costs and hardships associated with such events are illustrated by the recent slip along the Eastern Hutt Road, with some families in Stokes Valley not being able to return to their homes.

There is a lot of work to do and we can all play our part.

It is good to hear then that Hutt City Council are taking their part in climate action seriously. The Council is supporting the community, including the business community, to implement the Lower Hutt Climate Action Pathway. The pathway sets out how we might collectively reduce emissions by half in 2030 and zero by 2050 with everyone playing their part. 

Some of the work they have been doing includes:

• Vehicles - Council’s vehicle fleet now has an electric vehicle (EV) share of 42% (67 vehicles in total, and 28 EVs). This is a significant increase compared to the 33% only a few months ago. Over the next 12 months, they are transitioning a further eight conventional vehicles to EVs, which would lift their fleet’s EV share to 53%, two years ahead of their original target in 2025. At the same time, the size of their fleet is down about 20% compared to three years ago, because of work to improve the utilisation of their fleet, and remove unnecessary vehicles.
• Heating – Eastbourne Pool was recently fitted with a heat pump to replace a natural gas boiler, reducing emissions at that pool by about 80%. Equally, McKenzie Pool in Petone is scheduled to be fitted with a heat pump to replace a gas boiler in early 2023. That work is supported by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) by way of a grant of $100,000 to accelerate the heating plant change, as it was originally scheduled for 2030. This grant was provided under the Local Government Pool Heating funding to demonstrate the feasibility of using heat pumps for heating aquatic facilities to other territorial authorities. Hutt City has a programme of work to completely phase out the use of natural gas at all of its facilities by 2030, with the Dowse Museum also up for this change in 2023.

Whilst there is a long way to go, and a lot of work to do by us all, it is great to see the Hutt City Council making such good progress on their climate action plans.

The Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce is involved in supporting the implementation of the pathway – please get in touch with us or the Implementation Lead from Council, Peri Zee (peri.zee@huttcity.govt.nz) if you’d like to learn more and find out how you could play your part.

Check out Lower Hutt’s Climate Action Pathway, to see what is happening and what others are doing, and for some ideas on what you can do.

Corporate Social Good Book Opportunity with MIX Lower Hutt Mental Health

MIX, a unique Hutt Valley day service for mental health, has an exciting project creating a coffee-table book that shares the lived experiences of 20-30 of their participants with our greater communities. The book will have stories alongside participants’ drawings. The purpose of this is to grow the understanding of the mental health spectrum we all experience so we can connect the common threads that exist amongst our differences.

This is an opportunity for a Hutt Valley business looking for a social good cause to sponsor, to increase their social responsibility and play a part in bettering our community in the much-needed space of mental health. This business will feature greatly in the promotion and publication of the book.

For more information email lara.drawitout@gmail.com. This is a combined project with MIX (www.mix.org.nz) and Draw It Out (www.drawitout.co.nz).

NATIONAL NEWS

MyACC For Business Puts You In Control Of Your ACC Account

ACC knows that when you’re self-employed, there’s a lot to stay on top of, MyACC for Business can help.  It’s ACC's online platform that puts you in control of your information, so you know what to expect and get invoiced correctly.

With MyACC for Business, you can check and update:

• your Classification Unit
• your employment status
• change your communication preference to email to receive a digital invoice
• apply for CoverPlus Extra
• tell us if you’ve ceased trading

Check out this video to view how 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 self-employed, you’ll likely receive a levy invoice from ACC from September 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 update your communication preference to email.  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.

RIVERLINK UPDATES

RiverLink Info Session with the Project Director - Your Personal Event Invitation

Join us to hear more about the RiverLink project from the RiverLink Project Director. Light breakfast will be provided.

As the RiverLink project progresses we will be hosting a series of information sessions giving you the opportunity to stay informed about the project.

It will be an opportunity to learn more about the project, ask questions and understand the opportunities and challenges that the project will present for local businesses.

RverLink is a programme of three separate but interdependent projects:

• Flood protection
• Urban revitalisation (the Making Places Urban Development Plan)
• Melling transport improvements.

RiverLink will make Lower Hutt more resilient, more connected and more vibrant.

When: Thursday 01 September
Time: 8:00am
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, Level 3, 15 Daly St
Price: No Cost
Light Breakfast will be Provided

Travel Survey Underway – Tell the RiverLink Team How You Travel To Work

The RiverLink team are currently asking the community how they travel to work to help them plan for changes to the transport network.

They want to hear about travel patterns and needs so they can focus on the solutions that are important to the community.

Click here to take part in the survey today!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tips For Navigating Business Banking

• Do you need help navigating business banking in the current economic climate?
• Are your transaction banking, working capital and foreign exchange solutions fit for purpose?
• Are you being priced off the correct base interest rate?

Join us to hear from Cameron Bagrie & the team from Chaperon NZ with some tips on how to stay informed, Bank fit & Bank Smart.

Understand your credit rating and how to improve your chances of accessing credit.

Hear how regulatory environment is affecting business lending and how to navigate this.

Event Sponsor, LINK Business Brokers & Chaperon NZ are helping businesses extract maximum value. Book now.

When: Thursday 30 August
Time: 7:30am - 9:30am
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber Of Commerce, Level 3, 15 Daly St
Price: From $50 + GST

UPCOMING TRAINING

Digital Marketing Workshop: Driving Traffic To Your Website Through Keywords and Better Google Rankings

Websites are a vital part of building businesses, growing brands, driving leads and creating sales. Is your website doing the job?

At this session, Richard Smith from Synthesis Marketing, will take you through the key steps you can take to make your website work harder and smarter for your business. 

Topics to be covered include:

• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and the keywords that matter to your business.
• Paid online advertising.
• Writing content that works.
• Understanding website backlinks.
• The value of Google’s “Near Me” searches.
• Making gains by linking website and offline marketing.
• Resources to boost your efforts.

Synthesis Marketing is the Digital Marketing Partner of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce. Their objective is to create better businesses through smarter marketing.

When: Wednesday 17 August
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Where: Upper Hutt Central Library, 844 Fergusson Dr, Upper Hutt
Price: No Cost

Spring Reset: Step Into Spring Stress-Free

It’s been a wicked winter. We all deserve to hit our reset button and step into Spring feeling refreshed, rejuvenated and restored.

Change is hard but is 100% doable when you know the tips for success. Take it one small step at a time with our member - Spring Coaching's Spring Reset Wellness Series. Three bite-size classes that will introduce you to small steps wisdom. Come to one or all three and save!

Classes cover:

• MINDSET: Making time for the things that matter. Tuesday 23 August.
• MOVEMENT: You do have time to move. Let’s snack. Tuesday 30 August.
• NUTRITION: The joy of just one. Eating mindfully. Tuesday 6 September.

Invest in your well-being & performance while giving back.
Fundraising event to proudly support Wellington City Mission

When: 
Mindset - Tuesday 23 August
Movement - Tuesday 30 August
Nutrition - Tuesday 06 September
Time: 5:30 pm
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce
Price: From $20 per class | $50 for all 3 classes

New Date - Cyber Resilience, Risk Remediation and Cyber Insurance Seminar

Protecting your business from cyber attacks is more than having cybersecurity tools or an IT team. A successful cyber attack could cost you operational downtime, loss of data, reputational damage, and lost revenue.

Being cyber resilient means knowing what needs to be protected, what risks you face, and having plans for threat detection, response, and most importantly, knowing how to recover as rapidly as possible from cyber incidents.

There will be a panel Q&A session after the presentation where representatives from IT Works, Intelligensia and Crombie Lockwood will be available to answer your questions about:

• Cyber resilience
• How to secure your environment to ensure you have the greatest protection
• How to keep your staff educated and aware of the risk
• How to ensure you have adequate coverage in the event of a cyber breach.

When: Wednesday 05 October
Time: 10am - 11:30am
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce
Price: No Cost

MEMBER OFFERS

One Hour Photoshoot Offer

New members, Excio, are offering Chamber members a special deal to help promote your business. Get a one-hour photoshoot at an incredible price, that can be used for headshots, office shots, products etc. To redeem this offer, contact ana@excio.io with your preferred booking.

Member Video Package Offer

Clarative Media are offering Chamber members a special deal to help promote your business. Get in touch with them through their website or 0800 122 571 to claim this offer and let them know the Chamber referred you. Watch their showreel below to see their work.

Workplace Training Programmes - At No Cost

Find out you can access government-funded workplace based training for your workforce. Get in touch with Aspire 2 Business: Workplace Communication through workplacecommunication@aspire2.ac.nz or  on 0800423 888 and let them know the Hutt Valley Chamber referred you.

EMPLOYMENT

Do You Have A Role That You'd Like To Get Filled?

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.