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As business owners and leaders from across the Hutt Valley you know how important it is to be looking after yourself and your teams. Now is more important than ever. None of us know what the next few weeks or months will bring. There are lots of predictions of course but what will happen is anyone’s guess.

What we are hearing is that businesses are planning, planning, and planning. This business continuity planning will also be a strain on you and your people. Where do I go for information? Where do I get Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs)? Where can I get support for my wellbeing?

In this issue of the Hutt Valley Business Weekly, we have some information about where you can get more information about RATs, and another testing option.

We also have a very special offer from Reach Out Counselling who want to help you and your team, particularly with wellbeing.

This week:

• Preparing Your Business For Phase 2 Of The Omicron Public Health Response
• Employers Supporting Young People in the Hutt Valley
• Providing A Day Of Care at Te Omanga Hospice
• Meet Raul, Our New Team Member
• Experience A Seamless Supply Chain
• Support For Mental Health and Wellbeing
  • FREE Counselling For Business Owners
  • How Small Steps Will Lead You To Long Term Change
• Upcoming events
  • Members Exclusive Event: Wine Tasting With Sommelier, Gurjit Singh
  • FREE Marketing Workshop – Smash Your Revenue Goals In 2022 With Smarter Marketing​​​​​​​

If you ever need help or support I am just a phone call away at patrick@hvchamber.org.nz or 021 248 1203.

Preparing Your Business For Phase 2 Of The Omicron Public Health Response

With a move into Phase Two of the Omicron Public Health response likely to ensue soon, we want to give you a digestible guide on what this might look like for you and your business.

Below is an infographic to summarise what phase two will look like for businesses in regards to critical services and rapid antigen tests. 

NOTE: Links can be accessed when PDF is viewed in a new window.

To open PDF in a new window click here.

Employers Supporting Young People in the Hutt Valley

Some employers in the retail and hospitality sector have been struggling to find staff. For one employer, French Kiss Creperie based in Queensgate Lower Hutt, this has meant they needed to think about different options.

They have recently hired Francie who is a recent graduate of Hutt Valley based Youth Inspire’s, Inspiring Youth Futures programme. Youth Inspire is a partner to the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Manager, Stormie (right), with her newest employee Francie (left) at French Kiss Cafe.

Francie has been working with Youth Inspire since the beginning of 2018 when she took part in their Licence to Work programme. Francie had struggled with finding sustainable work that fits in with her children. She connected with Youth Inspire last year and completed her work experience at Buzz Cafe where she gained an outstanding reference. Michael, the owner of Bizz Cafe said, “Francie is very helpful to all of our team and she will only grow in confidence as more opportunities come her way”.

Since graduating from the Youth Inspire, Francie is using all the skills she gained through the programme and her work experience – hospitality skills, a driver licence, First Aid Certificate and a Barista qualification.  She is working with one of the Youth Inspire alumni, Stormie, who has recently been promoted to the Manager of the cafe. Stormie says “I wanted to give back to Youth Inspire as they had helped me when I needed it. So when we had a job come up I reached out to them hoping that they would have a young person that had the skills for this job and it’s great, we love having Francie working with us.”

Ali Black, General manager of Youth Inspire said, “We are proud of Francie for working hard to reach her goal of employment to support herself and her whānau.”

Providing A Day Of Care at Te Omanga Hospice

Caring for and supporting people who have life-limiting illnesses, such as cancer or heart failure, is an important part of any community. The brilliant team at Te Omanga Hospice have been providing quality Palliative Care services free of charge to the Hutt Valley community since 1979.

It was with pleasure that the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce was recently able to support the Te Omanga Hospice and their Day of Care programme. The Day of Care fundraising programme allows businesses or organisations to choose a specific day in the year to help fund costs for palliative care and offer support to patients and families. Our Day of Care took place last week, and whilst we were unable to attend due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, we were delighted to be able to support this fantastic programme.

We encourage other businesses across the Hutt Valley to learn more about Te Omanga Hospice and consider supporting the work they do.

To find out how: Visit their 'Support Us' page: https://bit.ly/3udqLXF.

Meet Raul, Our New Team Member

Raul Enrique is the new Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Raul joined our team at the Chamber at the beginning of the year, Raul holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Diploma in Web Design.  He brings with him experience in digital marketing, direct marketing, web design, customer experience management as well as experience running his own business.

Raul is passionate about helping local businesses grow through effective marketing. As a Hutt Valley local he is passionate about the Valley and is excited to work with and support all of our members, the business community and the wider community through the work the Chamber does.

We are really pleased to welcome Raul to the team.

"I'm super pumped to get on board with the Hutt Valley Chamber team. Nearly one month in and I'm loving getting to work with people so motivated, welcoming and fun to work with. I already feel at home... and I didn't get paid to say that."

You can connect with him on LinkedIn where he'll be the first to pop up on your notifications congratulating you when you get that new job, win that bid or finish that project.

Experience A Seamless Supply Chain With A Modern Technology Platform

360Logistics, one of our Gold Partners, have created a new Customer Engagement Platform, My360, to bring transparency and predictability to your supply chain. 

Their online portal provides end-to-end visibility of your shipments from origin to destination and eliminates the time, hassle, and confusion associated with emails, phone calls, and spreadsheets.

Learn how this Kiwi hub helps us grow our partnerships through building a healthy, stable, and reliable supply chain.

Click here to find out more about My360

Overview of the My360 portal

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 founded if you are a business owner.

How Small Steps Will Lead You To Long Term Change

Wellington Performance and Productivity Coach, Josie Askin,
is running a trio of 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.

Areas to be covered include:

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

What: 3 mini-classes covering mindset, movement & nutrition
When:  10, 17 & 24 February 2022
Why: To help people understand they need to ‘think small’ and prioritise the little things if 2022 goals are going to stick
Where: Online
Time: 5:45pm - 6.30pm
Price: $20 per class | $50 for all 3

*Half the proceeds will go to the Wellington City Mission*

To register for this event on Eventbrite click here.

Members Exclusive Event:
Wine Tasting With Sommelier, Gurjit Singh

Gurjit Singh, Chamber member and an accredited sommelier is hosting an evening of networking while tasting a range of New Zealand wines including Toi Toi Sparkling Rose, Palliser Pencarrow Sauvignon Blanc, Theory & Practice Chardonnay, Theory & Practice Syrah and Toi Toi Pinot Noir.

If you enjoy tasting wines from around New Zealand and would like to learn a little more about the art of wine tasting then join us as Gurjit Sigh Barry walks us through a tasting of these 5 New Zealand wines.

When: 03 March 2022
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber, Level 3, 15 Daly St
Time: 5pm - 7.30pm
Price: $35

To register for this event click here.

Our Platinum Partner, Synthesis Marketing, Is Hosting a FREE Workshop

As 2022 gets into full swing, now is the time to prepare for the year ahead and put in place the marketing strategies and tactics that will ensure that you smash your revenue goals over the next 12 months!

At this session, the team from Synthesis Marketing will share the key steps to take in planning smarter marketing moves for 2022.

When: 22 February 2022
Where: Hutt Valley Chamber, Level 3, 15 Daly St
Time: 5pm - 7.30pm
Price: FREE

To register for this event click here.

Upcoming 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.

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.

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.