Local Chamber

“Wow we have to usually offer free beer to get this many people to
attend”, this was pretty much the opening sentence from the Chamber of
Commerce Industry Queensland (CCIQ) Brisbane representative at the
meeting to get a Rockhampton Chamber of Commerce started. Approximately
50 people attended, some just observing, most though out of interest.
What were those who took 2 hours out of their Friday morning hoping to
hear and do as a result of the meeting? Talking to a few I believe
enabling Rockhampton region take better advantage of the opportunities
of its geographic location in relation to the resource activity that
Mackay, Gladstone and Emerald appear to have, or simply put, the
frustration of seeing Rockhampton lag behind these centres was a
motivating reason to attend. However no magic, quick solution was
provided; other than the strength of numbers in lobbying governments in
attempting to achieve desired objectives. I left the meeting expecting
‘more’ from it, maybe hearing from another local Chamber on how they
operate for example. Energy was in the room; however it wasn’t harnessed
at the time. The plan is to do this later with invitations and more
detailed information of how a local chamber can be resurrected.
Hopefully this will prove to be the correct strategy.
It was great to see the interest in forming a local Chamber. Thought on
what’s its role will be, how it will resource the activities expected of
it and its short term goals that will need to be achieved to gain its
credibility with both government and the local business community will
need to be undertaken. Unfortunately there is no magic, quick fix
(though a major project like a bullet train between Rockhampton and
Gladstone could be a real game changer) to extra stimulate Rockhampton’s
growth. A local group with an agenda of pushing buy local, educating
local businesses on new growth strategies, networking and being vocal
about local issues affecting business like the Aussie Sheds scenario may
not make page 1 of the newspaper, but in collaboration with the efforts
of the CCIQ, Capricorn Enterprise and Council can make a worthy
contribution to bettering the Rockhampton Region and Central Queensland.