There's a lot happening over the next couple of weeks!

There is a lot happening in Christchurch over the next few weeks directly relating to the Employers’ Chamber activity.  August 30^th is a big day in our lives, with an ExportNZ Conference attracting in excess of 150 attendees and a top line of speakers from right across New Zealand. We all know the Governments’ intentions to increase the ratio of exports to GDP from the current 30% to 40% by 2025. Christchurch is pretty good at international trade but we are going to have to get a lot better to ensure that we contribute more than our share towards this target. The conference will be a good stepping stone to give people a better understanding of the relevance and opportunities relating to international trade. 

On the same day we host the BusinessNZ Council Meeting in Christchurch. This involves 25 leading business representatives from across the country plus the BusinessNZ team, meeting to discuss the continuing role of BusinessNZ in contributing to the growth of our economy. CECC is  one of the founding shareholders in the BusinessNZ family and we are delighted to host them in our city. While the council members are here we will be giving them a run down on progress with respect to earthquake recovery and a clear steer on how they can assist Christchurch and Canterbury in the rebuild.

Just around the corner, on September 27^th, we are hosting the Champion Canterbury Awards. As previously indicated, these awards are a sell out with 1150 people attending the formal dinner to celebrate business success in our region. We had a record number entries (180 businesses) all telling wonderful stories about the contribution business makes to our community and emphasising the inter-dependency between a healthy business sector and a healthy community. We see the awards as being another step along the way in terms of the economic growth of our city and our region. 

To top it all off it’s spring, the blossoms are out, lambs are being born, new life and new hope are all around us, which will no doubt contribute to the re-energising of our community in this post-earthquake environment. So get out there and enjoy it!

www.cecc.org.nz