Chamber of Commerce and Tauranga's growth

Most business people have a reasonable understanding what Chambers of Commerce are about, but the general public can misconstrue what we do.
Sometimes they think we are an old boys' club with a secret handshake, or something to do with the council, or even the Commerce Commission.
Last week I started chatting to a retired teacher at a BBQ and he started asking me some probing questions about what we did and why.
I started saying that our vision was to have thriving Chamber members in a vibrant business environment. He looked sceptical and asked for details.
I then told him we were involved in a myriad of activities categorised into three groups.
The first group was Member Services, involving regular networking events such as Business After 5s, Business Women's Network meetings; Rocket! for young professionals; Leaders in Business luncheons and Business Breakfasts; and annual events such as the Westpac Regional Business Awards and our golf tournament.
He asked: "But why do people need to network?"
I replied that information and relationships were the life blood of any business community, and regularly attending organised functions allowed business people to tap into new information and new relationships. Also, they were good fun.
I said we also provide training and informational seminars. He could see the sense in that, and had no questions.
I went on to explain that we also gave members opportunities to promote their products and services through sponsorship, by offering member discounts, advertising in our Enterprise magazine, and by accessing our database.
Also, we process certificates of origin for our exporter members, and help people back into the workforce through the Business Professional Programme.
Our second group of activities is in enterprise and capability development, which means assisting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and they don't have to be members.
We have mentors and great staff who give advice and access to training and coaching grants, and research and development.
I then explained that the third group of activities could loosely be described as "Advocacy and Influence" where, amongst other things, we contribute as a voice of business. For example, we frequently get asked by the media to comment on issues from the business perspective.
We also make a variety of submissions to local, regional and central government. He snorted and exclaimed that the politicians probably never listen.
"Actually they do," I said, "especially if we have spoken to other agencies and all share similar recommendations. It does mean something if there is a common voice from business representative organisations."
I then explained we contribute to local and regional economic development strategies, being Smart Economy and Bay of Connections respectively. We believe economic growth is critical to the future wellbeing of this region. We also get involved in one-off community issues such as a TECT election, and our Committed Optimist campaign.
We frequently invite influential people to Tauranga as guest speakers and fill up their day with visits to local businesses. Behind the scenes we also facilitate introductions and get the right people talking to each other
"Can you give me an example?" he queried.
"Well, there is the Golden Triangle Mayors luncheon on the May 23, where the guest speakers are the mayors of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga," I answered.
"OK," he said, "I understand the member services, but what is the point of economic growth; isn't it just business owners making more money."
I was a bit taken aback. I naturally assumed any intelligent person could see economic growth benefited us all.
I explained that in the Bay many social indicators are way below the national average, and that most are linked to low-income levels. I said there is no better way to improve people's lives than creating good jobs and that comes from having a thriving business environment.
"So, the Chamber exists so that we might all have a better life?" he said thoughtfully, and I concurred.
It was a wake-up call for me though that not everybody sees the advantages of economic growth, and we need to work harder to foster an understanding and awareness of its benefits to the whole community.
Max Mason is chief executive of Tauranga Chamber of Commerce. He can be contacted on email: max@tauranga.org.nz or phone: (07) 577 9823.