Workshops running for businesses

The biggest event of the year for Wanganui businesses willl have a different format this year - workshops followed by a dinner instead of the usual awards night.

The awards will happen again as usual in 2013, Whanganui Employers' Chamber of Commerce (WECC) president Jenny Duncan said.

The 2012 series of business workshops will be launched on June 21 at a function with guest speaker Jason Trembath from New Zealand Drug Detection Agency. The principal sponsor will be the ANZ National Bank, and the launch is at Wanganui's ANZ branch.

The workshops will start in July and happen every two or three weeks until November. They will be practical and inspirational, Ms Duncan said, and will enable businesses to be more successful and profitable.

They are to cover the five key elements in a business: governance and strategy, cashflow, marketing, productivity and culture change. Most of them will have practical follow-up sessions.

And they'll be available to businesses throughout the region - from Waverley to Taihape and Marton, big and small, urban and rural.

"Any enterprise operating on sound business principles will gain great value from this new approach," Ms Duncan said.

The workshops will be heavily subsidised but attendees will still have to pay a fee, which is discounted for members of WECC.