Associations To Business

The ACT & Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry has been serving the Canberra business community for almost 80 years. Chamber members have access to advice on a range of issues regarding the employment of staff, varying other business matters, and we receive many calls from members to our Workplace Relations hotline. Regrettably, this year there has been a marked...

Seeing Machines Limited, the ACT's company that took out the ACT Chief Ministers Export Awards Small to Medium Services category last year, has gone from strength to strength since winning the award. Seeing Machines Limited was a technology company birthed in Canberra and spun out of ANU. Seeing Machines is an award winning technology company with a focus on vision...

This is my first column for B2B since commencing in the role of Chief Executive, ACT & Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The passing of Dr Chris Peters earlier this year was felt throughout the Canberra community and I wish to acknowledge the professional manner of Chamber staff during this difficult time ensuring our member's needs were met. It...

Last month in this article I bemoaned the fact that the 2013 Federal Budget had no offsetting investment in industry development or infrastructure for Canberra to minimise the disproportionally negative impact of significant cutbacks the Australian Public Service (APS) and nothing to assist Canberra to optimise the opportunities to diversify its economy in the longer term. I suggested that there...

It's all about confidence stupid! Australia's economic fundamentals might be sound but for too long business and consumer confidence has been battered by ongoing political instability and an increasing preoccupation by our politicians on attaining and retaining power rather than governing the country. Businesses are frustrated and disillusioned with this focus on politicking rather than policy. In Canberra and the...

ACT companies that export are very important to our local economy. Dollars coming from overseas and invested back into our local economy will be increasingly important to balance the ACT's reliance on the public sector. The ACT government has a program called Global Connect which has a number of international programs established to support the continuing diversification and internationalisation of...

The search for a new Chief Executive Officer for an organisation is always difficult but when you are trying to fill the shoes of a man of the calibre of Christopher Peters, the task is especially daunting. The Board of the ACT & Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry were faced with the almost insurmountable task of finding a new...

The input of small and medium business into the Australian economy can no longer be ignored by government. The ACT & Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACT Chamber) is therefore supporting the national "Small Business. Too Big to Ignore" campaign led by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). There are 2 million small businesses in Australia, employing...

Recently 16 ACT companies and education providers returned from a Trade Mission to Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia is geographically close to Australia and provides a wealth of opportunities. Importantly there is a large and growing consumer middle class. In the Asia Pacific the middle class is currently 525M people, and this is forecast to grow to 3228M by the year 2030....

Does anyone else regard it as strangely incongruent that the Federal Government and Opposition recently rushed (quite rightly) to provide structural adjustment funding and transition support to the communities in Victoria that will lose1200 jobs when Ford closes its manufacturing plants in Victoria in 2016 but are silent when it comes to supporting the ACT community and private sector as...

The progress of Reconciliation depends on full participation from all members of our community. Ensuring that Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islanders in Canberra and the surrounding region are given every chance to seethe breadth of opportunity available and make the connections they need to support them in pursuing their dreams. It is for this reason that the ACT & RegionChamber of...

The ACT Chief Ministers Export Awards for2013 are underway, with the launch of the Awards and the online application portalon May 1, 2013. Be recognised for your exporting and international business achievements and join the likes of Canberra success stories such as Aspen Medical, Intelle dox and Datapod, all of whom havebeen recognised for outstanding export success. Winning an Export...

While the Phase 2 Report on HighSpeed Rail (HSR), released on 11April 2013, was broadly welcomedby everyone, the ridiculously slowstart and rollout timetable were not only ridiculed -they put the credibility of the project itself and theGovernment's commitment to it, in real doubt. It was particularly pleasing that the report supported Canberra Business Council's long-heldview that the optimal staging of...

The ACT & Region Chamber of Commerceand Industry has been serving the businesscommunity in the ACT for almost 80years. As the 'Voice of Business' in the ACT,the Chamber represents the business perspective and advocates for local and regional businesses on current and emerging issues affecting them. TheChamber provides members with a range of services to help them meet the challenges...

How do you know that you're readyto export? It all starts with makingsure your business is export-ready andthinking about the best way of taking your product or service to market. Companies starting to export are more likely to succeed if they have a well thought out and planned export strategy. Prospective exporters need to have a strong understanding of their...

The ACT Government recently launched its'City to the Lake' initiative at the National Museum of Australia. This project which will connect the city to Lake Burley Griffin joins other recent ACT city planning developments such as the City Plan and Canberra Metro - a new Light Rail Transport network. Canberra Business Council is very supportive of the City to the...