Chamber pivot being considered

Finley Chamber president Rick Shaw said business interaction with Finley Chamber has been waning over a number of years.

But the issue is not exclusive to Finley, with other local chambers reporting a similar drop in interaction and feedback from membership.

“Chambers were initially set up as a hub for businesses to network and find out what is available to them, but that role has diminished somewhat due to the internet and the fact that information is more readily available to individual businesses.

“Perhaps our role needs to change, and maybe we need to look at how we work with other groups on how we move forward.

“We need to look at whether we are a relevant group, which based on the fact we’ve had no feedback from our 200 plus memberships to our recent letter, maybe we are not.

“So now we need to look at how we can best service the community - how do we want to operate?”

The letter Mr Shaw refers to is one which was sent to all Finley Chamber members in February.

It outlined that its meetings averaged five attendees and a “largely unheard of membership base”.

“It is important that chamber members understand exactly what you want from your chamber,” Mr Shaw said in the letter.

Mr Shaw said in a recent meeting between Berrigan Shire Council and the chambers which operate in its footprint, discussions about the future of chambers took place.

Based on those discussions, Mr Shaw suggested there may be opportunities for Finley Chamber to work with the council and other interest groups to meet the needs of the community.

He also raised the possibility of a consolidated chamber encompassing the whole of Berrigan Shire.

But he stressed that the chamber needs to hear from its members on what any future role should include.

“There are more discussions to come, but that meeting with the council and other chambers was a positive one.

“We all want to make a difference in our communities; we just need to work out what that looks like.”