A Message from the President

Media Release
20 March 2020

A Message from the President

Dear Members,
Given the current economic and communal environment I have taken the opportunity to communicate with Members personally.  We live in challenging times and it will be critical that we work together to help each other through these testing times.  We will recover from this and there is a blue sky in the future, the critical issue though is to get through the ‘todays’. The Chamber will continue to support businesses and most critically our advocacy role will now become paramount.

The Board has decided that we will take a month by month approach going forward based on the state of the environment as it develops and unfolds. This effectively means that all Chamber events up to 30^th April 2020 have been cancelled with immediate effect. The only event that will continue will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM) which we will attempt to hold in some virtual manner so as to comply with our statutory responsibilities. We are currently reviewing our legal options in this respect, and Members will be notified under separate correspondence. 

Notwithstanding, we will keep Members informed as we progress and the decision about May events will be determined during April. The office will, however, remain manned. For obvious reasons the preferred mode of contact will now, however, be by email or phone, but where critical, face to face meetings will be arranged to ensure Members are adequately supported as they encounter these challenging times.

In conjunction with the wind-down of face to face events we will be looking for alternate means to both assist Members in surviving these troubled times as well as to maintain some degree of Member to Member contact. The long term survival of our Members is critical to the long term survival of the Chamber.  We are fully aware of this; and will do all to ensure that all survive long and strong. I cannot stress enough, if you are confronting any issues please contact us so that we can either help or refer you to a Member or specialist who can.  There is no need for any Member to go through these difficulties alone.

One critical thing we do not want to do is to add to the ever expanding level of information that is increasingly being promulgated from a wide variety of sources. Some accurate and meaningful; but alas much either hype or misinformation.  We request that careful consideration is given to what is acted on. Government guidelines and support should be treated as the primary source of guidance.

Most of you are already aware that there is increasing uncertainty about the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and undoubtably we are experiencing the detrimental rolling affects and impacts causing disruption to our personal lives with panic buying, and the implementation of contingency plans for our elderly loved ones.  All of this, as well as balancing our professional lives and businesses with the economic fallouts and ambiguity.

The Parramatta Chamber of Commerce has a corporate and social responsibility of communicating the associated apprehension, especially around large social gatherings.  We recognise the predicament for our Members and their guests that attend and engage with our platforms as well as the greater network in our business community.

We are committed to promoting the safety of the business community and mindful we must all support each other through these unprecedented challenging economic times. Whilst we continue to promote healthy hygiene and social responsibility, business as we know it has significantly changed, even with the common ways of communicating and networking which is our fundamental driver to promote business growth in our city and region.

The Chamber relies on our hosts and partners in enabling these successful events.  We are devastated for the hardship the business community is experiencing regarding managing their own staff and operations through these difficult times.

As indicated above, the decision has been made to cancel our April ‘Business After 5’ event that was scheduled to held at NESUTO Parramatta Apartment Hotel. We will be further updating you on a monthly basis on the status and scheduling of our future Chamber events.

In respect to the AGM, traditionally our attendances have been minimal and as a consequence, we will be looking at an online solution.  Members keen to be in attendance at the AGM are requested to email the office of their intent so that we can determine the size of the issue and develop a solution that will meet the Chamber’s needs.

Do not hesitate to reach out and contact the Chamber office should you believe that we may be able to assist with anything.

The Board, Executive and Chamber team are working closely to ensure communication is timely, transparent and relevant for our Members and their guests. We are proud of our business community and encourage Member to Member interaction and support as we all navigate through these unprecedented challenging times.

Schon G Condon RFD
President

PLEASE STAY SAFE AND STAY INFORMED:
COVID-19 information is being updated daily, for current advice visit health.gov.au
 
Click here for attached PDF Version
For further information, please contact the Chamber office on 02 9635 0022
or romina@parramattachamber.com.au