The Wanganui Chamber's 120 th year has been full of activity. The growth in our City and Region shows no sign of slowing down. Wanganui house prices show the highest increase in the country and this is reflected in business throughout the country seeing Wanganui as a must City to invest in.

With this changing face of business in our region, business people have seen the need to get more involved in the Chamber and its activities. Both the national and locally owned businesses have realised the importance of the Chamber in their City. People realise that with their help and input the city they live in can grow. People are also aware of the importance of networking and just want to be involved in improving their opportunities.

The Team in the Chamber office have worked very successfully and this reflects in the increase in membership. We have Business After 5's function, Open For Breakfast functions and various seminars which have given a lot of business people the opportunity to not only learn more but to network with other people. We have been involved the Chamber Hub meetings where the Presidents, CEO's etc from the lower half of the North Island get together to discuss common interests, two of these have been hosted by Wanganui Chamber.

We have had a lot of attention from politicians in this election year who have seen the need to get feed back from our region. Also we have a lot of interest from outside the region from people trying to discover why Wanganui is advancing so quickly and how they can be part of it.

October sees the second Chamber Business Awards – ABN AMRO Craigs Wanganui Business Awards, a very successful event which has sold out again well before the evening.

All these things have contributed to a busy and successful year.

Below are some of the meetings and functions held from August 2004 to July 2005.

•  Business After 5's
•  Enterprise House
•  Work & Income Wanganui
•  Met new Mayor Michael Laws
•  Whanganui UCOL
•  Mike Bates Plumbing
•  Home Trust Mortgages
•  ABN AMRO Craigs
•  Whanganui Volunteer Centre

•  Open For Breakfast
•  Mayoral Forum
•  Rick Christie, Chairman of the Growth & Innovation Advisory Board and Patron of NZ Futures First
•  Phil O'Reilley, Business New Zealand

•  Other
•  Annual General Meeting
•  ABN AMRO Craigs Wanganui Business Awards workshop/s
•  ABN AMRO Craigs Wanganui Business Awards
•  Masters Games Business Expo
•  Chamber Charity Golf Tournament
•  MP Hon Pete Hodgson visit
•  MP collective visit
•  MP Rick Barker visit 

Sponsors and contributors to Chamber:

We have been given very generous support by key players in this region and for this I thank them. Their contribution to the success of Chamber and its members is very much appreciated and members could consider these businesses and organisations first in the success of their own businesses.

Enterprise Wanganui :

The Chamber has been fortunate to have such an excellent working relationship with Enterprise Wanganui and with the formation of the new organisation Wanganui Inc. I can only see an even better vehicle for the advancement of our region and our Chamber.

Chamber Council:

I would like to thank these people who have given up their time totally free to be involved and contribute to the city through the Chamber. The Council and Committees are totally run by business people volunteering their time to assist the Chamber to grow the city. Particularly as business and families have become so busy in recent times the contribution by these people where they can is pleasing.

It is not a closed shop so if someone is interested in becoming involved please ask.

Chamber Strategy:

The Strategic Direction Committee has put a lot of time into looking at the various options available to the Chamber; both in enhancing what we have and how we build on our future success . These options are near completion and will be discussed by the Chamber in the near future.

In closing I would like to ask people to get more business people involved in the Chamber, the networking opportunities, the need to brand your business and its services ahead of your opposition is available through meeting other business people and seeing if you can sell to or buy from someone else in your city. It will help the growth of our city and assist you to be part of a city that is very special and exciting.

Wanganui has begun to have many opportunities it has never had before, enjoy it, be part of it and contribute where you can to the success we have ahead of us.

Warren Ruscoe
President