A St Francis Business Chamber has been formed to provide a solid infrastructure, plus a range of facilities and attractions to retain and attract investors, new business, new residents and tourists to the St Francis area.
The imminent announcement on Thyspunt and the impact this will directly or indirectly have on St Francis needs to be managed from a business perspective to ensure the correct infrastructure is in place to support current and future growth.
The Chamber’s message is simple: ‘St Francis is good for Business and Business is good for St Francis.’ At the heart of this statement lies a belief in ‘Enterprise’ as a core lever for South Africa’s growth and recognition that in this sense it has both ‘rights’ and ‘responsibilities’.
The St Francis Business Chamber has been formed to:
• assess and evaluate the needs of the local business community;
• mobilise business opinion on local issues;
• exert a positive influence on the environment in which business operates;
• help business to adapt to realities that cannot be changed;
• promote and encourage the pursuit of business ethics and be non-aligned politically;
• create opportunities for improving business skills;
• work with public and private investment agencies while encouraging major industries with our village ethos to explore opportunities for Business Development.
The Business Chamber will be non-political and will work with all potential partners -businesses, financial entities or local, provincial or central government. In the past six weeks successful meetings were held with many of these organisations.
“All our meetings have been extremely positive and indications are that they will work with us on various projects and where possible assist with skills, resources, training and equipment,” the Business Chamber announced today (18 March). “The Chamber will be invited to work with the Department of Energy and its working groups for the Thyspunt project within Kouga.”
The Chamber also says: “The challenges of business in today’s economy means that to be heard properly and to influence and contribute to strategic thinking, groups of businesses sharing the same aims have a greater chance of success than standalone entities. Members of the St Francis business community and other interested parties therefore initiated a series of meetings with associates and special interest groups to debate the ‘Where to next?’ options and a number of these banded together to create a working group to mutually agree the best way forward.”
The working group also invited the St Francis Bay Business Forum, the St Francis Bay Ratepayers Association and the new Sea Vista Business Forum to provide input or send representatives to avoid overlapping goals and put St Francis first. The outcome of these meetings was the formation of the St Francis Business Chamber (SFBC).
The Business Forum, established in July last year, has agreed in principle to be part of the Business Chamber, says Theo Stead, a member of the Chamber’s steering committee.
All interested parties are invited to attend the Chamber’s first first general meeting to be held on 24 April. Diaries the date. The venue will be announced nearer the time.
This meeting will outline and review the way forward, the operational structures and importantly the key projects that are in the best interests of business and the area in which we live.
For further details contact: John Hammond: 072 770 7788 or Theo Stead: 072 197 6238 or any member of the Steering Workgroup. Email suggestions or comments to : sfbchamber@gmail.com
(edited)
All articles edited or written, all photos taken plus all adverts designed by the Editor and printed in the St Francis Chronicle are protected by the law of Copyright ©. Reproduction or copying of any part of the contents of this newspaper and its concept and design can only be done with the Editor’s written permission.
St Francis Chronicle 