Message from the CEO

What unprecedented times we are living in. Just a few short months ago we had never heard of Zoom, staff braced the morning traffic and popping out for the shopping on your lunch break was the norm.

Now it’s webinars, remote working and for many a realisation that all the hustle and bustle of daily life as we knew it was not actually necessary.

If anything, Covid-19 has taught us to work harder, be more efficient with our time and to take stock of our lives, being grateful for the little things.

INNOVATION What has impressed me is that Waterford has actually made a huge difference during this crisis and I want to take this opportunity to compliment our business community on their sterling effort in keeping this virus at bay.

It’s great to see Waterford companies like Sanofi, NearForm, Cartamundi, Azzurri, TablePay, Ordee, SEAM and others stepping up to the mark, reacting and adapting to provide innovative solutions to help combat this pandemic.

The work being done in Waterford will make a real difference to the lives, not only of Waterford people, but nationally and internationally.

And then of course there are the projects we are working on ourselves, including the Big Little Ideas campaign where we are asking the public to be authors of their own destiny; e-waterford. com where we are endorsing a single platform for all retailers and shoppers in Waterford, and the Waterford Business Hub which is a one-stop-shop for all business related information.

COLLABORATION For me, one of the best things about these past few months has been the willingness for collaboration. We see it daily among the various stakeholders, including Waterford City & County Council, Waterford Local Enterprise office, Enterprise Ireland Waterford Business Group, ourselves and Dungarvan & West Waterford Chamber and many more. We have a common purpose — to beat this thing and come back better than ever. It has afforded us the opportunity to engage with our members, be more creative, to get back to basics in wanting to support our business community and to genuinely help those around us who are the lifeblood of the economic life in Waterford.

At this juncture I am appealing to businesses to support the Waterford Gift Voucher initiative. If you are considering rewards or bonuses for your staff, make a conscious effort, at a minimum, to using the Waterford Gift Voucher, ensuring that money will stay in the local economy and drive it forward in these extremely difficult times. I can’t stress enough how the business community needs your support and this is just one way you can make a difference.

I certainly hope this sense of collaboration can now grow beyond the current crisis and that we can continue to work together for a better Waterford.

At Waterford Chamber we have taken this time to grow relationships with our members, by keeping them informed of important updates, providing webinars to answer their questions, devising relevant training through Waterford Chamber Skillnet and of course continuing to support their business needs.

2019 CHAMBER REVIEW Membership is at the heart of our services here at Waterford Chamber and I would especially like to thank those who have stuck with us during these tough times. I ap-

preciate a subscription fee can sometimes feel like a disposable expenditure, but we have been humbled by the levels of support we have received, through payments, sponsorship, emails and calls.

When we began our new year after the AGM last May, we had so many plans. For the remainder of 2019 everything went according to plan and we saw record numbers attend our many events.

Networking and connecting people in business is to the core of what we do and our free Business After Hours, Business Expo, President’s Lunch, Race Night, Golf Classic and Annual Dinner enjoyed large attendances.

Our Toys4.0Engineers event, in association with WIT, moved from a regional event to a national one with companies coming from all over Ireland and also from the UK. We were delighted to work with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland on our Meet the Buyer offering which brought together multi-national companies and indigenous companies with the view to do business together.

We are leading the way in terms of hosting events post-Covid and Toys4.0Engineers, I am delighted to report, will go ahead on Thursday, 17 th September in WIT Arena. Of course the safety of our exhibitors and attendees is our priority and we have a full event policy in place in that regard. We see this as an opportunity for businesses to have a shop window in a safe environment, in a time when networking and connecting with others is seriously restricted.

We are also looking at other events in line with Government guidelines and will keep you posted on same as they arise.

A lot of our work has now moved online, whether it is through the Regional Leaders Programme or our popular webinars and we will continue in this vein for the foreseeable future.

Waterford Chamber is determined to add value for members, be it through our Policy Advisory Panels, Promotion, Information Briefings, Certificates of Origin, and the Member Affinity Scheme, while also focusing on training and development. Waterford Chamber Skillnet continues to grow its offering and support for industry through their various programmes and also through their customised, subsidised training across a broad range of disciplines. They too have moved online and access to training has never been easier.

The fourth year of our Regional Leaders Programme will be launched shortly and because the programme is now predominately digital, we have been able to reach out to new leaders nationally and internationally who were only too delighted to come on board. The Regional Leaders Programme, with the support of Bausch + Lomb and Waterford Chamber Skillnet, offers a meaningful contribution to the future managers and leaders of Waterford, and Skillnet will be offering 25% funding again this year, reducing the cost of the ninemonth programme from €350 to a mere €262.50 which I think you will agree is incredible value for a programme of this calibre.

The Waterford Shop Local Gift Vouchers have been a big priority for us in recent months as we join Waterford Council in the Shop Waterford Support Local campaign. We have seen an increase in the orders, but more is certainly needed to ensure the viability of over 160 businesses across Waterford and Tramore who accept the vouchers. Therefore, I am asking again, to please consider the vouchers and help is make a difference.

THE TEAM Before concluding I need to pay tribute to my own team who worked tirelessly throughout lockdown. We are proud to say we didn’t stop our service for even one day and that is down to their commitment to Chamber and the wider business community.

As a team, we have never been more determined, creative and united and that is certainly one positive to come out of Covid.

I was extremely proud to see their work rewarded by being nominated for four Chambers Ireland Awards and also for an IITD Award. We look forward to bringing even more new offerings to our members into the future and as always the team are on hand to support in any way we can.

I would also like to acknowledge our outgoing President Jonathan Earl who has steered the ship with a clear vision, in his inimitable way. I want to wish him all the best in the future and thank him for being such a great support to me over the past twelve months.

I would also like to welcome Danette Connolly as incoming President. As always there is plenty of work to be done and I have no doubt that Danette will hit the ground running and bring her own flair and enthusiasm to the role.

Danette and I, along with the Board of Directors will continue lobbying on your behalf on pertinent issues as they arise. Our door is always open should you need our assistance in this regard. The past year has resulted in us meeting the Taoiseach and various Government Ministers, Oireachtas members and important stakeholders and the message that Waterford is open for business has been delivered loud and clear.

Finally and most importantly, I would like to especially thank you, our members, who make Waterford Chamber what it is — a growing network of people who are determined to see their city and county reach its full potential — and we will be with you every step of the way.

Gerald Hurley CEO