Projects

HINCHINBROOK INDUSTRY TOURS PROPOSAL

Overview

To take senior high school students on industry tours that showcase the entry level employment opportunities aligned with VET pathways in the Hinchinbrook Shire.

Tours will allow students to visit up to three local businesses (depending on industry tour selected) to discover the diversity of careers available in those businesses and how these positions interact with each other. Students will be exposed to the perspectives of business owners, managers and staff, learning where different individuals started out and how their jobs and businesses have evolved. These experiences will promote a Lifetime of Learning and the value of upskilling while normalising adaption and the pursuit of different career pathways within a person’s working life.

During the tours, students will receive relevant information about employability from business owners, managers and staff. Topics such as what businesses are looking for when they read a resume through to interview skills will be covered to equip students with the soft skills and transferable skills that will give them the best possible chance of entering the workforce into their chosen profession. Information about apprenticeships, traineeships and vocational education qualifications will also be highlighted as pathways into these industry areas

Tours will be organised and delivered according to industry and the Hinchinbrook Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Tourism would like to focus on the high growth, existing and emerging industries, with diverse employment opportunities, that exist in our regional shire. The six industry tours proposed are:

Agriculture and Innovation
Health and Allied Health
Engineering and Manufacturing (potentially including Construction)
Tourism and Hospitality
Working for Council
Agriculture II – Wilmar Sugar Mill

Depending on the tour selected, students will also receive training so that they can acquire a White Card and/or First Aid Certificate to support their future employability.

Logistics

Number of Students: 30 per tour, separated into three cohorts of 10 students that rotate from business to business.

Target Audience: Year 11 and 12 students who are interested in VET pathways

Supervision: Chamber to supply one facilitator per cohort. Additionally, schools will be required to provide one supervisor per cohort.

Transport: One bus per cohort

Length of tour: Six hours including meal breaks

Training: Registered Training Organisation – Happy Days Training

Facilitators: Three tour guides / facilitators will be engaged to escort the students and ensure that the students are exposed to comprehensive and appropriate content.

Facilitators will have backgrounds in education and / or training and assessment.

Catering: Morning Tea and Lunch

Marketing: A combination of school visits, print media, social media and newspaper advertising will be used to encourage uptake in collaboration with the Industry Training

Hub in Townsville.

PPE: Safety goggles, high-vis vests and earplugs provided as required at no charge. Students required to wear long pants, long sleeved shirts and enclosed shoes.

Briefings: All businesses and facilitators that participate in the tours will be briefed prior to each tour.

Outcomes: Feedback forms will be used to obtain data that will then be used to produce reports that outline the success of each industry tour along with strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities.

Media consent forms facilitated through the schools will allow Chamber to take and share images of the tours for co-branded promotional purposes, which include social media and traditional advertising to:

Increase uptake for future tours;
Showcase entry level employment opportunities aligned with VET pathways to a broader audience including parents, younger students and businesses; and
Acknowledge stakeholders by recognising and rewarding the volunteer contributions of businesses / employers who donate their time and make their staff and premises available for the purposes of the tours

Invitation – Expressions of Interest: Community Bank Steering Committee

Invitation for Expressions of Interest – Community Bank Steering Committee Download

2021 Small Business Month

Holiday the Hinchinbrook Way

Chamber secured $10,000 in Economic Development funding from Hinchinbrook Shire Council to coordinate and deliver a marketing campaign that promotes the Hinchinbrook Shire and its local business houses.

Using Scott Hillier – who is a passionate ambassador – as the campaign spokesperson, this marketing exercise relies upon collaboration and brand integration.

Local businesses were invited to join the campaign for a minimal outlay (to cover the cost of production) and Chamber Members received a discount. The concept is to create commercials that include high-quality footage of various locations around the shire, with each commercial featuring a different local business.

Participating businesses decided to use a combination of social media and television advertising as their preferred campaign platforms. Target audiences include the family market, fishing and hiking enthusiasts, nature lovers and adventure seekers.

The call-to-action is to “Holiday the Hinchinbrook Way”, utilising the shire’s existing branding and directing traffic to participating businesses and the Hinchinbrook Way website.

In terms of sustainability, businesses will retain their commercials for future use and it is possible to include more businesses in subsequent promotions. Businesses are also forming relationships with each other and chamber, creating further opportunities for potential collaboration.

Due to Covid-19, this project has been postponed. The marketing campaign be launched as a recovery tool when recreational visitation resumes.

Chamber Connect

Chamber Connect sessions provide local businesses with the opportunity to become better informed and make connections with other businesses, council and chamber.

By creating informal networking events that include local guest speakers and updates from council and chamber, we are able to engage with businesses who are unable to attend, or uncomfortable with the format of, monthly general meetings.

Chamber Connect sessions include Monthly Coffee Mornings at TYTO Precinct and quarterly after-hours networking events at locations outside of Ingham.

Those who attend our coffee mornings can BYO coffee – spreading the love amongst local establishments – and arrive and leave at their convenience without the need for RSVP’s or prohibitive costs.

After-hours events allow business owners from the Lower Herbert, beaches and surrounding areas to receive updates and meet local business owners who they may not normally interact with. These sessions are especially suitable for tourism operators, accommodation providers and businesses in the hospitality industry.

Our first Chamber Connect Coffee Morning coincided with International Women’s Day and was a resounding success.

Due to Covid-19, networking events and workshops have been cancelled until further notice. Chamber has been using Livestreams on Facebook to keep the business community up-to-date on developments and we will be investigating potential virtual networking opportunities.

Showcase Your Business

We provide our members with the opportunity to showcase their business to fellow members and the broader community during novel networking events that are hosted at a different location each month.

In small, regional areas, word-of-mouth referrals are extremely valuable. With “Business Supporting Business” as our motto, Chamber introduced the ‘Showcase Your Business’ model so that our members can raise awareness and support for the products and services that they offer.

These events have proved incredibly successful. Those who host an event have grown their support base and attendees are eager to spread the word.

Showcase Your Business events are enjoyable and unique, with hosting businesses taking the initiative to provide demonstrations or information sessions in addition to supplying drinks and nibbles to the guests.

These events take place after-hours and members can contact Chamber to secure a date in our calendar.

Defence Expo

Chamber partnered with Hinchinbrook Shire Council to have a presence at the 2020 Defence Welcome and Information Expo on Saturday, February 8, 2020 to promote the Hinchinbrook Shire and its businesses to Townsville-based Defence personnel and their families.

We distributed tote bags to showcase the shire as an ideal destination for holidays, weekend visits and day trips, appealing to anyone who enjoys nature, culture, history, fishing, hiking, camping, shopping and dining.

Businesses were asked to supply promotional materials for inclusion in the goody bags to advertise the products and services that are available locally. Chamber especially encouraged the use of “Defence Discounts” to penetrate the defence market and these were found to be very appealing.

Data gathered at the expo will influence future marketing and product development. For example, we identified that gourmet food and culture were significant drawcards which presents some exciting opportunities. As a result, Council is currently investigating the potential to offer food samples at the Strand Night Markets and Chamber is engaging with local businesses to secure suitable donations.

Chamber will provide updates in the near future.