Exmouth Chamber’s bounce back plan, to get town's businesses talking

New chamber of commerce chair (Image: Laura Woodward-Drake)

Something that has been highlighted by the pandemic is the need for community.

We have all been isolated at varying levels, but many have found new and innovative ways to stay connected and be social. If history is anything to go by, after the last pandemic, social activity and group events were at an all time high.

And so The Exmouth Chamber of Commerce exec team have created a plan to evolve the support and connection we provide to our business community, enabling our network of businesses to bounce back and feel uplifted by each other.

As you may know, the Exmouth Chamber of Commerce is a membership group for local business owners, run by volunteers in the town.

We work alongside a variety of organisations in the area, such as the Journal, town council Town Team, other councils, members and other Chambers, to provide resources and support to our network.

Thanks to members and dedicated volunteers over the years, we have been able to run a variety of impactful initiatives that have uplifted Exmouth businesses, including: the business awards, a local business fair, 'ask the expert' COVID support forums and networking breakfasts.

As we head into this new terrain, we have identified the need to focus on generating greater connections between businesses in the town and want to create a forum for all businesses, from all sectors, to talk, inspire and seek advice. Exmouth is a hub of amazing businesses and we want to ensure that all of them have the opportunity to engage with each other.

To do this, we have created a bounce back plan that involves a few additions/changes, that I’m happy to be able to announce... One of the steps was revamping our Facebook group, opening it up to all Exmouth businesses ( members and non members alike) to join.

Going forward, this is where we will be posting all of our updates, resources and creating themes to interact with each other.

We’ve also created a social calendar that focuses heavily on interactions for all business owner availability. It will involve events such as ‘coffee and coaching’ virtual morning training, social evenings hosted by a local business and ‘meet the members’ live chats, streamed directly into the group.

That way, regardless of your time commitments, there will be something you can interact with. We will even be launching the Exmouth Business Awards again to get us all celebrating the wonderful businesses we have in our town, but this year, with a twist. More on that VERY soon.

One of the most important changes proposed in our bounce back plan was to help support businesses as we recover from the impact of COVID and make Chamber membership free for at least the next 3 years.

Depending on the results of this initiative, we may then permanently move to this model, or revert back to a small annual fee if necessary. We know there are some businesses in the town who aren’t members and in this crucial time we want to remove as many barriers as possible, connect the community.

Therefore, we will be launching a simplified sign up process, open to everyone to join as ambassadors for our local business community. You will be able to find more benefits of being a member on our amended website shortly.

The team are very excited to get started on everything, especially as we emerge into a more positive year.

So if you run a business in Exmouth, I would love to extend an invitation for you to enter the group and/or sign up as a member, to join in the conversations, get connected and grow stronger, together. Head to www.facebook.com/groups/exmouthbusiness to find out more!