Shannon Chamber to launch new strategic plan following year of 'reconnection and reinvigoration'
REFLECTING on a year which saw a gradual return to the new normality, Shannon Chamber has described 2022 as a year that enabled it to reconnect in person with its members.
The organisation says 2022 was a year of visible reinvigoration in all sectors of its membership and a year in which it expanded its stakeholder reach to initiate new opportunities for its members and for the betterment of Shannon and the region.
It was also a year in which the Chamber board took a deep dive into the organisation’s raison d’etre as part of the process to formulate a new strategic plan, which will be launched next month.
Notable achievements for the Chamber during 2022 included winning the ‘Most Successful Policy Campaign’ category in Chambers Ireland’s awards for its Shannon and Regional Airports Covid Traffic Recovery & Support Scheme (TRSS) campaign undertaken in 2021.
This campaign, undertaken in collaboration with the Irish Hotels Federation, and supported by Ennis, Limerick and Galway Chambers, involved the preparation of a business case for a multi-annual, fully funded regional air access recovery and growth action plan which was presented to Government.
A key function of Shannon Chamber is to be the voice of and lobbyist for its membership, seeking resolution on issues that impact business at an operational or infrastructural level.
“The purpose of such interventions is to ensure that action is taken on issues of concern to our members. We speedily acknowledge when our requests are positively responded to and maintain our lobbying where resolutions are not evidently forthcoming,” said its CEO Helen Downes.
“The delivery of the Shannon Town Masterplan, the transfer of the region’s heritage sites to Clare Council, the rationale for concentrating Border Custom Post (BCP) controls for agri-food and related products at Dublin Airport, and the inclusion of Shannon Chamber on the Working Group to oversee a review of the National Aviation Policy, will be priority concerns for us in Q1, 2023,” she added.
Collaboration with regional and national stakeholders is also a high-agenda item for Shannon Chamber and in 2022, it increased its level of engagement with local authorities, state agencies, third-level colleges and national representative organisations to strengthen its offer to members and to enhance its Skillnet business network offering.
The increasing focus on skills’ development now inherent in Chamber member companies’ retention and recruitment policies led Shannon Chamber to apply for a new round of funding from Skillnet Ireland in 2022 to support the training needs of its member companies over the next three years.
The application, which was successful, will see Shannon Chamber Skillnet offer an enhanced suite of training to enhance companies’ digitisation, innovation sustainability and decarbonisation capabilities.
“With a diverse spread of sectors amongst our membership, it was imperative that, prior to applying for this additional funding, we ascertained the type of courses that would enable members to develop talent, address the evolving challenges facing them, deal with changing operating models and supply chain requirements and, given the battle for talent, enable them to retain and attract staff. We will also be able to support those who find themselves unemployed to upskill, which will assist them greatly in seeking new employment opportunities in the region,” Ms Downes added.
In launching the review of 2022, Ms Downes thanked members for their steadfastness throughout the past few difficult years and for their determination to sustain their operations thereby contributing to the buoyancy of the region.
She thanked the Chamber’s board and staff for their ongoing dedication to the Chamber’s activities and looked forward to an even busier and more successful year in 2023.