Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe we’re now more than three weeks into 2012. We have already begun our strategic agenda for the year and we are looking forward to an energetic and successful 12 months under the new leadership of President David Kirkaldy.
Over the next four issues of CHAMBER magazine you will see a separate focus on each. This issue is about Relationships and looks at the United Kingdom’s recently reviewed rapport with the Cayman Islands and other Overseas Territories.
Also in focus is the relationship between public private partnerships, and the Cayman Islands and the rest of the world. As the world continues to get smaller, relationships become more important. We have seen the economic dependencies of one country to another play out recently in Europe but it is much more than that. It is about how we function as an entire world.
Cayman of course has its place in that world and we must create a strong identity and understanding of our role. No island is an island. Other issues will focus on Innovation, Advocacy and Influence. These are the four words that will guide our direction over the next 12 months.
For those of you who have picked up your desktop calendar you will have seen that the Chamber has a full agenda this year. We have the Careers, Education, Training & Jobs Expo on 3 February, an International Speaker series presentation on the Global Outlook for 2012 on 29 February, the Panama Trade Mission on 19-23 March, Earth Day Roadside Clean-Up on 7 April, Chamber Charity Golf Classic on 4 May, Business Expo on 18-20 October, Future of Cayman Forum on 2 November, and our AGM 21 November.
In addition to our scheduled events, our programmes are well under way for 2012. Leadership Cayman has just begun its third year, which has seen the induction of 25 new class members and Mentoring Cayman has recently matched 50 outstanding students with 50 mentors from our local business community.
The Professional Development & Training Centre has some exciting new courses inspired by a recent training needs survey and all are posted online for you to browse and book at your leisure.
We are also looking forward to increasing our membership benefits this year with a Chamber Health Insurance Plan under development and some new business coaching assistance programmes.
We will also completely revamp our website and online media strategy to better serve our members.
This will allow for some additional marketing opportunities for your business as we reach out both locally and to the rest of the world.
In the spirit of this first edition magazine for 2012, I would like to invite you to get more in touch with your Chamber. Come and visit us in our offices in Governors Square and talk to us and find out about what we can do for you. If you can find the time, we’d love to have you volunteer for one of our committees.
Think you can help us improve one of our events? Perhaps you’d like to be involved in the Future of Cayman process? Let’s talk. The Chamber staff and I look forward to serving you for another year.
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