It’s heading towards six months now since I made the transition from winery CEO to heading up Business SA, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for South Australia.

The pace has been frenetic from day one and I have been fortunate to meet and connect with many of our members and hope to do even more of that this year.

Their stories continue to inspire all of us in the Chamber and serve as motivation for the team to find ways to empower businesses to succeed in South Australia.

I’ve developed a shorthand way of describing how we do that:

We Connect and Protect, we Advocate and Educate

We’ve connected businesses through our events programme that has ranged from the monthly networking chambers to the big guns – 700 people at the Adelaide Oval to hear the Premier give his Financial Year Outlook and 450 attendees at our Mentally Healthy Business Breakfast in November 2022. This event has now become a signature opportunity on the South Australian corporate calendar to draw the business community’s attention to mental health issues.

That connection goes beyond borders. Our International Services team has had one of its busiest years on record, stamping export documents, providing translation services for businesses and assisting local companies in the migration process to attract skilled workers from overseas.

We’ve protected business by providing immediate advice, either via our Business Advice Hotline or through in-house consultancy on matters of industrial relations and health and safety.

For many small businesses, we are their HR department as they try and navigate the complexity of employee awards, ever-changing legislation and reporting requirements. Rob Pearce has manned our hotline for 26 years and last month he embarked on a well-earned retirement. For many, he has been the voice of Business SA. Thank you, Rob!

The demands for our advocacy never wane.

In fact, if government is making a decision that affects business in South Australia, we are at the consultation table.

Last year we’ve rallied two new governments – State and Federal – on complex matters like the Summerfield ReturnToWork trial which could have seen premiums skyrocket, and worked productively to advocate against the most significant changes to industrial relations laws in more than 20 years.

Business SA team end-of-year function.

With new legislation around Industrial Manslaughter, Wage Theft and Portable Long Service Leave all to go before South Australian parliament this year, we expect a busy 12 months ahead.

As far as education goes, beyond delivering programmes for the state’s entrepreneurial community, such as SAYES and Encore, we have developed the skills of more than 2000 people through our diverse range of courses and helped dozens of businesses get on the fast track to growth with a new business growth advisory service.

To the more than 800 new businesses who joined us in 2022, adding to over 3000 long-term members of Business SA, you are now part of a community that is committed to building a stronger South Australia.

We feel very positive about the opportunities for business in South Australia and sense an optimism and desire to create and take advantage of new opportunities.

There will be headwinds and challenges ahead for business in 2023, just as there are every year.

Business SA will be there to provide support in whatever capacity we can, to help clear the runway for the risk takers and dream makers who are the engine room of our economy.

I hope the festive season has been a record-breaker for those businesses that traded through and hope others got the chance to put their feet up. We will see you all some time in 2023.