The Tauranga Chamber of Commerce's new strategic focus for 2016 will be on the small business sector, says chief executive Stan Gregec.
The chamber is setting up a new internal division called Small Business Tauranga, utilising existing chamber resources, to drive the new strategy, which will draw on support from the business community. The initiative will be launched at an event on February 10 (see story below).
"It's time we started to recognise and put a face to the small businesses of Tauranga who make up the majority of business activity," said Mr Gregec, who estimated the sector accounted for 70 to 80 per cent of businesses in the region and within the chamber membership.
"There's a long tail of small businesses that make up the bulk of our membership. We want to be a lot more involved in targeting the small business sector and will be using new ways to recognise and value them through things the chamber can do."
The new division will be similar to the existing Business Women's Network and Rocket! Young Professionals groups.