GIBC, GISC or The Highlands Hub?
It’s one of the most common questions we at the Glen Innes Business Chamber receive – so are you guys funded by council? Who at council is involved? Why are you always working at The Highlands Hub? Well hopefully this post should clear up some of the questions for everyone!
GISC – Glen Innes Severn Council
GISC is our local government department here in Glen Innes. There are many areas and branches of council who is headed by General Manager Bernard Smith, and Executive Committee Gayleen Burley, Keith Appleby, and Anna Watts.
The Highlands Hub
The Highlands Hub is a Glen Innes Council run co-working space that provides the Glen Innes community with access to office, workshop and event spaces, government funded workshops and resources about what’s happening in the local community. Many workshops provided at the Hub are run individually by community members and groups, while others are provided by workshop facilitators and are funded through government grants.
GIBC – The Glen Innes Business Chamber
GIBC is an independently run, funded, and registered Incorporated Association. In August 2022, and AGM was held for the pre-existing business chamber “Business in Glen” and a new committee was elected. Each committee member has experience in running their own small business. It was decided that a fresh new approach to creating a business community was needed and thus The Glen Innes Business Chamber was created.
How it all fits together
GIBC works collaboratively with both GISC and the Highlands Hub.
Each week Cass (our president) and Kate (our secretary) rent a desk or office at the Highlands Hub. Why? Because it’s the perfect collaborative work environment. It’s a professional office space without the large costs of having your own office and shakes up the ‘working from home’ routine. It’s also a great space to meet other business owners (some are even working for a day while they pass through town) free lancers, groups running workshops and find out about what’s on.
We also share information about workshops the Highlands Hub is running. Many of the workshops covered by their grants and funding are invaluable to business owners like our members! So why wouldn’t we want to promote these events? Each month we sit down with Stevie Newsome, who coordinates the Highlands Hub so we know what events are coming up that we might want to promote to our members!
In terms of how we work alongside GISC, we welcome Gayleen Burely (Executive Director of People and Place) and Ronnie Bombell (Acting Manager of Economic Development) to our GIBC Committee meetings (every 4-6 weeks).
This branch of council aligns closely with the chambers goals of supporting businesses and growing our local economy. This way we also stay informed of what is happening at council and voice any barriers or ideas of our members. We can also find out what grant opportunities may be available, once again to pass on to our members.
In small regional communities it is important to work collaboratively and strengthen these types of relationships – it’s a win for everyone involved including our members!