Chamber move boosts business

A new era has begun for the Karratha and Districts Chamber of Commerce in an exciting new building space.

It moved into the $2.8 million double-storey Karratha Enterprise Hub this month, which has hot desks, rentable office space, a multi-purpose meeting room with teleconferencing capabilities, and a photography and videography studio.

KDCCI chief executive Tanya Dodd said the move was a collaborative decision between the chamber and Karratha Business Centre Enterprise.

“It will make us stronger and give more options for businesses and be able to help them with more courses, workshops, and co-working space,” she said.

“It makes it a one-stop-shop rather than having to go all around town.”

The Business Centre Pilbara chairman Shaun Burgess said the move was a good thing for the Karratha businesses to have both entities in one spot.

“The KDCCI’s role is one of advocacy and to help businesses expand their reach by networking where the Enterprise Hub role is one of incubation and innovation,” he said.

“Someone starting up a business now has somewhere to go where the start-up costs for a physical presence is less than if you went into a fully commercial layout.

“While they are here, they have direct assistance with the KDCCI to get support in how to set up and expand their business horizons.”

Mr Burgess said there were 12 companies working out of the hub.

“The opportunity would be for a small business enterprise who could come in and rent a desk here on a casual basis,” he said.

“While they are here they would have the opportunity to network with other business owners and use someone else's experiences to put strategies together to overcome issues.”

The move comes as the chamber launched a new website, allowing companies direct access to its business portal when looking for tenders.