OPINION: The highly successful and well-attended Douglas Business Forum has laid the foundation for the further enhancement of the Shire, and the onus is now on the Douglas Chamber of Commerce to take up the reins and sustain this momentum.

The energy generated by the quality speakers and panellists, who ensured the 100 plus attendees left with valuable and practical messages, cannot and must not be allowed to simply fizzle. The Shire cannot afford for this event to be viewed as a “superb talk-fest” without any outcomes.

This is where the Chamber emerges as the key player. They have the opportunity to not only increase its visibility, but demonstrate they are a voice to be heard.

Their first priority is basic. Capitalise on the wealth of knowledge and expertise that was on offer at the forum; and engage with the attendees to ascertain how they can best tap into the talent available. Council will wholly endorse this prospect and assist the Chamber in the appropriate way.

The aforementioned is perhaps the easy part. But before this engagement commences, the Chamber needs to identify what its key priorities are – fewer is better than more – and put strategies in place which can be nuanced as appropriate.

And in going to their members, and potential members, with a clear plan, there is every chance that the momentum will not be lost. Of equal importance, it will clearly show that the chamber means business and the new-look management committee has every intention of being pro-active.

The plan needs to encompass many of the messages from the Forum; the key being collaboration of the community and following up on some of the issues raised; for example, the ineffectiveness of broadband in the Shire.This approach will also entail telling the community what it’s doing and how they are working for the community.

The Douglas Shire Council warrants full credit for staging the Forum and one suspects there will be others.

But if we sit back and don’t take advantage of what’s been put in place, the Forum will just be another “talk-fest”.