The chamber will hold a workshop on March 2 to help establish what businesses in the Highlands need.

This is a part of the NSW Government’s Back to Business program.

The workshop will feature several speakers including council’s deputy general manager Mark Pepping who will speak about council’s role in terms of business facilitation and services, economic development manager Noel Ferguson who will talk about the future of jobs in automatic intelligence and Kate Ingham who will introduce a new development for the shire, an incubator hub.

This will be followed by an open forum.

The workshop will be held at Mittagong RSL from 5pm-7pm and will be open to all members of the community, not just members of the chamber.

The following week two workshops will be held for members to have their say.

SHCCI chairman Steve Horton said he wanted the board and members to work together to create a vision and strategic direction.

“We want a robust conversation, ideas and constructive dialogue so the board can listen to the membership,” he said.

“This will be the first time I believe this has ever been done, it’s certainly long overdue.”

Mr Horton said part of this would include incorporating revenue sources for the chamber so it could build a more professional organisation. “The long term goal is for a small salaried staff so that chamber business can be better implemented and developed.”