18 | Helping businesses and their owners thrive Kylie Cornelius: “It’s about connecting with people to understand the different stakeholders and working collaboratively with them.” Photo: Jessica Jones Photography REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Marlborough Chamber of Commerce T T Virginia Wright “We’ve got some very cool innovation happening in those spaces leading to exports, and some incredibly smart people in our region doing some very impressive things on a global scale.” Kylie Cornelius had plenty of experience working with both local and central government before taking up her role as Executive Officer of the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce early in 2025. Having grown up locally she settled back in Blenheim in 2003 when she came back to New Zealand after travelling and working overseas and is now enjoying putting her skills and experience to work for the wider community, she explains. “It’s about connecting with people to understand the different stakeholders and working collaboratively with them.” Whether it’s for large industry or smaller self-employed businesses the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce takes its responsibilities for advocacy and connectivity seriously. They regularly include visiting ministers in their networking opportunities, specifically to give their members access to the country’s decision-makers. Their Business Hub in the heart of Blenheim’s CBD not only has open-plan hot desk space but a variety of rooms offering different facilities available for hire, all resourced to make meetings easy, whether it’s a board meeting, a workshop or a training event. “We offer our members support with our various other partners too. For example, we have the Regional Business Partner Network’s Growth Advisor operating from our office, so it’s really about connecting people from around the region which can have massive benefit for business capability as they help people upskill and businesses grow,” says Kylie. Like most Chambers across the country, they hold a monthly Business After 5 meeting every third Thursday of the month where a member business hosts others on site to show them what they do. That’s on top of regular coffee catchups at the Chamber which often includes guest speakers. Celebrating achievement is also an integral part of what they do. The biennial Marlborough Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards 2025 was a great success with a record 91 entries over the 11 categories being celebrated at Marlborough’s Event Centre last November, with the Supreme Award going to Puro New Zealand, organic medicinal cannabis cultivators operating across two sites in the region. Being part of the wider New Zealand Chambers network ensures that when it comes to advocacy, they’re across national policy debates and regulatory changes that could impact their members. From the Credit Card Surcharge Bill to proposed changes to the RMA they can voice the views of their members to local government and, at a higher level, they can submit to government on their behalf. Marlborough is well known for its thriving wine industry and the outstanding wines it produces. Less well-known are the advances being made across a variety of companies in the business of agritech and aquaculture. “We’ve got some very cool innovation happening in those spaces leading to exports, and some incredibly smart people in our region doing some very impressive things on a global scale. “We’re quiet achievers across a whole spectrum of enterprise,” says Kylie with obvious pride. The regular get-togethers held by the Chamber offer a more casual environment for discussion. The biennial Marlborough Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards 2025 was a great success with a record 91 entries over the 11 categories celebrated at Marlborough’s Event Centre last November; right, Puro New Zealand won the Supreme Award - the organic medicinal cannabis cultivators operate across two sites in the region. Kylie’s well aware that their strength lies in their members. To challenge a lingering perception in the business community that they are a “stuffy, old organisation’ they have established an additional ‘Young Chamber’ with regular events specifically for business people under 35 to promote opportunities within their own age group. Kylie says the chamber is focused on ensuring the health and wellbeing of all business owners throughout the top of the South Island. “We’d like nothing more than for every single one to of them take advantage of what we’ve got to offer,” she says. “Research projects, advocacy, connectivity, whatever we do, it’s with the interests of the Marlborough Business Community at heart.”
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