All the Suffolk councils are combining to invite organisations from around the county to an economic summit to look at ways to help Suffolk weather the current economic recession.

Jeremy Pembroke, Leader of Suffolk County Council said: "Suffolk is blessed with a rich mix of successful small businesses of all descriptions. We have many award-winning local companies of which we must be both proud and protective. Clearly, it is vital that we all pull together to identify ways that we can help the local economy through these challenging times.

"I also have very real concerns that the most vulnerable individuals and groups in our communities may be amongst the worst affected by the recession. The public, private and voluntary sectors need to come together to jointly seek the best possible way forward for the county.

"We very much hope that by taking a collective approach we will be able to find both a practical and sustainable way forward and are, therefore, planning to facilitate an economic summit in Ipswich on 4th December.

"This is a time for community leadership and I commend the opposition party leaders in Suffolk County Council and other political colleagues across the county for their ready support."

The summit will be chaired by Neil Watts, Head Teacher at Northgate High School.

Speaking in support of the summit:

Cllr Nick Ridley, Babergh District Council's Strategy Committee Chairman: "Babergh welcomes this conference as it is already actively involved in providing financial and other assistance to organisations which help both families and businesses affected by the 'credit crunch'. This includes a £57,000 annual grant to Sudbury's CAB - with part of that specifically funding a debt advisor and an active role in the Suffolk Redundancy Network whose role is to provide advice and practical support to employees who are about to be made redundant. Further initiatives are being actively considered. We are hopeful that this credit crunch conference will allow all participants to share ideas to further improve how Suffolk councils can make an even more meaningful contribution during these difficult times".

Cllr Geoffrey Haggard, Leader of Forest Heath District Council: "Any initiative to help businesses weather this difficult time is to be welcomed. We support this cross-county move and in addition my council will be organising a Jobs Fair in January to offer further help to anyone facing redundancy."

Cllr Liz Harsant, Leader if Ipswich Borough Council: "We are pleased to be part of any initiative that supports Ipswich and Suffolk businesses during this difficult time. But we are also very pleased to see that some businesses are expanding and that we are continuing to receive enquires from national business considering moving into the area."

Cllr Tim Passmore, Leader of Mid Suffolk District Council ; "We have strong links with the voluntary sector in Mid Suffolk, and our talks with them have shown that there are people in the community that are starting to struggle with the current economic climate. By acting together we can help our local communities and businesses to get through this."

Cllr John Griffiths, Leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council: "I am delighted to see local councils joining together to see how they can minimise the adverse effects of the credit crunch on residents and small businesses. The public can be assured that St Edmundsbury will play its part".

Cllr Ray Herring , Leader of Suffolk Coastal District Council :It is important that we work at a local, county and regional level to ensure that there is the maximum support, advice and information on offer to our local communities and businesses. This meeting will hopefully be an important step forwards in coordinating and prioritising our actions to achieve an effective and efficient response to offset the local impact of the global and national recession.

Cllr Mark Bee, Leader of Waveney District Council: "At a time of financial concern, community leaders have an extremely important role to play and I look forward to meeting with colleagues from across Suffolk to discuss how best we can alleviate the problems that are affecting people throughout the County."