President’s Welcome – June 2026
Welcome to the end of June. I’m sure we all have our jumpers, jackets and beanies out to brave the ‘brutal’ Sunshine Coast winter! It’s also the end of the financial year which means our accountants, financial planners and retail clients are flat out until the end of the month. I remind all of our members that despite the many major projects underway, times are tough and it’s a struggle for many businesses at the moment. Where possible we encourage you to support local businesses to ensure our economy remains resilient.
Lunch with Alexa Leary at Avani
Fresh from our incredible breakfast with Boost Juice founder Janine Allis in February, we enjoyed another fantastic high profile lunch with para-athlete Alexa Leary thanks to event sponsor and major chamber backer Jason Garland and his team at Secure Access I.T. More than 130 people attended at the stunning Avani Hotel in Mooloolaba and I am sure all guests would have been inspired by Alexa’s journey along with the incredible support of her parents, relatives and friends. We are confident that this is the start of a number of events which the Secure Access team will bring to our members.
We’ve held a number of hugely successful Coffee + Connect events during the first six months of the year. I personally want to thank the sponsors of these events as well as our members who always turn up for these great get-togethers. I want to add that it’s important to book early for these events to avoid missing out and if you do book and cannot make it please let us know as we always have a waiting list.
Thank You ‘Robbo’
I’m disappointed to advise of the resignation of Paul Robertson from our committee. ‘Robbo’ has been a vital members of our group and the work he did to secure sponsors and partners over a long period of time has not gone unnoticed. Paul was a regular at all our events and his welcoming nature and positive energy will be greatly missed. Thank you Robbo.
Major construction work in and around Maroochydore
Many of us will have seen the significant road work underway at First Avenue Maroochydore and major works are also set to start at Maud Street and Sugar Road. We encourage all of our members to check our Facebook page for regular updates on the myriad of major roadworks and other infrastructure projects underway in and around Maroochydore. We receive regular updates from Council and other relevant Government departments and we post this information as soon as we receive it.
Sunshine Coast Business Awards
For the past 31 years the Sunshine Coast Business Awards have been the pre-eminent award event on the Sunshine Coast. The awards recognise the many impressive business success stories across the region and we encourage all of our members as well as the broader Maroochydore business community to consider nominating for these prestigious awards. Applications close in mid August this year and culminates in the gala event which will be held in late November and attended by more than 800 people. For more information, visit: www.sunshinecoastbusinessawards.com.au
Congratulations Renee
I never miss an opportunity to sing the praise of my fellow executive team at the Chamber so a big congratulations goes to Renee Cooper whose business Indepth Accounting won the Regional/Suburban Firm of the Year at the 2026 Australian Accounting Awards. Renee is a dedicated and talented member of our executive team and we’re thrilled to have her input into the future direction of our Chamber
Chambercast with the President and Pep
Many thanks to our long term supporter Mix FM for enabling us to record our Chambercast with the President and Pep at their Storyteller’s Suite in the building at Kon Tiki Maroochydore. We’ve had some great guests this year including Sunshine Coast Council CEO John Baker and the new owner of Sunshine Coast Lightning Justin Pascoe. Very soon we will release our chat with Dr John Barletta who provides some great insights into planning for retirement in order to live a happy and healthy life by being physically and mentally active. As many of us approach our retirement years it’s important to start planning ahead in order to retire to something – not retire from something! Dr John has also produced a handbook on transitioning to retirement which will be posted along with his podcast.
We also hada great chat with former Chamber sponsor and long time supporter Sally Desch from HRM. We plan to release this in August. To listen to all the latest Chambercast’s with the President and Pep, please click here; https://maroochy.org/chambercast
MWP Member Profile
Our fortnightly Maroochy Chamber member profiles commitment in My Weekly Preview will continue until the end of the year. If you are a Chamber member and would like to participate in the profile series please email admin@maroochy.org and to view all the profiles from the first six months of the year, please click this link: MWP Member Profiles
Thanks for your Support
We’ve welcomed a number of new sponsors on board recently and our membership continues to stay well above 350 whish is a reflection of our hard working committee as well as Min Swan and her White House International team. Thanks also to our membership officer Sharon Dryden for her incredible work touching base with members and encouraging new members to get on board. It’s a total team effort and that’s what makes our Chamber so wonderful.
As always, if you have any ideas for news, events or activities we could promote or undertake please let us know. I look forward to seeing you at our next Chamber event.
Brendan Bathersby
President
