Presidents Welcome September 2022
Welcome to spring. It’s probably my favourite time of the year as the weather warms up and some of my favourite local events such as the Wishlist Spring Carnival lunch come to life.
I’ve said this previously but I am continually inspired by the work of my fellow executive committee members as we continue to build upon the success of our Chamber. However we now approach our AGM on October 12 and it’s the time to renew and refresh our committee. I understand many of the current executive team are keen to remain which is tremendous news but we are looking for new people to join and contribute to our ongoing endeavours. If you’d like to nominate then please go to our website and register your interest ASAP.
I also recently had the opportunity to meet with the new SunCentral CEO Amanda Yeates. Amanda brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the role and she is very keen to continue SunCentral’s support of our Chamber and its members. The new Maroochydore CBD is an important part of our region’s economic and social fabric so it’s fantastic to have Amanda and SunCentral’s support as we move forward.
Our Chamber was pleased to support the recent inaugural Forward Fest which connected over 1500 world-class researchers, government, NFP’s, small business owners, intrapreneurs and higher-degree students. As part of our Chamber’s pillars of Advocacy and Connection we were pleased to provide a number of complimentary tickets to our members for this event. We look forward to the feedback from these participants who attended this event which we will share with you.
The Sunshine Coast Business Awards are fast approaching on November 12, I am sure this will be a sellout event once again and we wish all nominees, particularly our Chamber members who are finalists this year.
Events are a big part of our Chamber’s offer to our members and we continue to host some great Coffee and Connect at various locations in and around Maroochydore including Murray’s on Duporth Avenue, Southern Cross Austereo and Out and About Care and Education, we have also hosted several breakfast events at the Maroochydore Surf Club. This is a great way for us to not only support our sponsors as well as facilitate education sessions and networking amongst our members. Thanks to Min Swan and her team at Whitehouse Celebrations as well as all our partners and sponsors for their help to bring these great events to life.
Our Young Chamber continues to build tremendous momentum with growing membership and amazing events. We continue to support the Young Chamber and we encourage young members of our business community to join and be a part of this emerging group.
Finally I want to congratulate some of our executive team on recent achievements including two who have recently commenced new roles including Jakki Goodall who has joined InPublishing (publishers of In Noosa and Hello Sunshine) and Richard Turnbull has established a tech advisory and brokerage service business RETURNbull. We wish them both all the very best in their new roles.
Congratulations also to our treasurer Lachlan Ballinger whose firm Yield Advisory who have been named as finalists in this year’s Xero Awards for ‘Accounting Partner of the Year’. To be selected from hundreds of accounting firms across Australia is a huge achievement in itself and a real credit to Lachlan and his team.
I look forward to seeing you at our AGM and more of our Chamber events.
Brendan Bathersby
President