Sunshine Coast Business Leaders Gather for Insightful State of the Region 2025 Event
The Maroochydore Chamber of Commerce welcomed a full house at its annual State of the Region event in August, bringing together business owners, professionals, and community stakeholders for a night of valuable economic insight, practical advice, and meaningful networking. Proudly sponsored by Yield Advisory, the evening reflected the Chamber’s ongoing commitment to providing members with direct access to credible speakers and relevant, real-time information that can help them accelerate their business growth and strategic clarity.
Opening the event, Yield Advisory Founder and Managing Director Lachlan Ballinger delivered a candid, compelling keynote tracing the company’s evolution from startup to a nationally recognised advisory firm. His message was clear: resilience, culture, and client-first strategy are the foundations of sustainable business success. “When we started, we were one of the first startup accounting firms in the country,” Ballinger recalled. “Those early years were brutal. Twenty-hour days, a lot of lessons. But we stayed focused on our people and our clients.” He shared examples of clients scaling from $2 million to $100 million in turnover, and from five businesses to fifty-five, proof that strategy and support make a measurable difference.
Financial strategist Daniel Anderson offered a nuanced take on global market performance, stepping in for his colleague Jake Haebich. From investment trends to macroeconomic forces, Daniel’s clear and accessible delivery gave attendees timely insights to apply in their own financial planning and business forecasting. “Despite the doom and gloom in the media, over the past 12 months growth assets such as property, shares, and infrastructure have delivered double-digit returns,” Anderson shared. “Gold, in particular, has been a standout performer.” He urged businesses to look past short-term noise and understand the long game, touching on key themes like energy transitions, ageing populations, and geopolitical volatility.
Yield Advisory’s Natasha Bynon delivered a ground-level look at what’s happening across the national and local business environment including some critical warnings for 2025. “Around 14,000 companies entered external administration last year, the highest number on record,” Bynon stated. “Retail, manufacturing, and wholesale sectors are particularly vulnerable right now.” Her presentation unpacked issues like rising operational costs, ATO compliance crackdowns, and practical tax advice, driving home the need for businesses to be proactive and well-advised.
Chief Economic Development Officer Chris Le Serve rounded out the evening with a deep dive into the Sunshine Coast’s long-term vision, providing a strategic lens on where the region is headed and how local businesses can align. “The Sunshine Coast is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, but growth doesn’t guarantee prosperity,” he said. “It takes coordination, investment, and strong partnerships between Council, industry, and community.”
Together, the speakers painted a picture that stretched from the global market to the local tax landscape and into the region’s future growth agenda. It was a reminder that while the Sunshine Coast is full of opportunity, it also faces challenges that demand strategic thinking, resilience, and collaboration.
The evening closed with a panel session, giving attendees the chance to put their questions directly to the experts, from global economic trends to the realities of ATO compliance and the Council’s infrastructure priorities. It was in these exchanges that the true value of the event was clear: context, clarity, and the ability to test ideas in real time for those in attendance.
That is why being in the room matters. The insights shared at State of the Region 2025 were not just facts and figures, but real experiences and practical strategies. For those who joined us, the chance to connect with speakers and peers brought a depth of understanding you simply cannot get from social media posts, blogs or reading a report. If you want to be part of the next conversation join us at our future events: See upcoming events at the Maroochydore Chamber of Commerce.
As Lachlan Ballinger aptly concluded: “Know your differentiators. Deliver on them. That’s how you build something that matters.”
View a full album of photos from the State of Region event here.
By Jakki Goodall, Vice President
