Hello members,
With Julie having been on a well-deserved break for all of May, it has been myself, Nicole – Administration Coordinator & Carlie –Membership Coordinator holding down the fort and managing the day-to-day of the Chamber.
When the boss is away, the mice will play, you might say?
We did have plans to be a bit creative and show you a bit of behind the scenes, but turns out we have had quite a full month and didn’t get the chance to get up to much!
One of our main focuses this month has been our inaugural Business Excellence Awards. With submission closing yesterday, the entrants have been handed over to our judging panel to start the assessment process. We have had a great response for our first Awards, with over 130 businesses being nominated by the community, plus other businesses submitting off their own back. We are so excited to see the results of these and to celebrate our regional businesses with everyone on August 3rd.
We also want to thank our sponsors who have come on board so far – ECU South West, Apprentice & Traineeship Company, Aqwest, Albemarle, Omega365 and Maali Group.
Earlier in the month we worked with the South West Development Commission on the 2024-25 State Budget Launch by Hon. Don Punch MLA. It was great to see a full room of 100 people, the second largest turnout for the last few years of the events, to hear directly from Don on the State Government’s commitments & be able to ask questions on what directly affects our region.
Other events we held this month were our Lunch & Learn on the changes in the Industrial Law landscape, presented by Kim Jones of HHG Legal Group, a Young People in Business Sundowner for young professionals, and an update on the Transforming Bunbury's Waterfront Project from the South West Development Commission and Department, as well as supporting & attending the Shire of Capel's RED Grants information night and our regular Business After Hours, this month hosted by the Mantra Bunbury Lighthouse in the new Ruby Lounge.
Carlie continues to meet with members almost every week. She’s onboarded 3 new members - Ben Small, Liberal for Forrest, Bunbury Wind and Kingston First Response; met with two members who’ve been taken over by new ownership to fill them in on the Chamber & what their membership includes; and met with Nixon Electrics for a refresher on their benefits for their entire team.
We celebrated our Carlie’s birthday in May as well, which was a nice morning for the three of us to reset at the halfway point of Julie being away and check in with each other – and enjoy a yummy morning tea from Little Spencer & Co.
We were also lucky to escape damage from the Tornado, and have been supporting the South West Development Commission & City of Bunbury with their work in the recovery program. They have setup an online register for businesses & industry to register their interested in assisting in recovery efforts when required. Read more about that here.
Nicole has also been busy keeping us all on track, and managing one of the busiest months for room hire's the Chamber has had in a long time. Our meeting rooms are getting used for all sorts of events, meetings and courses, and it's a great way for us to know what's going on in town.
This week we have been acknowledging Reconciliation Week, and we kicked it off by working with Yaka Dandjoo Events to host a watch party for the live-streamed Reconciliation WA breakfast in Perth. There were multiple regional hubs hosting events to tune into the stream across WA, including Albany, Newman, Kalgoorlie, and Karratha. It was a fantastic program with speakers including Dr Richard Walley OAM, Premier Roger Cook MLA, Dr Betsy Buchanan OAM and The Hon Robert French AC. Our President Danny Griffin & some Executive Committee Members will represent the Chamber at the Reconciliation Walk this afternoon in Bunbury.
We are a small team who achieve a lot in the month and appreciate the support of our members in Julie's absence.
Thanks all!
Amy & the team.
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