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Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce & Industry Celebrates 111^th New Board

and a Bright Future

With money in the bank, a stronger than ever brand and its 111^th board poised for action, the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce & Industry is looking forward to a bright and positive future.  

More than 160 members of the business community attended the 110^th Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce & Industry Annual General Meeting which was held at Picnic Point on Friday 13 November 2009.

Outgoing President, Shane Charles, provided an overview of his term in office highlighting specific successes.

“The focus of the board has been to reposition the Chamber as a vibrant, valid organisation in our community.  We have achieved that with outstanding success,” he said. “We have had an increase of over 50% in our membership base with a subsequent increase in attendances at all Chamber events.

“The Chamber has worked hard to improve relationships with stakeholders including all levels of government and our local educational and training centres,” he said. “The Chamber’s lobbying and pressure were in part responsible for the formation of the Economic Development Board which is vital to the sustainability of all our local industries.”

The Audited Financial Statement was presented by Secretary/Treasurer of the Chamber, Jim Rawlings and Kim Murray of WHK Audit and Assurance.  The final Income Statement for the

Year Ended 30 June 2009 shows a profit of $56,166 compared to last year’s profit of $16,293.

Shane Charles said there was approximately $30,000 in the bank on his commencement as President. Today there is $110,000. Some of these funds are earmarked for research into the viability of a Business Excellence Centre for the region.

Financial members were invited to submit their votes for the new board. Following the vote and proxy count, new Chamber President, Geoff McDonald of Cracker Print and Paper, said he was pleased with the result which provided a gender balanced board with broad industry representation.

“We have retained five experienced directors and have gained six newcomers on the board,” he said. This brings us expertise across finance, law, recruitment, marketing, transport and the retail sector. We also have a pretty good gender balance this time which is excellent for the community.”

Office bearers of the new board of the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce & Industry are Vice President, Vikki Seekamp of Elders Real Estate and Secretary/Treasurer, Jim Rawlings of Hooper Accountants.

Directors are:       Louise Cuskelly (St. Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital)

                          Danny  Clifford (Clifford Gouldson Lawyers)

                          Phil Gregory (Wagners)

                          David Janetzki (Heritage Building Society)

                          Kelli McDougall (McDougall HR)

                          Joy Mingay (Classic Recruitment)

                          Phil Stonestreet (Stonestreets Coaches)

                          Brian Turner (Grand Central and Gardentown)             

With three years experience on the Board of the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Geoff McDonald is looking forward to his term as President and is proud to serve the community he grew up in.

'As a Chamber we must continue to champion our business successes of the region. Businesses like Heritage Building Society, Wagners, Russell Mineral Equipment, Easternwell Group and Clive Berghofer Developments have national and international awards. We need to be proud of this, we also need to be proud of the 85% of businesses with four or less workers in our region of 13,000 businesses…. those small businesses doing well in extreme circumstance in their own right. We need to shout out loud on every occasion about this beautiful place we call our home.'