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February General Meeting Minutes

Written by Narellan Chamber Admin on . Posted in Minutes.

General Meeting

11 February 2026
Held at Club Menangle Trackside

The meeting was opened at 6.30pm

Welcome – Carla Upfill, Director Meetings

Carla welcomed everyone to the meeting including Life Member and Past President Adriana Care, President of Wollondilly Business Chamber Pania Gregson, and Guest Speaker Belinda McCarthy.  She also welcomed all members, and guests to the meeting.  On the tables were the Treasurer’s Report and the last meeting Minutes are on the Chambers website under About.

President’s Report – Roland Blackstone, President

Roland spoke about:

  • Happy New Year
  • TGIF Drinks will commence on Friday, 27th February 5.30pm at Crush Bar Oran Park Hotel
  • The Chamber’s membership list is never given out or sold to a third party
  • Congratulations to Chantelle and Liam of 4K Automotive on the birth of their baby boy
  • Sydney Weekender recently had a feature on Camden
  • New one-on-one business support – Camden Council with Service NSW Business Bureau
  • Trump update
  • F1 update

Apologies

  • Wests Group Macarthur
  • George Gatt, The Office Builders
  • Lachlan Gelder, Gelder Peters Law
  • Camden Council Team
  • Karyn Wright, Grove Financial
  • Kenzie Hancock, Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation
  • Nik Nanda, Loan Market Emerald Hills
  • Sarita Viler, The Green Seed

Membership Update – Tony Bonanno, Director Membership

New member introductions:

  • Arcadian Pest Solutions – Tal Pavlich
  • Ausfr8 Group – Ashik Rahman
  • Beyond Network Solutions – George Kostopulos
  • Grove Financial – Karyn Wright
  • LIV Energy – Damien Allen
  • Oran Park Hotel – Ben Nasser
  • Ronald McDonald House Greater Western Sydney – Nermeen Yacoub
  • Strategic Marketing Solutions Australia – Gregory Wright
  • The Green Seed – Sarita Viler
  • The Production Command – Melissa Musgrave
  • Tulich Oran Park – Maria Carew

Sponsorship Update – Rachel Elliott, Director Sponsorship

  • Silver Sponsor                 Coutts Lawyers & Conveyancers
  • Bronze Sponsor              Grimes Finance & Mortgages

What’s On – Sarah Ryan, Director Events

  • February/March     The Be Unstoppable Foundation Sleep Challenge
  • 20-22 February       Camden Village Spin Out Rock ‘n Roll Festival
  • 24 February            WSI Aviation Careers and Training Information Session
  • 27 February            TGIF Drinks, Crush Bar Oran Park Hotel
  • 28 February            Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation, Charity Event and Live Auction
  • 5 March                  Camden Council International Women’s Day Gala
  • 14 March                Club Menangle Trackside Garrards Miracle Mile

Networking Break

Speaker Presentation

Guest speaker Belinda McCarthy was interviewed by David Watsman, Club Menangle’s Racing Manager

Q&A session

  • Rob Elliott – What advice would you give to a young lady entrepreneur
    • Be more positive, take chances and go outside your comfort zone, think outside the square, use local

Belinda was thanked for her presentation and presented a thank you gift by Peta Borg of Hamper Culture. 

Lucky Door Prize

From Club Menangle                                   – Damien Allen (LIV Energy)
From Coutts Lawyers & Conveyancers – Nam Nguyen (4K Automotive)
From Grimes Finance & Mortgages        – David Johnson (Finance 4 Growth)
From Chamber, a ticket to the March meeting  – Michael Ashton (Pulse Test & Tag Camden)

Closing Remarks – Carla Upfill

Carla thanked everyone for attending and especially guest speaker Belinda McCarthy.
Thank you to all the sponsors and the InKind Sponsors.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, 11 March at Gledswood Homestead & Winery with guest speaker Lisa McGuigan.

There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 8.30pm.