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June General Meeting Minutes

Written by Executive on . Posted in Minutes.

General Meeting

14 June 2023
Held at Rydges Campbelltown

The meeting was opened at 6.30pm

Welcome & President’s Report – Anne Parnham, President

Anne welcomed everyone to the meeting including Life Members Ian Wolf and Adriana Care, former Board member Leanne Wolf, members of Camden Council and all the Chamber members and guests.  Anne advised that the guest speaker Gemma Acton was on her way and just held up in traffic.

Anne noted:

  • the meeting that the Chamber is a not for profit organisation made up entirely of volunteers and there isn’t anyone standing to gain financially from being on the Board;
  • as President, Anne takes the conflict of interest part of the Constitution very seriously;
  • Anne then proceeded to introduce the Board members that were present and asked them to stand;
  • the Minutes of the last general meeting were on the website, and if you had queries about the finances of the Chamber then please speak to, or contact, Karina Rauch as Treasurer;
  • in May Carla Upfill, Meeting Director, was recognised by the Rotary Club of Camden in their Pride of Workmanship Awards;
  • members of Camden Council attended the meeting and will address the meeting about what they can do to assist members with various courses and programs they are running for business;
  • the Macarthur BDC are looking to run courses for members and the general public;
  • Superannuation will rise to 11% from 1 July;
  • due to many changes re workplaces over the last months, please check with your HR consultant and/or Accountant if those changes affect you;
  • the Premier’s Breakfast will be held in August, final details are being worked through.; and
  • the Chamber won’t be involved in Christmas in Narellan anymore, it was not economically viable, and it required lots of volunteers to be able to run the event which over the years has become harder to run.

Geoff Ellis of the Macarthur BDC provided some business tips:

  • Export your yearly P&L to PDF and look at the top 10 expenses
  • Look at your business plan, is it time to update it
  • Prepare your budget for 2023-2024

Apologies

Tony & Cathy Perich, Greenfields Development
Tom Ellicott, Access Law Group
Joshua Phipps, Fusion Shutters & Blinds
Sue-Ann Collings, Guardian Funerals
James Donald, New Vision Co

Local Update

Presented by Vi Girgis of Camden Council

  • Meet the Economy & Place Team
  • What we do
  • Year in review and upcoming
  • Business health checks by Business Connect

Membership Update – Sandra Bartlett, Membership Director

Member Spotlight Draw for June

  • Carla Upfill of Carrington Care

Member Facebook Draw:

  • Geoff Rogers of Camden Valley Financial Solutions

Member Shout Outs

  • Sandra Bartlett acknowledged Miriam Roberts
  • Wendy White of Sparkling Voices acknowledged Garth Lewis of Alpha IT
  • Kelly Stanford of Stanfords Solicitors acknowledged Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printers
  • Carla Upfill of Carrington Care acknowledged Peta Borg of Hamper Culture
  • Kaisha Gambell of Coutts Lawyers & Conveyancers acknowledged Kylie Lyons of Handprint Photography
  • Anne Parnham of AP Consulting acknowledged Kaisha Gambell of Coutts Lawyers & Conveyancers
  • Jacynta Donald of New Vision Co acknowledged Roland Blackstone of Marsdens Law Group and Byron Clima of Sydney Drafting Concepts
  • Sandra Bartlett acknowledged Susan Johnson

Sponsorship Update – Kelly Stanford, Sponsorship Director

Kelly presented the sponsorship packages available for 2023-2024

InKind Sponsors                            Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printers
                                                      Alpha IT Solutions
                                                      AB FAB Events

What’s On – Carla Upfill, Meetings Director

  • Sydney Water, Wastewater system and plumbing inspections in the Camden area
  • Lifeline Macarthur & Western Sydney 60th Anniversary Diamond Ball on Saturday, 17 June
  • 13th World Chambers Congress on 21-23 June
  • Grow With Google, 26 June
  • Winterfest, Camden Council 7-9 July
  • Youth Solutions Denim and Diamonds 2023 Charity Event on 22 July
  • Rotary Club of Narellan – Friends of Rotary Charity Ball on 12 August
  • Carrington Country Fair on 9 September

Details about the above What’s On are available on the Chambers website.

Networking Break

At the commencement of the networking break all tables were asked to volunteer a speaker, the speaker then gathered brief information of who was at their table and their business and introductions were done throughout the room. 

Speaker Presentation

Carla introduced Gemma Acton, 7 Network Finance Editor who spoke about Economic Outlook: The Bumpy Road Ahead.

  • Why so downbeat, Australia …?
  • … Because inflation is eating our lunch
  • Housing supply crunch is worsening …
  • Vendors are biding their time …
  • But demand is fierce … and rising
  • We’ve finally snapped out wallets shut …
  • And stopped treating ourselves
  • As living costs rise … savings are dwindling
  • RBA’s running; Economists cant keep up
  • Forecasts have moved a lot since October …
  • … And much further since March 2022
  • We’re not done yet …
  • Why the obsession with productivity?
  • Australia is already in catch-up mode
  • How do we boost productivity?
  • Pulse check on business sentiment
  • Fewer staff, few viable entities ahead
  • Construction SMEs feeling the pinch
  • Will customers stomach more price hikes?
  • Can SMEs stomach NOT passing on price hikes?
  • Workers want – and need – more money
  • Less wage pressure = lower inflation
  • What’s the plan, Stan?
  • Will we have a recession, Fed?
  •  Growth forecasts proved too punchy
  • Inflation upside?  Debt is being eroded

Q&A

  • Geoff Ellis of Macarthur BDC asked about a recession and 18% interest rates – how much stretch is left in the rate market?
    • Huge shock not in the bank market
  • Raad Richards of Carrington Care commented that the Federal Government can’t hide behind the RBA.
    • Looks like the RBA Chief won’t be renewed but the Government can’t hide anymore, and 20 years of inaction.
  • Ganesh Bhomick of Number Solutions Tax & Accounting asked why were the predictions so wrong?
    • Inflation has become embedded.

Lucky Door Prize

The Ab Fab Events prize was won by Jackson of Blue Tongue Homes

The Alpha IT prize was won by Pania Gregson of Pestgo

The Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printer prize was won by Byron Clima of Sydney Drafting Concepts

Closing Remarks – Anne Parnham

Anne thanked everyone for attending and to travel home safely. 

The next general meeting will be on July 12th at The Woodlands Harrington Grove with guest speaker Murray Goldschmidt on Cyber Security for Small Business.  PLEASE NOTE this meeting is 5pm for a 5.30pm start as its State or Origin night. 

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