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March General Meeting Minutes

Written by Executive on . Posted in Minutes.

General Meeting

22 March 2023
Held at Woodlands @ Harrington Grove

The meeting was opened at 6.30pm

Welcome & President’s Report – Anne Parnham, President

Anne welcomed everyone to the meeting, and asked that if you haven’t yet introduced yourself, please do so throughout the meeting.

She welcomed VIPs – Adriana Care, life member and former President, Shaun Pereira, former President, Sgt Phil Gornall of Narellan Police Command, the evenings guest speaker Dean Williamson, and all Chamber members and guests.

She has been very busy since the last meeting looking at the structure and roles and responsibilities of the Board and the commitments.

Anne informed all the members and guests that The Greater Narellan Business Chamber is a not for profit organisation made up entirely of volunteers giving their time during and out of working hours to enable the Chamber to continue.  There isn’t anyone standing to gain financially from being on the Board and as President she takes the conflict of interest part of the constitution very seriously.  She asked the Board members present to stand up and asked the attendees that if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to speak to these members.  She also informed members that all the Board members and Administration Assistant pay for their tickets to all these events held by the Chamber.

  • On March 8th the Chamber were a Bronze Sponsor at the Camden Council International Women’s Day event which was very successful.
  • On that day Anne was a guest at the Canterbury-Bankstown Chamber event at the William Inglis Hotel in Warwick Farm with over 400 guests.  It was fantastic to see all the Armed Forces represented and the Police as well.  It is hoped the Chamber can do its own IWD event next year and make it memorable.
  • Anne has made contact with the Camden Local Area Command of the NSW Police Force and at this meeting Sgt Phil Gornall has been able to attend.  He is attending to say hello to all our members.  It’s very important for the Chamber to be involved in our community to know what is happening and how we can be involved.
  • The NSW Government has a program for you to have installed at street level, cameras to assist police in their investigations.  If you want to know more please check with Sgt Gornall.  The Camden LAC covers a huge area and the Narellan Police Station is just one of the many police stations under the Camden command.
  • Anne has been in contact with Business Australia who have put her in touch with the Skillsroad Group who have connections with the local schools and can organise apprentices for business.  A representative is at this meeting so speak to them.  Charlene Vaughan  briefly spoke about how Skillsroad can assist local businesses. 
  • The Board was contacted by Magdalene Catholic College to see if anyone would like to attend their careers day to speak to the students about our work experiences.  Anne has been involved in this in the past with other schools doing mock interviews and discussions with students about what we do and she found it to be such a great experience.
  • Voting is on 25 March for the NSW Government so don’t forget to vote.  Just a reminder that the Chamber is a-political or politically neutral.
  • The Board attended its monthly meeting and have discussed many things that it wants to achieve and do.  One of the things discussed was having the website updated which Daniel from Brick Studios and Peter & Matthew from Getmilk have done successfully.  Its more simple, it now has updated pictures etc, so the Board hopes you have a quick look at that when you have time.
  • Anne and Sandy Bartlett recently attended a conference as part of IC Care discussing mental health and what is expected of a Board.
  • Anne advised that a lot of people have asked her about why the Chamber has so much money in its accounts and she explained why – the previous Board decided that a full time CEO was needed to run the Chamber and money has been put aside in a very strict budget to be able to do this.  But at this time it hasn’t taken that step but she wanted to explain why things are being done in a fully transparent manner.
  • On the table there was a “speakers I want to see” form for everyone to fill in with your recommendations for speakers at the Narellan Chamber events. 
  • Again, this month, the interest rates have risen so Anne asked that everyone keep an eye on your business numbers, cashflow, P&L and overheads.  Most recommendations are that things will be worse around the September/October time of year.  Just remember do not try and solve your own problems in business, ask for help and speak to your Accountant, etc.
  • Anne again asked that if there is any feedback please contact her at president@narellanchamber.com.au

Apologies

Tony & Cathy Perich
Stephen Grabowski, past President
Maria Scattergood, past President

Sponsorship Update – Sandra Bartlett, Membership Director

Gold Sponsor presentation        Marsdens Law Group

Silver Sponsor presentation      Carrington Care
                                                   4K Automotive

Bronze Sponsor presentation   C21 Pereira Group

Membership Update – Sandra Bartlett

New member introductions:

  • Landsdowne Property Group
  • NinjaByte
  • Sydney Drafting Concepts & Design
  • Success Tax Professionals
  • The Butterfly Bookkeeper

Member Spotlight presentation – Garth Lewis of Alpha IT

Member Spotlight Draw for April

  • Taylor Nasmyth of Coutts Lawyers & Conveyancers

Member Facebook Draw:

  • Jade Walker of Marsdens Law Group

Member Shout Outs

  • Jeanette Griffiths of Shine On acknowledged Vicki Gregson of Giftlinx
  • Wendy White of Sparkling Voices acknowledged Shaun Pereira of C21 Pereira Group
  • Georgia Singh of Connect Pathways acknowledged Paul from We Are Community
  • Amy Woodley of Start Fresh Accounting acknowledge Garth Lewis from Alpha IT

What’s On – Carla Upfill, Meeting Director

  • The Camden Show on 24 and 25 March
  • Comedy for a Cause on 1 April at Wests Leagues Club Leumeah
  • Macarthur Country Easter Eggstravaganza on 2 April at the Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living
  • The future of the Warwick Farm Racing Precinct on 14 April
  • The WSI Airport Safety Innovation Show on 21 April
  • Anzac Day on 25 April at Camden RSL from 5am
  • Youth Solutions Movie Night on 11 May at Events Cinemas Campbelltown
  • 13th World Chambers Congress on 21-23 June
  • Youth Solutions Denim and Diamonds 2023 Charity Event on 22 July

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 Dean Williamson of Human Systems Co who spoke about Decreasing Staff Turnover and Getting The Best out of Your People

  • Why does keeping staff matter?
    • And it’s not only the shortage – turnover predicts how well you do financially
    • The costs you don’t see
    • The Better Work Australia podcast
    • The waste of the leadership trap
    • If I had some suggestions for what to increase or improve:
      • Measure employee engagement
      • Improve employee engagement
      • Focus on learning and growth
      • Improve confident in company leadership
      • Foster a culture of belonging

Q&A

  • Sandra Bartlett asked – Company values, are they relevant
    • Lived values
  • Sandra also asked about trust
    • What is a person doing when you can’t see them
  • James Welch of Access Law Group asked – culture around quiet firing and anti-work movement
    • Update what people need and organisation design

Lucky Door Prize

Marsdens gift box won by Christine Jade of The Butterfly Bookkeeper

Carrington Care gift won by Sue Anne Collings of Guarding Funerals

The 4K Automotive gift was won by Kenzie Hancock of Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation

Closing Remarks – Anne Parnham

Anne thanked everyone for attending and to travel home safely. 

The next general meeting will be on April 12th at Menangle Country Club with guest speaker Greg Van Borssum. 

There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 8.35pm.