May General Meeting Minutes

General Meeting

9 May 2018
Held at Camden Council, Oran Park

The meeting was opened at 6.35pm.

President’s Welcome and Report – Maria Sapienza, President

• Maria welcomed Chamber members and guests, life members Tony Perich AM and Adriana Care, Camden Council Mayor Lara Symkowiak, Deputy Mayor Theresa Fideli, General Manager Ron Moore and Harry Hunt OAM.
• Maria asked members to congratulate and thank Council for their hospitality.
• The NSW Business Chamber Awards are open. Entries for Macarthur businesses close on 14 June. Maria congratulated Chamber members who have been selected as finalists.
• The Chamber has surveyed its members and sponsors. Those who responded will be put in a draw to win a $500 Narellan Town Centre voucher for the Member Survey and a $150 Blue Agave Restaurant voucher for the Sponsor Survey.
• Previous sponsors of Christmas in Narellan have been invited to participate in this year’s event. As an additional benefit, sponsors will be included in a desk calendar.
• Maria mentioned the Coutts Women in Law event which will include a panel of successful women.

Minutes of Previous Meeting – Pania Gregson, Secretary

Pania advised the minutes from the previous meeting held on 11 April 2018 are available on the website. The minutes were moved by Sue Robinson, seconded by Brett McGrath and accepted.

Treasurer’s Report – Geoff Rogers, Treasurer

Geoff presented the Treasurer’s Report as at 30 April 2018. The Chamber is in a healthy financial position.  The report was moved by Tony Perich and seconded by Rob Toscano.

Business Tip – Colin Potts, The Macarthur Network Group

Colin presented the A-List Opportunity – how to categorise customers as A, B, C and D and the importance of increasing the A’s and decreasing the D’s.

Special Presentation – Adrian Tyson, Neuranext

Adrian provided an interesting look into the technological world of AI (artificial intelligence), the advancements made to date and the opportunities for its application in the future.

Membership Update – Amy Woodley, Membership Coordinator

Amy advised there are 204 financial members and welcomed our 4 new members:

• Salt and Pepper
• Macarthur Football Association

Amy introduced the Member Resources section which provides access to the member profile management area and training resources. The first of these training resources is the 12 Week MBA course by Siimon Reynolds.  Valued at over $1,300, Chamber members can access this course at no charge.

A new quarterly Chamber event will be launched in June called the Welcome to Chamber event. It is specially designed to introduce new Chamber members to each other as well as to the benefits available to members and education on how to use the website to book meetings, manage profiles, etc.  The first meeting is scheduled for 6 June at the Oran Park Smart Work Hub.  Information will be emailed to members shortly.

The draw for the Member’s Survey was done and Marilyn Biel from SWNG won the $500 Narellan Town Centre voucher.

Sponsorship Report – Sue Robinson, Sponsorship Coordinator

Sponsorship packages for 2018/19 will be released in June. Existing sponsors will be given first preference.

The draw for the Sponsor’s Survey was done and Kelly Stanford from Stanford Solicitors won dinner for 2 at Blue Agave Restaurant to the value of $150.

—————   Networking Break   —————-

Special Presentation – Adriana Care, Camden Region Economic Taskforce (CRET)

CRET was established in 2017 by Camden Council. It is an independent organization run by a board of directors – Adrian Care (Chair), Lara Symkowiak, Peter Sidgreaves, Bruce Hanrahan AM, Peter Meadows, Belinda McLean and Peter Campbell.  Debbie Roberts has recently been appointed as Executive Officer.

Adriana presented their Strategic Plan for 2018-2021.

Guest Speaker – Lara Symkowiak, Mayor, Camden Council

Lara thanked Maria and the Chamber executive and welcomed her Council colleagues and CRET colleagues. She acknowledged her General Manager, Ron Moore and local State Member, Chris Paterson.

Lara presented a comprehensive and informative update on each of the following 6 areas:

• Camden Growth and Demographics
• Major Projects
• Council Initiatives
• How Council is Supporting Small Business
• Western Sydney City Deal
• Large DA’s of Interest

Maria thanked Lara and presented her with a gift to Council.

Lucky Door Prizes

Donated by Camden Council – hamper, won by Katarina from LJ Hooker.
Donated by Italian Food Project – $50 voucher, won by Pena from Ocagi.

Closing Remarks

Maria mentioned that Chamber is working on a project to assist local youth to transition from school to the workforce. She is looking for local businesses mentors and work experience opportunities.  She asked members to advise if they are interested.

Local events coming up:

14/5/18 – Youth Solutions Ladies Movie Night
16/5/18 – Campbelltown Chamber of Commerce meeting
13/6/18 – The Greater Narellan Chamber of Commerce meeting
28/7/18 – Youth Solutions Annual Charity Ball
4/8/18 – Australian Wildlife Ball

Maria acknowledged and thanked Leanne Wolf, Camden Council staff and caterer Chef and I for a wonderful meeting.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 13th June 2018 at Harrington Grove, arrival from 6.00pm.

There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 8.55pm.