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September Annual General Meeting Minutes

Written by Executive on . Posted in Minutes.

Annual General Meeting

13 September 2023
Held at Camden Valley Inn

The meeting was opened at 6.30pm.

Welcome and Outgoing Presidents Report – Anne Parnham, President

Anne welcomed everyone to the AGM.  She acknowledged the special guests – Life Members Tony Perich AM and Kathy Perich, Ian Wolf, and Paul Mingay, and Immediate Past President Shaun Pereira.

She informed all 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 Executive Board of the Chamber and as President, Anne takes the conflict of interest part of the Constitution very seriously.

Anne spoke about:

  • A lot of members do not have their business details on the website, take a moment and go to the website and enter your details so other members can contact you.  There is no point just putting your name there only.  
  • Reminder to all members that the Chamber has Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn pages that you can join, especially the Members Only Facebook page where you can put items of interest for other members.
  • Congratulations to Peta Borg of Hamper Culture for winning her category at the recent Camden Local Business Awards.

President’s Report since Anne commenced in December 2022:

  • The Chamber has reconnected with the Narellan Police Force by attending 2 of their Police Forums.  Anne hopes to have Sgt Phil Gornall speak at the October meeting.  She officially congratulated him on winning the overall Macarthur Police Officer of the Year Award at the recent Rotary Clubs of Macarthur Awards held in Campbelltown.  The Camden LAC won 5 of the 7 categories.
  • Had numerous meetings with both the Camden Mayor – Ashleigh Cagney, and the NSW State MP – Sally Quinnell, in the hope to have a closer working relationship with them in the future and the Council team is present at this meeting to present a local update.
  • Had meetings with the President and Vice President of Picton Chamber of Commerce, and also plan to have more joint ventures along with Campbelltown and Ingleburn Chambers.
  • Recently elected as the President of the Regional Advisory Council for Western Sydney with Business NSW – known as the RAC.
  • Have attended numerous events in Western Sydney over the last couple of months and hope to in the future do more collaboration with Business NSW and Western Sydney Chambers of Commerce.
  • Have for many years now been involved in the planning for a new tourist information centre at the Mt Annan Botanical Gardens.  Recently had a meeting with Fazila Farhad, the President of South West Sydney Tourism Taskforce to try to resurrect this project.
  • Have had meetings with Julie Lewis and Lou from Service NSW in the hope of connecting more with them over the next 12 months also.
  • Have had meetings with Geoff Ellis from the Macarthur BDC who will be starting more business training courses for members in the area.  Geoff will be leading the way in assisting businesses along with Camden Council to enable members to have the best possible knowledge of their business.
  • Have been attending meetings with the Chamber Alliance of Western Sydney, known as CAWS, so we can learn from other Chambers and share our successes.
  • Attended the Carrington Care Fair last weekend which was a resounding success.  It was great to see Raad lead the way with the microphone bringing attention to all the activities, especially the raffle, along with our wonderful Meetings Director Carla Upfill who organised the entire function.
  • There is excitement to have new members on the Executive Board, and together achieve some remarkable things.  The intention is to bring some very impressive speakers to our area; hold an International Men’s Day event as a joint venture with the South West Networking Group – so if you would like to volunteer to be a part of that Committee, now is the time to put your hands up.
  • Looking to be more involved with Ingleburn, Campbelltown, and Picton Chambers of Commerce.
  • Thank you to Wendy White, the Chamber’s Administration Assistant for all her work.  She has been the “go to” person for me over the last few months.
  • Thank you to the Executive Board and to those who are retiring, you know how grateful members are for you work and donation of your time to the role of a Director – Jean Alim as Vice President and Director of Governance; and Natalie Balabka as Director of Events.

Apologies

Judy Hannan, State Member for Wollondilly
Sally Quinnell, State Member for Camden
Rory Muscat, Coleman Gregi Lawyers
Adriana Care, Life Member and Coutts Lawyers and Conveyancers
Amy Woodley, Start Fresh Accounting
Stephen Grabowski, Grabowski Financial Planning

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Returning Officer, Josephine Byrnes-Luna welcomed members and advised how the process for the AGM would be conducted.  Josephine also congratulated the outgoing Board on a successful year.

Acceptance of 2022 AGM Minutes

Josephine asked for someone to move that the Minutes of the 2022 AGM be accepted.  Moved by Anne Parnham, seconded by Karina Rauch and accepted.

2023 Financial Year Financial Report

Treasurer, Karina Rauch, presented the audited accounts for the 2023 financial year.  She thanked Wayne Hardy Smith for their co-operation in getting the audit completed for the AGM and advised they were a true and accurate record.  The Report was moved by Carla Upfill, seconded by Geoff Ellis and accepted.

Election of Board of Directors

Josephine declared the following positions vacant as per the Constitution.  Nominations were called, and received for all roles as follows:

  • President – Anne Parnham of AP Consulting
  • Vice President – Roland Blackstone of Marsdens Law Group
  • Secretary – Lisa Hamilton of Help2U
  • Events Director – Rachel Elliott of Landsdowne Property Group
  • Meetings Director – Carla Upfill of Carrington Care
  • Governance Director – Roland Blackstone of Marsdens Law Group
  • Sponsorship Director – Antonella Ianni of Access Law Group

As only one nomination was received for all positions, Josephine declared that all these positions have been filled. 

The 2023-2024 Executive Board is:

  • President – Anne Parnham of AP Consulting
  • Vice President – Roland Blackstone of Marsdens Law Group
  • Treasurer – Karina Rauch of Kelly Partners
  • Secretary – Lisa Hamilton of Help2U
  • Membership Director – Sandra Bartlett of Stairway 2 Dreams
  • Events Director – Rachel Elliott of Landsdowne Property Group
  • Sponsorship Director – Antonella Ianni of Access Law Group
  • Governance Director – Roland Blackstone of Marsdens Law Group
  • Marketing Director – Daniel Fenech of Brick Studios
  • Meeting Director – Carla Upfill of Carrington Care

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anne thanked Josephine for being the Returning Officer and presented her with a thank you gift. 

Anne again recognised the contributions of the Directors who are retiring off the Board – Jean Alim (Vice President) and Natalie Balabka (Events Director).

Membership Update – Sandra Bartlett, Membership Director

Currently a membership of 159 – 128 financial, 5 life members, 24 sponsors and InKind sponsors, 2 new members and 14 waiting to renew.

New member introductions – Bricks & Mortgage Pty Ltd, and Gledswood Events Pty Ltd.

Member Spotlight interview – James Nguyen of Park and Hills Pty Ltd

Member Spotlight promo draw for October 2023 general meeting – Peta Borg of Hamper Culture.

Members Facebook promo draw for October 2023 – Mia of Clintons Toyota

What’s On – Carla Upfill, Meetings Director

Carla advised the following upcoming events:

  • Campbelltown Chamber meeting – Wednesday, 20 September 6pm at Ottimo House
  • Comedy for a Cause supported by Rotary Club of Gregory Hills Next-Gen – Friday, 15 September 7pm at Ingleburn RSL Club
  • Rotary Club of Gregory Hills Next-Gen Mega Raffle
  • Greater Cumberland Chamber of Commerce – Effective Cash Management for Business and Growth – 18 September 6.30pm at Wenty Leagues
  • Mental Health First Aid Standard course run by Sparkling Voices – 4 & 5 December from 9am at Macarthur BDC Smeaton Grange
  • Kids of Macarthur, A night at the trots – Saturday, 21 October at Club Menangle Trackside
  • Kids of Macarthur, Melbourne Cup Luncheon – 7 November at Ottimo House

Sponsor Presentations – Roland Blackstone, Secretary

  • Silver – Fusion Shutters and Blinds
  • Bronze – Sydney Web + Tech

Local Update – Roland Blackstone

  • Camden Council

Entertainment

Cara introduced the guest entertainers – The Elvoss and Cher Experience with Ross and Anna Mancini.

Lucky Door Prize

Hamper Culture Hamper – Daniel Fenech of Brick Studios
Fusion Shutters and Blinds gift – Rob Elliott of Landsdowne Property Group
Sydney Web + Tech gift – Shaun Pereira of C21 Pereira Group

Closing Remarks – Anne Parnham

Anne thanked everyone attending and supporting the AGM, the sponsors for their support and again congratulations to the incoming Executive Board. 

The next general meeting will be on October 11th at Wests Lakeside Golf Club Camden with guest speaker Tim Reid on That Little Known Marketing Secret.

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