September Annual General Meeting Minutes
Annual General Meeting
12 September 2018
Held at Harrington Grove
The meeting was opened at 6.48pm.
Welcome – Shaun Pereira, Vice President – General
Shaun welcomed Chamber members, guests and life members and acknowledged and thanked guest speaker, Kim Payne.
Apologies
Maria Scattergood and Adriana Care were noted as apologies.
Minutes of Previous Meeting – Pania Gregson, Secretary
Pania advised that the minutes from July were not presented for acceptance at the August meeting with the Premier. The minutes from 11 July 2018 were moved by Brett McGrath, seconded by Sue Robinson and accepted. The minutes from 1 August 2018 were moved by Elisha Crismale, seconded by Sue Robinson and accepted.
Treasurer’s Report – Geoff Rogers, Treasurer
Geoff presented the Treasurer’s Report as at 31 August 2018. The Chamber is in a healthy financial position. The report was moved by Shaun Pereira and seconded by Leanne Wolf.
Membership Update – Amy Woodley, Membership Director
Amy advised there are 166 financial members and welcomed our 6 new members:
- Camden Mowing
- David Harvey Auctions
- Finlease
- Gregory Hills Hotel Property Finance Invest
- Sitecom Commercial Cleaning
Amy announced that the next Welcome to Chamber meeting will be held in October.
Sponsorship Update – Sue Robinson, Sponsorship Director
Sue thanked our Platinum, Gold, Silver, Media and Support sponsors for the 2017/18 year.
President’s Report – Brett McGrath, President
Brett acknowledged life member, Adriana Care.
He reflected on the past 12 months and some of Chamber’s achievements:
- Introduced the Business Tip and Welcome to Chamber meetings
- Partnered with CRET to advocate for small business
- Presented a diverse selection of entertaining and educational speakers at meetings
- Staged the most successful Christmas in Narellan event to date
- Supported local charities through financial and in-kind donations
- Introduced the Sub-Committee Policy
Brett advised that an area of focus for Chamber this year is internal governance and administration. Hence, a new Board role, Governance Director, and the approval of a paid part-time administration person, to allow the Board to focus on more strategic objectives and delivering better value to members.
Brett reminded members that one of the items for voting on tonight will be the proposed amendment to the Constitution relating to the objectives of the Chamber.
Brett acknowledged and thanked Board members who will be stepping off the Board – Maria Scattergood, Geoff Rogers, Amy Woodley and Belinda McLean – as well as those who have nominated for election. He announced that he is also stepping off the Board. Brett particularly acknowledged and thanked his predecessor, Maria, for her sincere dedication to the Chamber and her role as President.
Brett’s report was moved by Josephine Byrnes-Luna, seconded by Geoff Rogers and accepted.
Brett then handed over to Returning Officer, Anne Parnham, to facilitate the AGM.
Annual General Meeting
Welcome
Returning Officer, Anne Parnham, welcomed members and guests and introduced Josephine Byrnes-Luna as the official Scrutineer. She advised that members should have been provided with a Ballot Paper on arrival and asked members to indicate if they did not receive one.
Acceptance of 2017 AGM Minutes
Secretary, Pania Gregson, asked for someone to move that the minutes of the 2017 AGM be accepted. Moved by Geoff Rogers, seconded by Amy Woodley and accepted.
2018 Financial Year Financial Report
Treasurer, Geoff Rogers, presented the audited accounts for the 2018 financial year. His report was moved by Amy Woodley, seconded by Geoff Ellis and accepted.
Election of the Board of Directors
Anne declared all positions vacant. Nominations were called, and received for all roles as follows:
- President – Shaun Pereira
- Vice President – General – Pania Gregson
- Vice President – Communications & Media – Elisha Crismale
- Secretary – Jean Galloway
- Treasurer – Amy Woodley and Mario Zannettou
- Events Director – Leanne Wolf
- Marketing Director – Kaisha Gambell and Colin Potts
- Membership Director – Renee Garcia and Sam Syed
- Sponsorship Director – Sue Robinson
- Governance Director – Wade Thomas
Where only one nomination was received for a position, Anne declared that these positions have been filled. For positions where more than one nomination was received, members were requested to cast a vote to select one candidate for each position. Members were reminded that they must be a current financial member to be eligible to vote and only one vote per member would be accepted.
Nominees were invited, in alphabetical order, to address to the members.
Constitution Amendment
It was proposed that clause 4 of the Constitution, ‘Principles and Objects of Chamber’ be amended to better reflect the mission, objectives and values of The Greater Narellan Business Chamber.
Members were asked to vote for or against the motion to amend the existing clause:
4 Principles and Objects of Chamber
4.1 To retain expenditure within our economy.
4.2 To encourage further business development within our area.
4.3 To create employment within our local area.
4.4 To increase membership and community awareness.
to
4 Mission & Objectives
4.1 To support businesses maximise their potential.
4.2 To passionately advocate for businesses in the region.
4.3 To keep members apprised of the market conditions in which we operate.
4.4 To give back to our community.
Anne called a break to enable ballot papers to be handed in and votes counted.
————— Networking Break —————-
Results of the Voting Process
Anne announced the newly elected members to the Board:
- Treasurer – Amy Woodley
- Marketing Director – Kaisha Gambell
- Membership Director – Renee Garcia
For the motion to amend Clause 4 of the Constitution, Anne announced that of the 56 votes received, 52 members voted for, 2 voted against and 2 abstained. The motion was passed.
Honorary Life Member
Shaun Pereira was invited to announce and make the presentation to Chamber’s newest Life Member – Ian Wolf.
The AGM was declared closed at 7.40pm.
Incoming President’s Report – Shaun Pereira, President
Shaun thanked Anne Parnham and Josephine Byrnes-Luna for facilitating the AGM. He welcomed the new members to the Board and thanked the outgoing Board members, with a special thank you to outgoing President, Brett McGrath. He also acknowledged newly appointed Honorary Life Member, Ian Wolf.
He believes that the Chamber is very fortunate to have had hard working, professional board members in the past who have left the Chamber in a very good position, both financially and with the relationships that have been nurtured with various levels of government, members and the local business community.
His focus, and the focus of the Board, will be to:
- Foster and grow the relationships that are already in place;
- Work collaboratively with CRET;
- Ensure that members receive value from their memberships; and
- Increase focus on governance to ensure a sustainable and proactive Chamber.
Christmas in Narellan Update – Shaun Pereira, President
Shaun advised that the committee is headed up by Amanda Good of Good Events. Paulini, of Australian Idol fame, is the headline act. $60K has been received in sponsorships and more spots are available. A thank you event for sponsors will be held on 31 October and attended by Paulini.
New Sponsor Welcome – Sue Robinson, Sponsorship Coordinator
Sue welcomed and announced the 2018/19 Gold, Silver, Media and Support sponsors. A video presentation highlighting the Media and Support sponsors was played.
Guest Speaker – Kim Payne
Kim highlighted the importance of the human relationship in business. She suggested that the acronyms BSB (business to business) and B2C (business to customer) be replaced with H2H (human to human).
Some of the key points included:
- It’s not enough to be the best at what you do
- Show clients and prospects the person/people behind the brand
- Speak the language your clients speak
- Use stories – stories connect humans
- Video is the best tool to connect with people
- The quality of the video on your phone is good enough
- Show up consistently, and practice!
Shaun thanked Kim and presented her with a gift.
Lucky Door Prizes
Donated by the Media and Support sponsors – $200 gift voucher, won by Greg Cooper from Geolyse.
Member Spotlight Draw
Three lucky members were drawn to present a 1-minute video at the next meeting. These were Brad from Lifeline, Andrew from Combined Real Estate and Natalie from Coutts Solicitors and Conveyancers.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 10th October 2018 at The Australian PlantBank, with special guest speaker, Graham Ross. Arrival from 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 8.54pm.