GHCCC President's Report

Glasshouse Country Chamber of Commerce Update - May 2011

Our chamber will be busy over the coming weeks and we would like to extend an invitation to local business people to come along and see what we’re all about – and to meet up with the dynamic group of business people that are already actively involved in the Chamber.

Over the past few months the Chambers management committee has been working hard to create a schedule of events that will support the needs and interests of our overall membership base. We have developed a schedule of events that included formal meetings as well as networking events and an annual dinner.

General meetings – Wednesday, May 18 is the date of our next General meeting for the year, the meeting will be held at the Glasshouse Sports Club from 5.30pm. This is a formal meeting with an agenda that works through a range of issues and activities that the Chamber is currently working on.

Annual dinner – this year’s annual dinner is on Wednesday, June 8. This is timed to coincide with the Glasshouse Country Festival – an excellent community initiative developed by one of our members, Bob McLean. Our special guest speaker at the dinner will be Mayor Bob Abbott – who will be sharing his views on the business priorities for Council in 2012 and beyond.

It is great for the business community in Division 1 to finally have the chance to provide the Mayor with our views and ideas on our local area. The dinner will be held at the Beerwah Hotel from 6.00pm, tickets are $25.00 for members and $30.00 for non members. Tickets must be pre-purchased. To RSVP please phone Sarah at Glasshouse Country News on 5438 7445.

Glasshouse Country Sustainability and Garden Expo – the Chamber will also have a stall at the expo which will be staffed by Chamber members, so if you are planning to be at the expo and you have any questions then stop and have a chat with us.

Phone book cover – the Chamber has again produced a stylish phone book sticker – which has been a great promotional tool for members over the years, you can expect to see the new one in your Glasshouse Country News to coincide with the arrival of the next Yellow Pages phone book.

I look forward to seeing you all at one of the upcoming events.

Glasshouse Country Chamber of Commerce Update - October 2010

Is your networking not working? We all know these days that networking is a really critical part of small business success but knowing this and knowing how to get the most out of the time you spend networking, is not so simple.

To get some great tips and learn from other business people’s war stories, the Glass House Country Chamber of Commerce are holding a free workshop followed by a dinner meeting on Wednesday, October 20 at the Beerwah Hotel. President, Kel McNamara, of KLM Energy Services said it should be a great night.

“It kicks off straight from work at 5.30pm, then everyone can grab a drink and learn about networking. Then we will get a chance to practice our new skills over dinner and the night should wrap up around 8.15pm.” Geoff Butler of Vestra Business Advantage, who will be running the workshop, is based in Maleny and is a really active member of the Maleny Chamber.

With more than 30 years of business experience behind him, Geoff has a strong desire to show business owners the value of networking as an important tool to grow their business in an economical and highly rewarding way. “During the dinner, we also have two special guests from Beerwah High, who will be discussing opportunities for individual businesses to work with the School. “Thanks to a great offer from the Beerwah Hotel, the whole night will only cost you $25.00 per person and this includes a two course meal,” Kel said. Don’t miss this great opportunity to improve your business – to book your ticket phone Sarah at Glasshouse Country News on 5494 6066 or email reception@gcnews.com.au

Kel McNamara (President)
Owner, KLM Energy Services,
Glass House Mountains

Glasshouse Country Chamber of Commerce Update – March 2010

Last week I attended the official opening of the new million dollar Interpretative facility at the Glasshouse Mountains Visitor Information Centre and it looks great. It is a wonderful addition to our area and it will be an invaluable asset for our tourist operators and those businesses that indirectly benefit from increased tourists to our area. I would really encourage all businesses to visit the centre and judge for themselves.

The Chamber’s Committee is once again operating at full strength with Ursula Starkovski of About Real Estate in Beerwah agreeing to take on the role of Treasurer – thanks Ursula it is a vital role and it was great to see you volunteering your time for the benefit of our members.

And while it may not always be easy to fill executive positions, we are definitely not having any trouble increasing our membership. We have now increased our members to around 60, with a significant number of these businesses regularly attending meetings.

A number of the new members have said that one of the reasons they have joined is to network with other local businesses, as a result we have decided to develop a number of informal opportunities for this to happen.

Our Marketing Sub-Committee has developed an events calendar for the year and our next meeting on Wednesday, March 17 will be held at the Beerwah Hotel from 5.30pm – 7.00pm. There is no charge to attend the evening, hot and cold nibblies will be provided and the only cost will be if guests purchase drinks.

So if you would like to come along please RSVP by phoning Sarah at Glasshouse Country News on 5494 6066 or email our secretary, Janelle at glasshouseccc@gmail.com

Kel McNamara (President)
Owner, KLM Energy Services,
Glass House Mountains

Glasshouse Country Chamber of Commerce Update – February 2010

Hello and welcome to 2010. After a well deserved break for Christmas the Glass House Country Chamber of Commerce is back and ready to kick some more goals this year.

Signage in Beerwah
While there has been some additional directional signage installed in Beerwah since the overpass project has been completed, the Chamber is not completely satisfied that their needs are being met. Late last year I met with Mark McArdle to discuss nine issues the Chambers believe need to be rectified, both for the benefit of members and for the safety of road users. I will follow up with Mark on the outcomes of that meeting and report back at our next meeting.

National Landscapes Project
Last week I attended the first meeting of the Glass House Mountains National Landscapes Project, organised by Andrew Powell. The meeting was well attended by a broad range of local groups and there seems to be plenty of support for having our area listed as unique Cultural / Heritage tourism destination.

New Website
In December the Chamber finalised an agreement with local Website Developer Ben Foster of Flyesoft Pty Ltd to create our dynamic new website. The committee will work closely with Ben to ensure the website will be a valuable asset to the area and in particular our members. There will be a strong focus on both local business and tourism. We look forward to launching the website before the end of this financial year.

Phone Book Covers
Work is now underway for the phone book covers promoting membership of the Chamber of Commerce. As we now represent the entire region of Glasshouse Country extending from Beerburrum right through to Mooloolah we will be distributing 10,000 of the phone book covers at the time the new Yellow Pages are distributed to the area.

Membership
Our membership drive is going well with 12 new members accepted at our December meeting and additional new memberships to be put forward at our February meeting.
If you have been thinking about joining the local Chamber of Commerce then now is the time to get organised. If you would like a nomination form sent to you please contact our secretary – Janelle Lochart at glasshouseccc@gmail.com and she will email the form out to you.

Next general meeting
The association’s next meeting will be on Wednesday, February 17 at the Glasshouse Mountains Sports Club at 5.30pm. All current and potential members are welcome to come along.

Kel McNamara (President)
Owner, KLM Energy Services,
Glass House Mountains

Glasshouse Country Chamber of Commerce Update – November 2009

Don’t miss your chance to be on the phone book cover
Work is currently underway for the 2010 phone book cover, so if you have wondered how you can get your business featured on it then now is the time to do something about it.
You need to become a member of the Chamber and pay your membership fee of $100.00 before December 31. To have a membership form sent to you please email our secretary Janelle on glasshouseccc@gmail.com

Council’s ‘Our Plan – Our Future’
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council is currently undertaking their consultation for their new planning scheme and we need to make sure we provide our comments by December 7.
We will be having Council’s Manager of Strategic Planning, John Winsbury attending our next meeting at the Glasshouse Mountains Sports Club on Wednesday, November 19 at 6.30pm to give members and guests the opportunity to have their say. If you would like to come attend please RSVP to Janelle on to glasshouseccc@gmail.com
I believe that one of the most critical factors for local business is that there is additional Industrial land provided for businesses to expand and locate in our area. For years I have been saying this and my comments have been ignored. This time I believe we need the outside assistance of a professional to compile our response to Council in a manner that will make sure that finally Council will take on board our views and act on them!
We have formed a sub-committee to take on this project and I am keen to find other local business people who may be interested in participating in developing our response to Council. If you would like to discuss this idea further please contact me on klmservices@ozemail.com.au
Each day thousands of people drive out of our towns to go to work outside the area – if there were more opportunities for industry to develop here it would be great for the local businesses as well as local employment, the overall local business economy we could also reduce our carbon footprint and there would be some savings for the hip-pocket.

Pink Ribbon Breakfast
The association hosted a really successful ‘Pink Ribbon’ breakfast to raise funds for research and awareness of breast cancer at the Beerwah RSL with almost 100 guests attending.
With the combination of a $5.00 donation from each ticket purchased as well as the guests’ generous raffle purchases more than $1,800.00 was raised on the morning, which is a really great effort by all involved.
Thanks to all of those businesses who donated prizes and more importantly those that encouraged their staff to attend. With four banks in Beerwah and Westpac on the way, all five were well represented on the day. Along with the girls from the Beerwah RSL, GCNews, Accounting and Tax, and Custom Curtains.

Visioning Workshop
An enthusiastic group of Chamber members recently spent a spirited couple of hours at a visioning workshop held in the clubhouse at Eden in Glasshouse Country. This professional workshop was run by Sunshine Coast Enterprises CEO, Gerry Carr McFie and it proved to be a really valuable experience in creating the basis for our organisations future plans. We look forward to moving on to the next stage of this planning.

Membership
If you have been thinking about joining the Business Association then now is the time to get organised. If you would like a nomination form send a request through to our new secretary – Janelle Lockhart at glasshouseccc@gmail.com and she will email the form out to you.

Next general meeting
The association’s next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 19 at the Glasshouse Sports Club at 5.30pm. All current and potential members are welcome to come along, please RSVP to our secretary Janelle Lockhart via email glasshouseccc@gmail.com

Kel McNamara (President)
Owner, KLM Energy Services,
Glass House Mountains