It’s been a busy start to the year for the Grafton Chamber of Commerce, and there’s a renewed sense of excitement about what is possible in Grafton. A ‘not-for-profit’ organisation that encourages and advocates for local businesses and economic growth, the Chamber also provides members with information about regional projects and events and is a great source of information about what is happening in Grafton. The Chamber has already had several events this year, with many more to come.
The first Chamber Breakfast took place on Wednesday 15th February with presentations by the Clarence Valley Council about the Rediscover Grafton initiative, followed by a Q&A session, then Mark Blackadder the manager of the Grafton Jacaranda Festival spoke about the highly successful Groove On The Grass concert. The Clocktower Hotel always does a brilliant job of looking after the Chamber, with a lovely cooked breakfast and fresh hot coffee. The Chamber Breakfasts are always a great way to start the day and provide the opportunity to find out what is happening in the community as well as a chance to expand your professional and personal network. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, and you’ll often find yourself chatting with someone like you are old friends, even though you haven’t previously met!
The best place for information on the Chamber and what we are doing is our website https://www.graftonchamberofcommerce.org.au which Justin James has done a brilliant job of updating recently. As well as being the vice president of the Chamber, Justin is creative director of James and Dare Creative, and we are very lucky to have someone with his considerable talent on the Chamber Executive. The Chamber also has a Facebook page which provides useful information and updates.
New members are always welcome and the opportunity to meet and connect with others is invaluable, both from a professional as well as a personal perspective. We always speak about “networking”, which can sound a little daunting, but all it really means is meeting new people and having a chat! Everyone is very friendly, approachable, and supportive, and are there because they care about Grafton and their community and want to meet others that feel the same way. We have a lot more to come this year and we’d love you to join us!
The “Meet the Candidates” event at the GDSC on the 28th February was very well attended. All four of the candidates standing for Clarence in the upcoming election generously gave their time to come and talk to us. There were a series of questions that the candidates were given in advance and could prepare for, followed by a Q&A session that was opened up for anyone in the audience to ask questions. All four candidates spoke really well and there was a great deal of respect for each other shown.
The event was live streamed by Clarence Media and supported by the GDSC and Loving Life FM 103.1. After the formal part of the evening finished there was time for people to have a chat and meet the candidates, whilst enjoying the wonderful hospitality of the GDSC. It was a great opportunity to hear what the candidates’ views were, plus it was also a really enjoyable evening. Thank you to everyone who made it such a success!
The first Business After Hours event was held at the Clocktower Hotel on 1st March. For anyone who hasn’t attended one of these events, they are a fantastic way to wind down after work with a drink and some finger food, whilst chatting with likeminded people.
The Clocktower always puts on delicious food and everyone who attends is there to meet and connect with others, so you will always be made to feel welcome. The Business After Hours events take place on the first Wednesday of the month at the Clocktower and tickets are available on the Grafton Chamber of Commerce website.
Thank you to everyone who attended our International Women’s Day dinner at Vines at 139 on the 8th March. This type of event can’t happen without a lot of community and business support, and we are so lucky to have had so many people get behind us to bring our plan to fruition. Thank you to Erin and the wonderful team at Vines for looking after us, accommodating our event, and ensuring that we were all so well fed. The meals were delicious, and the service was excellent. Thank you to our inspirational speakers Donna, Sallie, and Debrah for sharing your stories with us. The community is so lucky to have you!
Thanks to our fantastic sponsors!
•Northern Pathways
•Jempire Events
•NJW Commercial
•James & Dare Creative
Thank you to all the businesses who so generously donated products and services to this evening and to the team who organised the event.
Special mention to Chamber president Natasha Hillery who always works tirelessly behind the scenes on behalf of the local business community and who puts in an amazing effort to bring together the International Women’s Day dinner each year. Tash is an inspiring woman who embodies the spirit of International Women’s Day. Thank you also to member of the Chamber Executive Lisa Busch who has done an outstanding job coordinating donations from the local business community fort this event. Lisa is very active in the community and freely gives her time to help others.
We’re fortunate in the Chamber to have women of the calibre of Natasha, Lisa, and the amazing Donna Layton in the Executive, and to be able to benefit from their wisdom and experience. Numerous other people contributed towards the dinner, and we can’t thank them all personally, but we are so grateful to each and every one of them for what they have done. See you all again next year for International Women’s Day 2024!
On Wednesday the 15th of March we had our 2nd monthly breakfast at the Clocktower Hotel. The breakfast had a Youth Week theme, and executive member Jeremy Jablonski was the host. Jeremy has a passion for encouraging and developing the youth of the Valley and he works with young people at The New School of Arts in South Grafton. Jeremy is also a significant presence in the local business community, with his business Jempire Events offering a range of services including event management, sound, lighting, FX, mobile DJ, and entertainment; and he is passionate about business and advancing the interests of the local business community. With a “foot in both camps” and knowledge of issues affecting both the youth and business communities, Jeremy was the perfect compere for our breakfast.
Our presenters for the breakfast were equally impressive – Giane Smajstr (Youth Coordinator for Office for Regional Youth), Allira Newton (Community Development Youth Officer from CVC), and Amanda Daffey (Coordinator/Youth Worker from New School of Arts Clarence Valley Youth Hubs and the 2022 Grafton Jacaranda Festival Ambassador). Their knowledge and enthusiasm was plain to see, and they started their presentation by introducing the Chamber to a new tool, the Menti platform. This enabled all in attendance to participate in the discussion and answer a series of questions by typing the answers on their phones.
Everyone was able to participate without having to worry about speaking in front of a crowd, and the response from the attendees was that the use of Menti was a fantastic innovation and something that people were keen to see in use in Chamber events in future. We were also shown the Youth Week program and there are some great events planned for the Clarence Valley, which is wonderful to see!
As usual, we were extremely well looked after by the Clocktower with a delicious, cooked breakfast and much needed hot coffee! Thanks to our speakers and the Clocktower for a fantastic breakfast!
Dear Members,
This year we want to be more proactive in highlighting the work of our fantastic members. What we have in mind is a profile piece for each participating member, with a bit about the business, the background, who you are, what you do, what you are most proud of, any successes you want to mention, challenges you have overcome or are currently facing, and then a photo or two. We want to get to know YOU and share with the community at large the stories of the fantastic local businesses that we have in Grafton. We’re proud of our local business community and we want to share your stories.
Participation is entirely voluntary, but we would love if you would let us feature you in our newsletter and on our social media. If this sounds like something you may be interested in, please email us at office@graftonchamberofcommerce.org.au with the subject heading “Member Spotlights”. Please let us know if there is a particular time of year that you wish to be highlighted, for example if you have a particular event in a certain month of the year, and we will do what we can do accommodate this. Please share with us your story so we can put together a profile piece, and then we can provide it to you to approve before publication.
This is something new we are trying, but we are very excited about it, and would love for you to be a part of it.
What’s Happening in April!
We have our Business After Hours coming up on Wednesday 5th April at 5.30pm at the Clocktower Hotel. Tickets will be available on the Chamber website. This month we have a special “bring a friend” offer, where ticket holders can bring a friend for free. We’d love to see you there!
Our breakfast for April is going to be a week later than usual as we have pushed it back due to school holidays. The breakfast will be on Wednesday 26th April at 7am at the Clocktower Hotel. With a lot of community concern about crime in Grafton at the moment, we have decided to dedicate our April breakfast to this issue and are going to have Richard Garrels, the new Inspector at Grafton Police Station, as well as a representative from Clarence Valley Council coming to talk.
We will also have a presentation about the upcoming Prince Street event on Saturday 20th May which is in collaboration with Clarence Valley Council and the Grafton Jacaranda Festival. This is part of the Rediscover Grafton initiative and is a chance to celebrate and support our fantastic local businesses in Prince Street. The event will be ticketed, but tickets will be free. Keep an eye on our website and Facebook pages for more details closer to the time.
It’s going to be a jam-packed breakfast with a lot to fit in, and it’s not to be missed! Once bookings are open we ask that people get in early and book their spot well in advance. This is because tickets are likely to sell out, and we also want to make things as easy as possible for the Clocktower for catering. The Clocktower always look after us and we want to make sure we look after them as well. Keep an eye on our website as tickets will become available soon.
Planning is also well underway for our events which will take place later in the year. If you have ever thought about coming to one of our events, please do so – we would love to see you and always welcome new members. The Chamber is a very friendly group, and it’s easy to find someone to chat to as everyone there has an interest in the local community and it is a positive, inclusive group. Check our website for details of what we are up to, and you can always have a chat to one of our executive team if you have any questions.
🏆BUSINESS AWARD NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN!
Nominations are now open for the 2023 Business Awards, to be presented at the Spring Gala later this year. This year, we are asking businesses to nominate themselves, answer a series of questions, and a panel of independent judges will determine the winner of each category. There will also be a people’s choice award to be voted on by SMS.
All details on the Grafton Chamber of Commerce website https://www.graftonchamberofcommerce.org.au/copy-of-spring-gala
Last year’s Spring Gala was a fantastic event, and it was a great chance to recognise some of the many amazing businesses we have here in Grafton.
Spring Gala Business Awards
This year the Awards will be set up for businesses to enter on their own accord. Similar to the Business Excellence Awards of times gone by, the entrant will have a list of questions in which they must cover in their entry which will then be judged by a independent panel of judges.
Entry this year will involve:
Your Entry – This can be in an essay format, a visual presentation with imagery and text, or in a audio/video format. As long as the criteria questions are answered.
The Judges Visit – The 2 judges assigned to your entry will make an appointment with you to visit and discuss your entry, this will make up 30% of the judges score.
The Panel – If your entry wins an award on the night, you will be apart of a 8 part panel and will have the opportunity to answer pre-set questions which will be sent to you upon submission of your entry.