Business chamber welcomes aboard fresh faces as it makes big plans for 2024

Tamworth Business Chamber president Matthew Sweeney told the Leader the past year has been "a bit chaotic" for the business community, but there's light on the horizon for next year.

He said the chamber will build on its strengths while adding events to capitalise on Tamworth's growing multicultural community and international business ties.

"The recent opening of the Qube inter-modal hub gives us the opportunity to make stuff locally, put it on a container, and ship it to the world in large quantities, and we're only in the infancy of that," Mr Sweeney said.

The accountant by trade said there's also lots of interest among business owners in learning how to draw the full potential out of an increasingly multicultural workforce.

"We're looking at workshops that recognise the 96 nationalities in Tamworth. We'd like to get some of these overseas business people into the room to have a chat about how to work best with an intercultural team.

"It's something more than the technical stuff, focusing on utilising the strength we've already got here in the town to the benefit of everyone."

The business chamber has also welcomed two fresh faces to its board of directors.

New members Katherine Sherrie and Craig Clarke were confirmed at the chamber's annual general meeting last week.

Mr Sweeney said he's looking forward to benefiting from the new members' experiences in marketing, banking, and agribusiness.

"[Ms Sherrie] was on the junior chamber as well so she's a good link to the younger, up-and-coming business and entrepreneurial side of things," Mr Sweeney said.

Jocelyn Cockbain took over as secretary of the chamber from outgoing member Libby Campbell.

Mr Sweeney, David Errington, and Martin Howes were returned to their positions as president, vice president, and treasurer respectively.

Looking back on the year, Mr Sweeney said the business chamber has experienced great success from its "big five" annual events.

He said the chamber's three leaders' forums - State of the City, State of the State, and State of the Nation - were all met with very positive feedback.

On top of that, this year's shop local promotion and Tamworth Quality Business Awards were some of the most successful the chamber has ever seen.

But Mr Sweeney said the thing he's most proud of the chamber for achieving this year is fostering new collaborations between businesses.

From housing to workforce shortages, the chamber president said there are several issues Tamworth's businesses are facing that are best solved by putting several heads together.

One solid example of this was the region's first engineering trail which was put on to advertise the region's burgeoning manufacturing industry to young workers across the state.