'Sitting in your office is not sufficient,' leaders get fired up at summit

Dozens of CEOs and public figures are gathered in the halls of the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC), including Tamworth's mayor, business chamber president, and NSW Shadow Minister for Youth Justice Aileen Macdonald.

They've come from across the state to attend the inaugural New England North West Regional Leadership Summit, which aims to connect business leaders from across the New England North West.

Peter Baines OAM, forensic investigator and founder of the Thailand-based charity Hands Across the Water, delivered the conference's opening address.

"Our true leaders are identified by their actions and their reactions. It's what people do, not the positions they hold, that really makes a difference," Mr Baines said.

"Sitting in your office, having all the information and being across everything, is not sufficient."

The conference's organiser and peak industry body Business NSW is on an ongoing quest to re-establish itself in the region.

But Mr Baines told the Leader his message applied to more than just the business leaders in the room.

After travelling across several countries and meeting with people from all sorts of backgrounds the author and philanthropist said one of the biggest lessons he'd learned was that innovation could come from anywhere.

It just takes the bravery to take the leap.

"If we wait until there's a clear pathway to take action there's a good chance you'll miss out. Sometimes you've gotta create the pathway, even if you don't have some big grand end vision before you start," Mr Baines said.

"And you know if you take action and it doesn't work out, there's nothing wrong with that, it's not a failure. Failure is not starting."

The first panel of the conference explored opportunities for growth in regional businesses, particularly in agriculture, manufacturing, and engineering.

"I don't think there's a better time for people to come out of education and into agriculture than right now. There's so much demand," CEO of agricultural service GLENRAC, Kylie Falconer, said on the panel.

Panellists described the current state of their respective industries and shared ideas with one another in real time.

"A lot of innovation from our side comes from our rubber division. We've been doing a lot with recycling and upcycling products for use in other industries," Andromeda Industries customer relations manager Geoff Bower said.

"What we've been able to innovate there is re-purposing rubber belts into use in agriculture, or for nettings for wheelchairs. There's loads of room for growth and collaboration there."