2023 year in review
It has been another busy year on the Chamber and we have got through a mountain of work, promotions, events, activities, workshops and projects. Following is a summary of some of the highlights starting with some great recognition of the work that we have completed in 2023.
Christmas 2022
The Chamber invested thousands of dollars and countless hours into decorating the town for Christmas including setting up the massive Christmas Tree (donated by the Special Events Committee) Santa’s sleigh (donated by Raging Bull Surf) and workshop and decorations adorning the main street shops. With the support of other local organisations have invested over $40,000 in to Christmas decorations in the last 3 years
Street Greening Project
After 12 months of negotiation with council, the Tree Planting Project finally went ahead with new street trees planted around the town centre. The project also including replacement of ground covers in planter boxes and was jointly funded by the Merimbula Special Events Committee and the Chamber, which received money from the Bega Valley Business Forum and Resilience NSW.
The Essence
The Essence store continues to trade well and supports 7 small businesses in the area including artists, photographers and hobby business. The shop is in a prime location and tries to promote local products where possible. New signage will be put up soon thanks to a grant from Clubs NSW and Club Sapphire.
Bega Valley Business Awards
In June the first shire wide business awards were held at Club Sapphire. The Black Tie event hosted nearly 300 people from over 50 businesses who were finalists in the awards. The event was funded by the Bega Valley Business Forum and supported by 6 Chambers of commerce including Merimbula
Business After Dark
We have run a number of business networking events to bring local business owners together at venues like Little Alice and Dulcie’s. These events were enjoyed by all and we would like to thank the venues and sponsors for their support
Small Business Month Event
The Chamber will hold a major event during in October which is NSW Small Business Month. Funding provided by NSW Government allowed us to engage some high quality speakers and we hope it will be a great event. The event is also supported by Business NSW.
The Chamber Committee continues to work towards our objectives and goals as laid out in our constitution and planning documents and we look forward to achieving more in 2024 with your support.
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