Published: 15 March 2023

Eurobodalla has five active business chambers – Batemans Bay, Mogo, Moruya, Narooma and Tilba.

They all do wonderful work shaping our shire’s business and cultural future, advocating for things that matter in our community, as well as organising community events and hosting training for businesses.

The chambers are run by business owners and operators who volunteer their time and expertise – we dips our lid to them all. Let’s introduce Tilba District Chamber of Commerce, with Susan Gray at the helm, who stepped in as president just as Covid hit.

She said their chamber works more as a chamber of community rather than a chamber of commerce.

“As a small town, we are fishing in a small pool, so we opened memberships to non-business owners which allows us to tap into experienced and knowledgeable experts in the area.”

The Tilba chamber is leading activities and projects from the town’s strategic plan, all available to read on their website.

“The top priorities in our community were to protect and preserve our natural assets and enhance our history and culture,” says Susan.

Introducing associate memberships has allowed subgroups of interested people to form to drive actions from the strategic plan.

“One group is capturing and communicating the heritage and history of the area, while another group is more engaged in the natural environment working on preserving our flora and fauna and uniqueness of the environment.”

One of Susan’s first goals as president was to make meetings more accessible and available to everyone. There’s 10 meetings per year, with four being face-to-face and the rest online.

There’s also a link for anyone to join and listen in: "This gives everyone the opportunity to chime in and listen to what’s going on and what’s upcoming.”

“We are very much action oriented, with clear agendas and a strict one-hour meeting time. Debate is taken offline and addressed separately.

“Through the chamber, we identify what’s important for Tilba because we represent both community and businesses.”

At the top of Tilba’s advocacy list is parking and road safety improvements, and they’re working with Council staff on this.

“It has been great working with Council, who coordinated and project-managed things like last year’s playground upgrade. We were able to provide the project plan and some funding.

"Council supported that and provided further funding and all the resources for the build. Together we delivered a great community asset.”

Connect with your local business chamber by visiting their website. Contact details can also be found on the businesses webpage.

• This story was first published in Council’s quarterly newsletter for residents, Living in Eurobodalla. A printed edition is delivered to the shire’s 26,000 households.

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