Be.Bendigo CEO reflects on mixed 12 months for local business

OUTGOING Be.Bendigo CEO Rob Herbert believes there’s still reason for optimism as 2025 approaches despite a tough year for the Bendigo business community.

Mr Herbert, who won’t renew his contract when it expires in February, mentioned two particular examples of growth, expansion and broader benefits to the business community that played out this year.

“If I think of the good news, JL King & Co won Best Business (plus the Climate Leader Award and Manufacturing Award) at our Business Excellence Awards,” he said.

“They’ve moved to a state-of-the-art facility in East Bendigo – they’ve got 200 staff and their business is going from strength to strength, so that’s a great story.

“Of course, more recently, DJAARA won the Telstra Business of the Year Award (and the Indigenous Business of the Year Award).

“In a similar vein, they’ve just moved to their new corporate and community centre in Golden Square.”

He said Bendigo also remains fortunate to have a strong education and trade platform across Bendigo TAFE and La Trobe University.

“They’re doing really good things in terms of supporting people into more advanced pathways to help address some of the skills gap challenges across regional Victoria.”

The Catholic College Bendigo alumni mentioned the upgrade to the Bendigo Airport Terminal as another important initiative.

“We’d all love to see more flight options coming out of Bendigo, and the strengthening of the Bendigo-Sydney flight path is (an excellent) platform for us to build on in the future,” he said.

Reflecting on his almost three years at the helm of Bendigo’s voice for the business community, he said he’s “loved doing the role.”

“I’ve really loved the engagement with not just business stakeholders but the broader community, because in just about every instance, it’s been a pleasure which I’ve been fortunate to be part of,” he said.