COMMERCE Torquay has welcomed five new members to its board and is looking forward to a busy and prosperous 2022.<\/p>\n
The not-for-profit business advocacy group held its annual general meeting last week, appointing Tom McGrath, Nicola Gladstone, Kate Wood, Valeri Tkatchenko and Ben Herde as non-executive board members.<\/p>\n
Bells Beach Brewing\u2019s Jeff Crow remains as president along with the six other executive board members – vice-president Robert Skehan, secretary Carmen Clifford, treasurer Greg Minter, Les Watson, Peter Petran and Michelle McDonald – taking the board to 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very excited to have new blood there,\u201d Mr Crow said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a board meeting earlier this week trying to get a jumpstart on dates and stuff for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the mood among traders heading into 2022 was very optimistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s pretty confident that the government\u2019s got all these lockdowns behind us, and everyone\u2019s played their part, including the community, and now everything\u2019s open and full.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in the same ballpark as everyone else running a business; having to put up with your business going from running at about five per cent output to 120 per cent output in a very short period of time has created its own challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019re all looking at bigger and better things.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone I\u2019ve talked to is very happy about what we\u2019re doing and where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said all of Torquay and surrounds was anticipating the return of the Rip Curl Pro to Bells Beach in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait. Everyone\u2019s really, really pumped for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such an iconic event in not only the world calendar but also the Australia psyche – everyone for a year is keen for that one event, it\u2019s right up there with the Australian Open tennis and the Test cricket.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really hurt the actual soul and fabric of the town not to have it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understood and supported the government in all that (cancelling the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach for the past two years), but now it\u2019s time to make sure it\u2019s bigger and better over the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COMMERCE Torquay has welcomed five new members to its board and is looking forward to a busy and prosperous 2022. The not-for-profit business advocacy group held its annual general meeting last week, appointing Tom McGrath, Nicola Gladstone, Kate Wood, Valeri Tkatchenko and Ben Herde as non-executive board members. Bells Beach Brewing\u2019s Jeff Crow remains as […]<\/p>\n