After hours networking event to boost business

BALLINA Chamber of Commerce has launched a monthly after-hours networking event, with more than 65 local businesses attending the first gathering.

Hosted by the team at Ballina Fair Shopping Centre, the event attracted a broad mix of attendees including engineers, real estate agents, and hospitality and retail workers

“It’s a chance for the business owners to come and talk to council and people from other industries,” Ballina Chamber of Commerce executive officer Jon Dickson said.

“We want it to be an open forum where different people can host it each month and really showcase what they do.

“They key will be making sure we find someone else keen to host the next one and so on.”

Ballina mayor Sharon Cadwallader attended the launch, along with guest speaker Kathryn Gray from the NSW Reconstruction Authority.

Ballina Fair centre manager Shaun Haysom, a chamber board member and former president of the Lismore Chamber of Commerce, said he was keen to host the first event.

“The after hours event were successful in Lismore and thought there was a need for it here, too,” he said.

Haysom planned the event on short notice and held it on a loading dock behind the shopping centre.

“The reason I wanted to have it on the back dock was to show that you can run an event like this anywhere.

“It can be at a warehouse, car park, back of a shop or anywhere really.

“This is all came together with less than two weeks planning, so I think there is real scope for the future.

“These will be monthly and potentially we’ll look at an earlier breakfast type event which we might be able to run quarterly.”

The after-hours events will take place on the fourth Wednesday of each month.

Anyone wanting to host a future event can contact the chamber at [email protected]