By JONATHON HOWARD
NOOSA insurance broker Sarah Fisher has again taken the helm of the Noosa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIQ) and she has ambitions for a united Noosa business community.
An impassioned Ms Fisher said she hoped to unite the local business communities to become stronger as CCIQ Noosa joined forces with Noosa Junction Traders and Noosaville Business Association.
Hastings Street Traders was also expected to come on board soon possibly followed by Tewantin Traders.
“Having all four business groups on the board will mean we have representation of all the business sectors in Noosa,” she said.
“This will enable us to work together as a united group, to achieve great things in our business community, and to provide support and assistance when needed.”
The re-elected CCIQ Noosa president said improving the internet infrastructure was also a top priority to help small businesses.
She said current internet set-ups were impacting business on the Sunshine Coast and a bigger, better and faster service was “imperative”.
“At the end of last year, CCIQ Noosa received a grant from the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to conduct a survey on home-based businesses,” Ms Fisher said at the AGM recently.
“The information gathered from the survey showed that home-based businesses felt isolated and required better IT infrastructure to enable them to do business.
“From this information, CCIQ is planning to provide fantastic networking opportunities and to provide information to help business.
Ms Fisher said CCIQ Noosa had stepped up its own IT services this year by launching a new website and transferring member details to a new CRM.
She said the core objective of CCIQ Noosa was to educate, network and provide mentoring to local businesses.
“We do this by providing quality networking events each month, CCIQ assist us with providing our members with education in the form of webinars and seminars, and so does our mentors,” she said.
The newly announced CCIQ Noosa board now includes vice-president Jo-Anne Oertel, treasurer Louise McNeich, secretary Nick Rutland and committee members Julien Cahn, Brian Turner, Sue Pollard, Lee Roberts and Helen Zelinski.
