After two terms as President of Gosford Erina Business Chamber, Rod Dever resigned from the role on August 9.
A Board member for 17 years, Dever has headed the Chamber for the past four, having been Vice President prior to that.
During his 20-year involvement with the Chamber, including as member for three years before joining the Board, he also headed up the Business NSW Regional Chamber for four years, was head of the Presidents’ Forum for Business NSW and sat on the State Council.
Dever has achieved much over the past four years as President.
“When I took on the role, the Chamber had started to lose its focus,” he said.
“My focus was to build the Chamber back up and transform it from an ‘old boys club’ to see more women and young people on the board.”
That has been achieved, with the board now including a wide cross section of men and women of all ages and with expertise in areas ranging from finance and legal matters to marketing and employment.
But with his day job seeing him travelling regularly out of the area, Dever felt the time was right for some new blood in the top job.
“My biggest concern since we flipped the switch following COVID in February this year was that I have been travelling a lot for work,” he said.
“I cover a large territory in my learning and development role in the employment sector and I felt that, being absent so often, I was not available to readily represent the Chamber.
“So I made the decision to resign as President but remain on the Board, giving 100 per cent support to the new President and taking on some projects.
“It’s the right time for some new blood and some new ideas, but I still passionately believe in Gosford.
“I am really happy that the Chamber managed to see two projects through for the city centre.
“One was the university campus for Gosford.
“We had been pushing for it for three-four years and now it is happening at the old Mitre 10 site.
“The second big project taking shape is the transformation of the old Council chambers building in Mann St into the first vertical TAFE in NSW.
“These projects have been achieved thanks to the efforts of Board members, the University of Newcastle and Member for Terrigal, Adam Crouch.
“Even in Opposition, Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch has also been a great support – politicians at Federal, State and local level have all contributed.”
“Once these two facilities start operating we will become an education city and that will help grow our economy.
“We know the economic benefits of having a uni campus in the city when we look at how that has impacted other cities such as Armidale.
“We have to give people a reason to come here and a reason to spend and we are already seeing a lot of niche businesses open up around town.
“Gosford is at a turning point and a lot of people have been involved over the years in making that happen.
“We have seen a lot of these older stalwarts of the business community pass on but our core purpose is now getting some energy back into the city.
“There are a lot of opportunities for small to medium sized businesses to grow, especially in the supply sector.”
Dever said while there is still “a lot of work to be done”, especially on the waterfront and in the tourism realm, Gosford is well on the way to revitalisation with more high density developments planned for the city.
“Bonython Tower was really the turning point there and now we have other developments on the way, including the Central Coast Quarter at the south end of town,” he said.
“Making Gosford a living centre is becoming a reality.”
“We need to focus on attracting more accommodation and conference facilities.”
Dever said the Chamber had plans to develop tourism and youth sub-committees in the near future.
“We are a major transport hub but we need to look at improving transport from around the region into the city centre,” he said.
“We are attracting a younger demographic who want to live and work in the city.
“While there will always be commuters, I am hoping more and more people will both live and work in Gosford.
“To this end we need to make sure courses on offer at the uni and TAFE campus align with business opportunities available in Gosford.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day – you can’t rebuild a city overnight – but we are well on the way.
“The Chamber is getting a seat at the table more often in regards to planning and development and we need to keep pushing for better infrastructure, better transport.
“We need to see the Central Coast recognised as the region it is and not as an addition to Greater Sydney.”
Dever said key to the Chamber’s success was listening to the views of the community and all businesspeople, whether they are Chamber members or not.
To this end, he drove an Uber around Gosford for two years to get a feel for what members of the public were feeling about future directions for the city.
The Board has elected Pete Lawley as President to replace Dever.
A lifelong Gosford local, the CEO of Legacy on the Central Coast, based at the Legacy Village on the Gosford waterfront, joined the Board last year.
“Having lived through over 50 years of changes in Gosford, I’m keen to be involved with business groups to help revitalise my hometown,” he said at the time.
“I will take on the role of President with the same passion and commitment.
“I intend that all levels of Government and business understand the Gosford Erina Business Chamber is here for the long term, is active and will not stop in advocating to improve the wonderful capital of the Central Coast, Gosford, and surrounding suburbs.”
Lawley paid tribute to his predecessor.
“Rod’s passion for supporting the business community cannot be underestimated, and he has demonstrated tremendous leadership and commitment,” Lawley said.
“I am pleased he will remain available as a Board member to help the Gosford Erina Business Chamber continue to move forward.
“He has established a solid framework for the Chamber, and on behalf of all members I thank Rod for his tireless work.”
Terry Collins