June 29, 2014
by Jim Bond
More than 25 guests packed into the Yarraman Hotel-Motel on Friday night to pay tribute to retiring Bendigo Bank board member Wayne Emms, one of the founding members of the Bendigo Community Bank in the South Burnett.
Wayne recently retired from the Board after a decade of service, and was farewelled by fellow Board members, former Board members, staff and spouses at a function organised by Judy Robison, wife of serving board member David Robison.
Wayne first became involved in the bank in 2004 when former Rosalie Shire Mayor Noel Strohfeld asked him to attend a special meeting at the Goombungee council chambers.
At the meeting, Mayor Strohfeld told Wayne that he wanted a bank in Rosalie Shire, and Mr Emms agreed to stand as chairman of the steering committee for a new bank.
Emms and Rosalie Shire Business Development Officer Ross Begent met former NAB staffer Anne Woodrow at Brisbane airport soon afterwards and persuaded her to join the project.
Plans for a community bank in Yarraman quickly bloomed.
The Yarraman branch of the Bendigo Community Bank opened on September 18, 2005, and since then two more branches have opened at Blackbutt and Nanango.
Other South Burnett towns have also indicated an interest in having a bank.
At the dinner, Board Chairman Noel Strohfeld congratulated Wayne on “a job well done”.
Wayne and his wife Maree were presented with gifts thanking them for their significant contribution to the community bank project.
[Photos: Jim Bond]
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