October 24, 2022
Five Board members took their place at the table for the first time at the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE) AGM last Thursday.
Board chair Dr John McVeigh welcomed the new members – Dr Anthony Lynham, Tim Miles, Amanda Kenafake, Julie Whitcombe and Erika Brayshaw – and thanked departing members Peter Lock and Rob Hart for their service.
“Peter and Rob both provided outstanding service and dedication to TSBE over many years,” Dr McVeigh said.
“Their departure however provides an exciting opportunity to welcome new Board members from diverse backgrounds, industry and skill sets to enrich the TSBE Board going into 2023.
“We are about to embark on TSBE’s second decade of linking business with opportunity to create sustainable growth and diversity for our region, and our Board members play a pivotal role in this process.”
The new Board members have diverse backgrounds:
- Dr Anthony Lynham is a Queensland-based maxillofacial surgeon, and was a State MP from 2014-2020. He was appointed as director and chair of the Gladstone Port Corporation last October
- Tim Miles is general manager (corporate) at Newlands Group, a company specialising in design and construction services
- Amanda Kenafake is CEO and executive director of Toowoomba accounting firm Power Tynan
- Julie Whitcombe is general manager (strategy and development) at government-owned corporation CleanCo
- Erika Brayshaw has been general manager of the Toowoomba Chronicle since June 2020.
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TSBE has secured a grant from the Australia-Korea Foundation which will allow local ag-tech and agrifood businesses to build and strengthen their trade and commerce relationships with South Korea.
The grant to TSBE is worth $25,000, and will be used for an exclusive business-to-business matching trade mission to Korea for 15 local businesses.
“TSBE works with regional small/medium enterprises to access international opportunities through exporting,” TSBE spokesperson Justin Heaven said.
“As part of this, we have identified huge market potential in South Korea. With lucrative prospects for food and agriculture, this grant will allow us to take a delegation of 15 businesses to Korea, for an exclusive business opportunity.”
The trade mission will take place over three stages.
The first will focus on a market insights and trade readiness session offered by in-market specialists, aimed at providing participants with insights on consumer trends, the business landscape, requirements for export and post COVID-19 market update.
This will be followed by a virtual “meet the buyer” session prior to the trade mission, where participants will be matched to interested Korean stakeholders. TSBE will engage with government stakeholders such as TIQ and Austrade to facilitate this session.
The actual trade mission – planned tentatively at this stage for May next year and lasting about seven days – is the final stage of the process.
