Business Before Hours

Description

Speakers: 

Jo Hewitt - Inland Rail
Topic: Inland Rail Early Reference Design - Albury to Illabo


Jo from Inland Rail will be joining us for the morning to provide some info on their upcoming feedback sessions. They are sharing the early reference design and discussing the Multi Criteria Analysis to determine suitable options at major project sites along the alignment. They will be hosting a drop-in session in Albury to provide the community with a general project update and offer in-depth discussions on key sites in the region.

Jo is the Stakeholder Engagement Lead for the Inland Rail project in the southern NSW region covering Albury through to Illabo. Jo is based locally in Albury and is keen to ensure that regional understanding is captured in development of the project. Jo and the Inland Rail team are happy to share information on the project to individuals, businesses and organisations at any stage.


Sarimah Hellyer - Border Trust Community Foundation 
Topic: Give500 - Together we can create a stronger, more connected community


Border Trust is the Community Foundation for the Albury Wodonga Region. Now in its 15th year Border Trust has distributed over 1.8 million dollars though our community grants and back to school programs to support local projects and initiatives.

Border Trust recently launched Give500 – A new collective giving program for the Border region. Give500 aims to provide an accessible entry point for like-minded donors across all generations to pool their donations, support their community and experience the grant-making process first-hand.

Members will learn about the Give500 program and how Border Trust is building a collective giving program that can be owned and embraced by the communities it supports. Members will also learn about other ways that businesses can support Border Trust and about the program of events for 2021.

About the speaker:
Sarimah is the Deputy Chair for Border Trust and has been a Director since March 2019. Sarimah currently leads the Marketing and Community Engagement team at WAW Credit Union and prior to that, was the Director of Marketing and Communication for Yooralla.

Sarimah joined Border Trust to play a more active role in building capacity in the local community.  “I have a keen interest in building the Border Trust brand to a level where it is owned and embraced by the entire community; where the cyclical benefits of philanthropy in our local community are celebrated by everyone”.


Gavin James - Lightning IP
Topic: Choosing the right cloud-based phone system for your business

Even through the advancement of modern technologies, the simple phone call still plays a major role in the way we communicate every day. For a lot of businesses, the traditional PBX is now a sticking point, preventing them from growing and expanding their business as concepts like Work from Home have seen great success.

In Gavin’s discussion we will go over the key points to look for when approaching a provider about Cloud Based Phone Systems to find a solution that fits with your business’ vision.

We will cover what a cloud-based phone system is, what benefits it has over a traditional on-site PBX. We will give you pointers on choosing a provider to implement your cloud based phone system as well as cover what is involved in moving to the currently trending Soft Phones.

About the speaker:
Soon to be dad, Gavin James (Pictured with wife Kendal), has been working in the Telco industry for over a decade now. After many years of providing customer solutions in the SMB market, Gavin joined forces with fellow business partner Daniel to setup Lightning IP. A locally owned internet and phone company with a focus on providing outstanding local support and solutions designed for local businesses.