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BENDIGO’S peak business body has adopted a new name to better reflect its roles, its members and its future.
Bendigo Business Council will now be known as Business Excellence Bendigo, or Be.Bendigo.
“We changed our name to reflect our ambition, to engage individuals, businesses and organisations wanting to play a role in elevating business excellence in Bendigo,” chief executive officer Leah Sertori said.
Ms Sertori said it was a perfect time for such an organisation, with Bendigo well-placed to grow as a city.
Be.Bendigo would ensure that “as we grow, we’ll increase our wealth and prosperity, and make sure that wealth and prosperity is shared”, she said.
Deputy chairwoman Marika McMahon said the name change clarified the organisation’s role and who it benefited.
The name of Bendigo Business Council did not represent the active involvement of other organisations, Ms McMahon said, such as community groups.
She said that in the years since the council had emerged from the consolidation of the former Bendigo Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the Central Victorian Business Network, it had expanded beyond its initial roles and the new name better reflected its current activities.
It had moved into new areas with such initiatives as the Young Professionals Network and its women’s forum Womeni.s.e, she said, and had also grown in its role as an advocate.
The strategy and structure of the organisation remains the same, but there has been a change to membership, with individuals now able to join.
The organisation is moving into this new stage with several new board members.
They are Bendigo Kangan Group CEO Trevor Schwenke, Mandalay Resource strategy and Costerfield Mine manager Melanie McCarthy, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank retail leader and Rifle Brigade Hotel part-owner Nick Carter, and Birchgrove director and Victorian president of the Urban Development Institute, Damien Tangey.