About Us – Brisbane Southside Chamber of Commerce inc.

Our Chamber

The Brisbane Southside Chamber of Commerce is a not for profit organisation that helps you grow your business.

Since 1868, Queensland Chambers of Commerce has made it our business to represent, protect and nourish Queensland businesses in every way possible.

We’ve advocated on behalf of our members to make business more efficient, with our lobbyists and media experts pressuring to change policy, enact legislation and reduce red tape at all levels of government.

We’ve listened to our members so that we can speak on their behalf, with our influence and persistence making sure everyone’s voice gets heard.

We’ve promoted training and education to make our members more competitive, with industry-certified professionals and courses up-skilling workforces and enhancing business performance.

To get the most out of being a member, please consider how you can support and volunteer your services to help our small business community thrive.

The Chamber of Commerce is run by an elected executive committee who are elected each year at our AGM which is held in September of each year. Being involved at this level of the organisation presents you with many opportunities to contribute and make a difference. It can also provide you with the opportunity to develop new skills and deepen relationships with others within our community.

Our Vision

To create a collaborative business community inspired to connect, learn and grow.

Our Mission

To connect businesses and business owners, to provide opportunities to learn with and learn from our fellow business owners, to provide opportunities for business to collaborate with and support other businesses, and to advocate and influence change for business at all levels of Government.

Our Constitution

Our Goal is to provide local businesses with as much support as possible, and to help businesses connect and grow alongside others in the Southside area.

As such, we have a constitution that we must follow in order to best serve our members, You can read it below:

Presidents Honour Roll

Geoff Curtis (1991 – 1998) 7 years

Greg Jackson (1998 – 2001) 3 years

Geoff Wilson (2001 – 2003) 2 years

Brian Coleman (2003 – 2005) 2 years

Kevin Farquhar (2005 – 2007) 2 years

Mike Sunderland (2007 – 2008) 1 year

Brian Vaughan (2008 – 2009) 1 year

Ian Daniels (2009 – 2010) 1 year

Neil Stenhouse (2010 – 2011) 1 year

Neil Brown (2011 – 2014) 3 years

C.C. Chiong (2014 – 2016) 2 years

Kath Lewis (2016 – 2019) 3 years

Our committee

Email:

elizabeth@lifelaw.com.au

Phone:

N/A

Elizabeth Fairon is the Legal Practice Director at Life Law Solutions, and has extensive experience in the family court, and estate planning. She also assists the court as an independent children’s lawyer, acting in the child’s interests.

Elizabeth has been a lawyer since 2005, and is keenly interest in family law and helping clients to best navigate the court system. This also included working in estate planning and wills, helping clients to save time and money, and fulfilling their loved-ones last wishes.

She entered into a partnership in 2009 after only four years, and proved to be both a quick learner and compassionate soul in a highly-competitive industry. By 2015, Elizabeth was the Owner and Principal Lawyer of (then-known-as) Carroll Fairon Solicitors.

The business rebranded to Life Law Solutions in 2018, in recognition of the impact that positive legal outcomes can have on their clients. That same year, Elizabeth was nominated as a finalist for the Corporate Business Woman of the Year by the Sunshine Coast Business Women’s Network.

Her extensive work in the court system both educated and inspired her to write ‘Trust yourself: How empowered decision making will assist you to resolve your family law matter’ as a way to educate people confronted by the family court, and how to reach your intended goals amicably.

Email:

jill.patrick@96five.com

Phone:

0433 873 447

Jill Patrick has more than 10 years working as an Account Manager for Family Radio 96Five,
and just loves it! However she has worked in Media for over 25, mainly in radio sales and management, but also with an advertising agency. She has run a nationally distributed publication in NZ for 3 years. So it means her broad range of experiences can be used to plan successful marketing programs for your business.

She came to Australia from New Zealand with her husband and son in 1998 and has always
lived in Upper Mount Gravatt. Her community is very important to her and she is an active
member of the St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church Executive. Jill joined the Brisbane
Southside Chamber in 2018 and she is passionate about B2B and helping clients to
formulate strategies to grow their own business.

Email:

geoff.webster@tafe.qld.edu.au

Phone:

0417727566

Geoff has been teaching within the Adult and Vocational Education system at TAFE in Business, Management and Marketing since 1998. Prior to that, all of his early working life was spent in private industry.

Geoff’s professional experience includes over 15 years in the building industry, 4 years in the medical and scientific field and over 10 years as a Marketing and Management Consultant. He also was a business owner in the manufacturing sector for over 3 years. Other industries that he also has experience in include sports facility marketing, property and hospitality. His level of involvement within these areas varied from sales and marketing, office administration, staff supervision, project management, training, business management and consulting.

Geoff has been a member of the Southside Chamber of Commerce since 1992 and on the Executive Committee from 2006. From 2008-2010, Geoff was the SSCC representative at the Chamber Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) Regional Council. As well, he is an international business entrepreneur with overseas property investments. In 2013, he commenced a PHD in Marketing through the University of Southern Queensland.

Email:

aruhe@smbadvisory.com.au

Phone:
07 3339 0032

Alice has practised in the Insolvency and Corporate Recovery Industry for over 19 years and is a Registered Trustee in Bankruptcy and a Registered Liquidator.

Alice is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand, a member of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA) and has experience in all forms of corporate and personal insolvency administrations.

Alice has had experience dealing with external administrations involving the building, hospitality, information technology, accounting, legal, medical, retail and various other industries and is a true believer in providing clear and relevant communication to stakeholders and acknowledge that more often than not things are not always quite as they seem.

Email:

michael.sunderland@karalisrealestate.com.au

Phone:
0417 190 009

Real Estate Agent Mt Gravatt since August 1994 and still going. On the way studied and earned a Diploma of Business Management, thanks to the Southside Chamber of Commerce. In his more senior years he was awarded the distinction of becoming A Fellow of the REIQ.

Email:

Luana.Storni@tafe.qld.edu.au

Phone:

N/A

Luana Storni is employed as a Business Teacher with TAFE Queensland. Before teaching she has had extensive experience in administration in different industries such as Education, Hospitality, Banking and Insurance.

Email:

pgarcia@cciq.com.au

Phone:

0402 425 990

Born in San Francisco, Paul came to Australia over 20 years ago to continue his career with a multinational digital transformation company.

One of the keys to Paul’s success was connecting the Brisbane teams with many different Chambers of Commerce.

Paul has always felt working with Chambers not only creates a sense of support for the local business community, but also serves as a way to be a part of a collaborative process for advocacy.

In 2019, after 34 years of building relationships worldwide, Paul altered course and continued his support of Chambers on a larger scale by joining CCIQ (Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland) as the Chamber Relationship Manager, collaborating with all of Chambers in Queensland.

Email:
laurenockendon@outlook.com

Phone:
N/A

Lauren is currently studying law at the University of Queensland.

Our Chamber

Since 1868, Queensland Chambers of Commerce has made it our business to represent, protect and nourish Queensland businesses in every way possible.

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Constitution

Presidents Honour Roll

Our committee

Elizabeth Fairon

Jill Patrick

Geoff Webster

Alice Ruhe

Michael Sunderland

Luana Storni

Paul Garcia

Lauren Ockendon