23 OCTOBER 2024

The Waikato Chamber of Commerce has farewelled long-standing board chair Senga Allen at its AGM yesterday.

Senga served 10 years on the board.

Chamber CEO Don Good said it was a tribute to Senga’s leadership and guidance that the Chamber is in such great shape.

“Her influence can be seen in our financial result but equally in the quality of the individuals we have been able to attract to the Chamber team. Her adage was ‘get the best people on the bus’, and she made sure we did,” Good said.

“Her quiet, but firm chairpersonship over the past four years has led to stability and a growing prosperity in the Chamber.”

Allen said the past year had been a challenging one, marked by economic uncertainty and local pressures that have affected many sectors.

“In the face of these difficulties, the Waikato Chamber of Commerce has shown remarkable resilience and membership growth with a strong financial return."

“I am incredibly proud of the way we have navigated through tough times. Our commitment to staying agile, while keeping our mission at the forefront of all we do, has allowed us not only to survive but to thrive.”

Good said it had been a successful year not only financially but also in terms of membership and event growth.

“We grew our membership by almost 11 per cent and we delivered 74 events compared to 60 last year. We’ve had a record number of entries for this year’s Business Awards and our gala dinner to announce the winners is our biggest ever.”

Along with Allen, the Chamber also farewelled board members Caroline Batley and Jason Cargo.

Newly elected board members Nic Wetere, Phil Taylor and TJay Asiata join Peter Nation, Quinton de Bruin (re-elected), Emily Zhang, Janey Haringa, Andrew Boyd, and Mark Donovan. A new chair will be appointed at the next board meeting on October 30.

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