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Western Link Road Funding Welcome

The Committee for Ballarat strongly endorses the funding allocation of $35.5m in yesterday’s State Government budget for the delivery of Stage 1 of the Western Link Road.

“We are extremely pleased with this outcome. The Committee has worked hard for a number of years advocating for this funding allocation and the construction of the Western Link Road will be the catalyst for development of the Ballarat West Employment Zone”, said John Kilgour, CEO – Committee for Ballarat.

Click here to view full media release

Launch of YAE

The Young Adult Empowerment Program will be officially launched by The Hon Kate Ellis MP on Wednesday 4 April at the Jobs & Skills Expo.

“We want all young adults to know how to take control of their lives, to participate fully and productively in the workforce and to contribute positively to the community”, stated Pam Anderson, YAE Project Co-ordinator.

Committee for Ballarat – CEO, John Kilgour, said further “we believe young adults deserve no less. For some, however, this can seem beyond reach. The YAE program aims to support disadvantaged, disengaged and unemployed young adults with practical opportunities that will empower them to change their lives.

To view the full media release details click here

For more information visit the YAE page

YAE – Young Adult Empowerment Program

Applications for the first program, commencing in April, have now closed.

Executive Officer, Pam Anderson has been very impressed with the number of nominations received and the outstanding calibre of candidates she has been busy meeting with over the past week.

The community support has been overwhelming with nominations coming from a wide range of organisations.

Please visit the YAE page for more information.

Members - Last chance to have your say!

Last chance for members to have their say in our Key Issues Process. Don't miss your opportunity!

The annual Key Issues process is an opportunity for all members to voice and discuss the key issues they would like to see Committee for Ballarat advocate on their behalf.

Committee for Ballarat is proud that our agenda is 100% driven by our membership. It is a benefit of membership to help shape and determine our strategic agenda that will deliver long term benefits to Ballarat and the greater region.

To get involved and participate members need to click on the link below and complete this simple survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WFHBCJ6

Be quick, time is running out! Members have until close of business on Friday 27 April to respond.

Don't miss your opportunity.......... We look forward to reviewing responses which will form the basis for development of our 2012-2013 Action Plan.

If you have any queries please contact the office on 5332 1240.

YAE - hugely successful 1st week

YAE participants have given a very positive report at the end of Week 1. Congratulations to all participants and everyone involved.

New CEO

John Kilgour has commenced as new CEO and has hit the ground running and enjoyed a comprehensive transition period with former CEO, Doug Lloyd.

John comes to Committee with a strong corporate background, having senior roles within BP in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. John has private business interests in Property and Consulting as well as the Sport and Leisure industry. John is passionately active within a number of significant not-for-profit organisations.

In his short time in the role John has already had the pleasure of meeting many members, one on one and at various functions, including the Round Table Dinner. If you would like to meet with John please call the office and we will arrange a time.

Round Table Dinner - March 2012

At the largest Round Table Dinner in Committee’s history, 230 members and their guests were treated to an outstanding evening with Ms Ita Buttrose.

Ita gave a truly inspirational address, encouraging people to follow their passion and embrace change as an opportunity. Her humorous anecdotes of her days with “Sir Frank” and Kerry Packer delighted everyone in the audience.Ita shares a special connection to Ballarat, having been baptised at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

It was a privilege to hear the story of this exceptional Australian who began her career as a copy girl (making 40 coffees twice a day) and went on to become the youngest ever editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly and a publishing icon.

Ita was very generous during question time and showed her trademark good grace by obliging guests with autographs and photo opportunities well after the official part of the evening. MC Bruce Roberts enhanced the warmth of the evening with his good humour and wonderful professionalism. We are proud to give our members opportunities to have access to the likes of Ita.

Click here to view the photo gallery from the dinner

Key Issues 2012-2013 - Members have your say!

Thank you to those members who attended the launch of Key Issues 2012-2013 this morning. The energy and enthusiasm for Ballarat and the surrounding region shown by those who attended was inspiring.

Some of the key themes that emerged were for the acceleration of the BWGZ and the need for creative partnership models with government so we can attract a diversity of industries to Ballarat to complement our existing economy. Central to the BWGZ is a multi-modal logistics hub taking advantage of the proximity and confluence of road, rail and air transport. Health, ageing population and the corresponding need to provide a range of new and enhanced services to meet this growing demographic. Swifter connectivity in terms of rail, road and electronic between Ballarat, Melbourne, Geelong and the wider region is also seen as a major priority. Events and the economic multiplier effect that they create was supported by all attendees who agreed that Eureka Stadium is less about AFL and more about the opportunities and benefits to social-wellbeing, health and creating centres of excellence for the “industry” of sport.

It was generally agreed that Ballarat has many opportunities for growth and that a strategy that defines the unique selling proposition for the City and region is absolutely critical to attract industry and skilled migration in an increasingly competitive environment.

None of these themes lessen the urgency for us to work on our existing projects – they all demand resources but if the passion demonstrated for these issues by members is translated into a willingness to work on a Task Team then we reduce the risk of spreading ourselves to thin.

Committee for Ballarat is proud that our agenda is 100% driven by our membership. It is a benefit of your membership to help shape and determine our strategic agenda that will deliver long term benefits to Ballarat and the greater region.

Key Issues 2012-2013 is the opportunity for members to get involved and actively contribute.

To participate we are asking all members to complete a simple survey. Reponses will form the basis for development of our 2012-2013 Action Plan.

For more information or to obtain the survey contact our office Ph: 5332 1240 or 97,100,109,105,110,64,99,111,109,109,105,116,116,101,101,102,111,114,98,97,108,108,97,114,97,116,46,99,111,109,32

YAE Launched

The Young Adult Empowerment Program was officially launched by The Hon Kate Ellis MP on Wednesday 4 April at the Jobs & Skills Expo.

“We want all young adults to know how to take control of their lives, to participate fully and productively in the workforce and to contribute positively to the community,” said YAE Project Co-ordinator Pam Anderson.

Committee for Ballarat CEO John Kilgour said, “We believe young adults deserve no less. For some, however, this can seem beyond reach. The YAE program aims to support disadvantaged, disengaged and unemployed young adults with practical opportunities that will empower them to change their lives."

Read the full media release here

YAE Graduation

Congratulations to the 15 participants graduating from the YAE Program tomorrow. All at Committee for Ballarat are incredibly proud of this group of young adults who have completed part one of the program.

We hope the graduates enjoy the celebration tomorrow and we look forward to positive results from the employment opportunities they have secured.

Click here to see media alert

Click here to learn more about YAE