Businesses unite

By Jade Lawton
The Narre Warren Chamber of Commerce, Berwick Village Chamber of Commerce, Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce and Hampton Park Networking Group joined forces on Friday for this year’s second Monash University Berwick Business and Education Group (MUBBEG) breakfast.
MUBBEG was established to link the University’s Berwick campus with businesses in the south-east. The group meets every two months for a breakfast seminar, with guest speakers invited to present a topic of interest to small businesses.
Narre Warren Chamber of Commerce president Bob Burns said the respective groups first came to a loose agreement two to three weeks ago.
“We have agreed to establish five business breakfasts next year, with each hosted in turn. This is an innovation we have been moving towards for some time,” he said.
Mr Burns said the group would be able to forge strong links with secondary colleges, Monash University and Chisholm TAFE, which would be beneficial for both employers and students.
“This is a really positive step in the right direction. We believe it’s a really valuable initiative for our members and the community – university leavers need to find employment and employers need to find good workers,” he said.
Berwick Village Chamber of Commerce president Harry Hutchinson said the move would benefit all businesses concerned.
“We will join together, rather than each struggling along in our own little way … we have a little growing to do, and we need to look at it hard and decide on an easy-to-remember name,” he said.