They’re the words of Manning Valley Business Chamber president Jeremy Thornton when he highlights the positives of the newly amalgamated MidCoast Council for Mid North Coast businesses. 

“From a business point of view, we’ve always been the little fish trying to fight against bigger areas like Port Macquarie Hastings and the Hunter Valley,” he said. 

“Now we’re one of the biggest councils in the State.” 

The creation of the MidCoast Council is now likely to be mirrored by the various business chambers in the area with the formation of a MidCoast chamber. 

Jeremy said that business chambers from Gloucester, Bulahdelah, Forster, the Myall Coast and the Manning Valley had all flagged support for the formation of a MidCoast chamber. 

“They’ve all either signed a letter of  support or given an in principle agreement to create a MidCoast chamber of commerce,” Jeremy said.

“It would mean the dissolving of the Manning Valley Business Chamber, but what MVBC is now will basically become the MidCoast Business Chamber.”

The new approach to economic development was rubber-stamped at the September 28 meeting of MidCoast Council, where the cessation of a memorandum of understanding between the former Greater Taree City Council and the Manning Valley Business Chamber was officially noted.

The partnership had previously consisted of Greater Taree City Council annually allocating $120,000 towards the partnership. This was used to fund the position of economic development manager, held by Steve Attkins for the last five years. 

“He’s done a fantastic job, he’s opened plenty of doors,” Jeremy said of Steve’s time in the role. 

But Jeremy is confident the formation of a larger council and business chamber is a step in the right direction. 

“We’ve got a much better avenue to get to our federal and State members through the council too,” he said.

“I think a lot of the old barriers have been knocked down and there’s going to be a lot of positive movement from here.”