The Narrandera Business Group (NBG) had a strong turnout for its May meeting last week. One of the evening’s highlights was a collaborative session led by Brett Hocking from Riverina Milk and Smallgoods. Members also openly assessed the group’s strengths and weaknesses, sparking discussion which set the stage for future growth. NBG Secretary Josie Marks said the group is focused on being more valuable and vibrant for everyone.

“As a result of this we have decided for everyone to bring ideas to our next meeting on how we can improve the level of engagement in NBG and with our activities with both current and new members,” she said.

“We are looking to change the name of this group and will be polling our members with a few options for a new name.”

The meeting also featured a presentation from Narrandera Shire Council Visitor Economy and Marketing Coordinator Meg Hollis, highlighting new economic tracking software recently acquired by the council.

“This statistical report will be presented monthly at the meetings and sent out to all members,” Josie said.

“This data will be very beneficial for businesses as it breaks down insights regarding what the largest spend days of the week were, the age and gender demographics of the largest spenders, and provides comparisons to previous years etc.”

“It can track information about our key events held in town regarding the economic spend.”

NBG is also reviewing its Facebook groups and the capabilities to manage it.

“It was decided at the last meeting to close the group that was created in Covid (in partnership with NSC) – the Narrandera Business as Usual group – this will happen at the end of May,” Josie said.

“We will keep the other two groups we manage. Our community events group – What’s on in Narrandera and our member sales group – Shopping, Dining and Entertainment in Narrandera.”

Another highlight of the meeting was the group’s planning summary for this year’s Spring Fair, which will be a twilight event on Saturday, 1 November from 5pm to 10pm.

In partnership with NBG, the council has applied for funding for the event through the Open Streets program funding.

“Fingers crossed we are successful in this as the grant is for three years to provide activities to enhance the event,” Josie said.

“We have also applied for other funding to cover the running costs of the event and will be approaching local businesses shortly with sponsorship information.”

“At our first Spring Fair planning meeting this month, we reviewed last year’s activities and decided to keep those listed below and depending upon funding, to add some extra exciting activities.

• BBQ cookoff
• Amusements
• Face painting
• Long table dinner
• Indigenous cooking
• Aerial performers
• Community dance spectacular
• Market and food stalls

“We would love to have some community members join our planning committee.”

In the lead-up to the Spring Fair, a local shopping promotion will run from 1 September, encouraging residents to shop local. Shoppers will receive a free ticket into the draw for every $20 spent at participating businesses with the major draw taking place at the Spring Fair itself.

NBG has also launched a project to form an accurate listing of every business operating in town, aiming to make it easier for locals, visitors and potential customers to find and support local enterprises.

This up-to-date business directory will be widely promoted across social media platforms and shared directly with the council for inclusion on its website. It will also feature prominently at the Destination and Discovery Hub.

Businesses will have the opportunity to promote their business at no cost.

An online form for local businesses to register is available at https://forms.office.com/r/XFQ2iZ4FNS.

At the next meeting on Monday 26 June at 6pm at the Narrandera Ex-Servicemen’s Club, Jason and Lauren from the local Commonwealth Bank branch will do a presentation on scams.

To become involved with NBG, contact the group at narranderabusinessgroup@gmail.com, or reach out to Chairperson Leanne Ivanoff at Sew Fab.

This article appeared in Narrandera Argus, 22 May 2025.