Bendigo opens Gordonvale office
A POWERFUL force in regional banking has added its name to supporters of Cairns’ growing southern corridor.
Bendigo Community Bank’s Babinda branch has opened the Bendigo Business Centre Gordonvale centre on Norman St, offering the bank’s first physical presence in the town.
Babinda bank manager Greg Hendy will operate out of the office at certain times, meeting local business owners about their lending and banking needs.
Babinda Community Bank is a publicly owned company established in 2006 in a franchise partnership with Bendigo Bank and administrated by a board of volunteer, community directors.
Profits generated from the businesses are shared in a ratio of 20:80 between shareholders and community sponsorships.
Babinda Community Financial Services chairwoman Desley Vella said Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s community bank business model “delivered community benefits by assisting the community manage its social and economic needs and challenges”.
“Particularly, this is achieved through local ownership, local decision making and local investment.
“The more business conducted with the Bendigo Business Centre here in Gordonvale the more funds will be able to be reinvested in the Gordonvale community.
“To date $720,000 has been returned to the Babinda community in sponsorships and projects. As well the business has grown to a book value of $83m with seven dividends paid to date.”
Cairns Regional Council Divison 1 representative Brett Moller attended the opening of the Gordonvale branch on March 2.
“The opening by Bendigo Bank of its new service centre in Gordonvale is a sign of the increasing confidence in the town as a service centre for the growing southern corridor,” he said.
“Cairns Regional Council, through adopting a local economic development plan for the towns of Gordonvale and Babinda, is looking to instil confidence in the private sector to make this kind of investment in our local towns, which we welcome.
“Gordonvale, the historic sugar town, is developing a village culture, with a mix of professional services, arts and craft, and retail – which includes an array of great coffee shops and a first class bakery.
“Having a business of the calibre of Bendigo Bank to add to and strengthen the finance and banking options in Gordonvale signals to residents to consider the town’s offerings without having to travel all the way into Cairns city.”
Babinda Community Bank currently has more than 340 shareholders and Ms Vella said the board would be extending the opportunity to Gordonvale residents to become a shareholder in the company.
To celebrate the official opening of the Bendigo Business Centre, Gordonvale’s first sponsorship round of 2019 was also launched.
For more information, go to the Bendigo Business Centre Gordonvale Facebook page.
THE OPENING BY BENDIGO BANK OF ITS NEW SERVICE CENTRE IN GORDONVALE IS A SIGN OF THE INCREASING CONFIDENCE IN THE TOWN, AS A SERVICE CENTRE FOR THE GROWING SOUTHERN CORRIDOR COUNCILLOR BRETT MOLLER