Supporting the community
Glenn Skerman
I GREW up in central Queensland and moved to Toowoomba when I was 14.
I went to school and university in Toowoomba, and then after I got my engineering degree I went and worked in Brisbane and then back out at Roma, before joining the family business, AGDATA, back at the start of 2001.
Basically, we do financial, livestock, mapping, and cropping software for farmers.
Dad retired in 2010 and I took over from there.
I’ve got three kids aged 13, 11, and 7, and I try to do stuff with them as often as I can.
What do I love about Toowoomba? It’s big enough to have most things without the hustle and bustle of a capital city, and the fact it’s an agricultural centre as well suits our business to be here.
Josie Townsend
I’VE got a marketing consultancy in town and I run two of the farmer’s markets and I’m running in the state election at the moment, which makes life very interesting.
I’ve been in Toowoomba nine years and I love the place. It’s a vibrant, dynamic city with a really diverse community. There’s a lot of potential opportunity here.
I have three kids - two are at school and one’s finished university and is off working on super yachts.
I grew up in the country and then moved to Sydney and lived there for over 20 years. After living in Sydney, I just loved the move here.
We started our first farmer’s market in 2015. I have this passion to connect the people who grow our food into more of a holistic cycle in the community.
We’ve developed a really beautiful culture (at the farmer’s markets).
Everyone pitches in to help each other and make it successful, that’s just what we do, and that’s a good philosophy to start developing in the broader community.
It’s about building community, and that’s why I joined Rotary. I love the stuff they do.
Jamie Smith
I HAVE been in Toowoomba pretty much all my life. I went to school here in Toowoomba and finished Year 12 at Centenary Heights State High School.
I travelled around the world and lived around Australia, did a stint in the army but always came back to Toowoomba at the end of the day.
I’m married to Rachael and have two kids, Sophie and Gemimah.
We started JP Smith in 2004 and our focus has been on the sound selection of professional staff. It’s a business we’ve steadily grown over the last 13 years, providing services to small companies right through to multinationals.
I’m a psychologist by profession. The main reason I joined Rotary was that I needed an avenue to give back to the community.
I guess the other side is that it’s bloody good fun. We do go to the pub and we do have a laugh.
What do I like about Toowoomba? The big thing for me are the parks and the gardens. I love my greenery, I’m a bit of a tree-hugger. I love the green, natural environment of The Range escarpment and Queens Park.
Corin Sankey
BUSINESS-WISE, I’m a director at CLO Lawyers.
I’m married with two young kids - a five-year-old and a three-year-old.
I was born down in Victoria but moved up here to Toowoomba when I was seven.
I did all my schooling here and went down to Brisbane for university. I had no intention of moving back to Toowoomba but was offered a job so I came back for that. That would have been in 2005. As well as Rotary, I’m involved in the Coolaroo Roos AFL club.
I played that last year but I’m starting to get a bit old for that now. At the moment because the kids are pretty young I try to dedicate a bit of time to them on weekends as I don’t get a lot of time during weekdays in the profession I’ve chosen.
The main reason why we’re still here in Toowoomba is its just an awesome place to raise a family.