FRESH START
NEW ADVANCE CAIRNS CEO:
ATTRACTING high-profile members and image restoration are on the to-do list for Advance Cairns’ new chief executive Nick Trompf.
The media industry veteran and former Advance Cairns board member yesterday officially took the reins of the 16year-old lobbying group.
He said the advocacy body would still look to “work closely” with Cairns Regional Council, which last month voted to strip $300,000 in funding from the organisation.
But Mr Trompf remained bullish about the group’s finances, saying membership growth would help take Advance Cairns forward.
“If you go back not too far … the organisation was fully funded by the state and the council,” he said.
“I was part of a refresher of that, to see it shift to being primarily business funded.
“It (Advance Cairns) has got great engagement from the business community here. It’s absolutely rock solid and we’ll be looking to grow it.”
Mr Trompf resigned as News Corp Australia’s executive general manager of regional publishing in June.
He replaces ex-mayor Kevin Byrne as Advance Cairns chief executive.
Mr Trompf said the Advance Cairns brand had been impacted – “somewhat unfairly” – by media coverage in recent months.
It comes after a falling-out between Cairns Mayor Bob Manning and Advance Cairns chairman Trent Twomey.
“Advance Cairns has done an excellent job in terms of achieving its outcomes, but its brand or image has been a little adversely affected,” he said.
“I’ll set about working with the board to ensure it gets recognition.
“We’re free to lobby as aggressively as we wish, with all levels of government, because we’re entirely independent.” Mr Twomey said the new chief executive was equipped with a “stellar resumé”, and was looking forward to 2018.
“Like any year it’s had its challenges,” he said.
“But we’ve ended the year in a better position than when we started.”