Chamber in ‘hibernation’
Plans undone after president departs
MAJOR plans for Innisfail came undone as the chamber of commerce president abruptly resigned from her position.
The Innisfail and District Chamber of Commerce has gone into hibernation following president Suzanne Bassette’s resignation from her role in late April, after taking the job in September 2021.
The token initiative in Ms Bassette’s tenure was set to be a landmark business audit of the town, which she said would identify what services actually existed, what was needed, and help develop a strategy for Innisfail to grow into an economic sister suburb of Cairns.
Part of her vision was to encourage locals to accept the town’s weaknesses, such as retail in comparison to Cairns, and instead focus on building economic opportunities for Cairns’ growing industries, such as marine services.
However, that dream all came undone due to a failed grant, stress, and chamber workload and staffing availability, with Ms Bassette going on to detail systemic issues.
“We missed out on a $3000 grant to do the first business audit of our region’s town centre since 2015,” Ms Bassette said. “And we had lost our secretary and the rest of the committee took a back seat.
“The grant failed and basically I lost my cool at the frustration of the job.”
But for Ms Bassette, that was just the final tipping point.
She alluded to other issues she had inherited such as businesses not paying fees and a failed Innisfail marina sale, which quashed any hopes of strategic plans or opportunities.
Ms Bassette also said she feared organisations like the chamber just weren’t sustainable in towns like Innisfail.
“Since I came to Innisfail I have seen two local groups die, at least three become wholly palliative, others are just managing on life support,” she said.
She did not believe an overarching Far North chamber was the answer, because chambers at Cairns and Mareeba, which were well resourced and operating successfully, would unlikely want to incorporate Innisfail.
The Innisfail chamber’s past president Nadine Picini said she sympathised with Ms Bassette but wasn’t sure if the organisation would be revived.
“I know there’s still committee members … trying to work out whether to call it a day, or try and revive it,” she said.