NEBC Post-AGM Outcome: A Year of Growth and a Vision for a 24/7 Unified Precinct
The Newtown Enmore Business Chamber (NEBC) held its Annual General Meeting on Monday, November 17, 2025, at the Older Women’s Network, marking a year of significant maturation and growth for the precinct.
Key Achievements and Financial Health
The outgoing committee successfully achieved all its stated goals, establishing a strong foundation for future growth:
Financial Success: Total income reached over $360,000, driven by the committee’s success in securing over $355,000 in critical external funding from the City of Sydney and Inner West Council and 24hr Economy Commission.
Membership: Membership grew to 183 businesses, with a successfully implemented tiered fee structure ($200, $400, $1500) designed to subsidise free entry-level memberships for local start-ups.
Communications: The inaugural issue of TOWNMAG was launched, celebrating the precinct's culture and community.
Advocacy: The NEBC successfully advocated on infrastructure issues and secured a Council resolution to distribute plain language information to all businesses in the Enmore Road Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) regarding trading extensions.
The Treasurer, Min Chai, confirmed in his report a strong financial position, with Net Assets of over $117,000, enabling significant investment in professional coordination and consumer engagement.
Min also realigned our goals for the next financial year is to streamline paid memberships, focus on advertising in TOWNMAG and selling merchandise to build up the NEBC’s financial sustainability.
Download the meeting minutes here.
Strategic Vision: The 24-Hour economy
Secretary Heleana Genaus presented a strategic vision to convert foundational success into sustainable growth, pivoting toward a symbiotic 24/7 vision rather than a "day vs. night" divide.
Cross-Pollination: The focus will be on leveraging night-time visitors (like theatre crowds) as a captive audience for daytime businesses through cross-pollination narratives ("The 24-Hour Weekender").
Daytime Retail Focus: The committee stressed the urgent need to protect daytime retail, with plans for community-driven initiatives like the "Retail Loop" passport to encourage consumers to progress around King Street and Enmore Road.
Activation: The NEBC structure and resources will be used to allow members to apply for external funding for community-wide ideas (e.g., markets, street closures), focusing on measuring a daily visitation increase over single-event crowds.
New Committee Elect
The AGM saw the successful election of all new Office Bearers for the 2025/2026 term. The committee includes four new Executive members, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise to the leadership team.
They are:
President James Thorpe Vice President Oscar McMahon Secretary Heleana Genaus Treasurer Min Chai Public Officer Lucy Godoroja Executive 1 Josh Shipton Executive 2 Dylan Howarth Executive 3 David Yates Executive 4 Farhan Saeed.
The newly elected committee will be involved in key strategies, including the launch of a Consumer Engagement Survey to gauge sentiment and demand for new initiatives, and the planning of "NEd Talks"—member-only educational forums dedicated to fostering cross-sector learning in the unified 24-hour precinct.
We look forward to an exciting year of growth and advocacy under the leadership of the new committee.
