Miller steps down as chamber’s boss Search for new blood

Andrew Mathieson
The boss of Geelong Chamber of Commerce has resigned with a call for new blood to take up the challenge of reinvigorating the region’s biggest business lobby.
Outgoing executive director Lawrie Miller will step down from his 15-year post in the next few weeks after steering the chamber to a membership record of almost 900 in 2005.
Membership was about 250 mostly small businesses when he arrived.
However, this year membership has fallen to about 700 this year as Mr Miller prepares to retire.
He believed the battle underway to restore chamber confidence was essential to protecting the “lifeblood of Geelong” – small business.
“If you look at the small businesses, they’re the ones who are putting on staff,” he said.
“The bigger businesses are shedding staff, so we look after the ones who are creating Australia’s economy, who are driving the economy, who are employing staff, who are the lifeblood of Geelong.
“It’s great to have the Alcoas and Fords but I can remember when Ford was 5500 staff out of a region’s workforce 60,000 employees. Ford is probably now 800 out of 112,000 region’s employees, so it doesn’t have the same impact.”
Geelong Chamber of Commerce was once reputed to be the biggest of Australian local business chambers.
Mr Miller believed the chamber, founded in 1854, might have to “reinvent itself” in a push for a new generation of members.
“We rely on our memberships for our economic survival – we are totally independent,” he said.
“We answer to no one other than our members.”
Mr Miller, 75, considered the chamber’s research into Federal Government’s proposed carbon-pollution reduction and trading scheme and its reputation as the “most active” in Australia as among his proudest achievements.
Committee for Geelong executive director Peter Dorling applauded Mr Miller’s work for the chamber.
“When Lawrie took it over, it needed an injection of new thinking and also new membership, so he did all that and he should be very proud of what he achieved,” Mr Dorling said.
He expected a new executive officer to usher in a “change of direction”.
“They will bring with them their own ideas and culture,” Mr Dorling said.
“That’s exciting because it gives the chamber a chance to have a look of where it’s been and where’s it going.”
Mr Dorling said signing up “younger blood” would be key to restoring the strength of the chamber.