annual report 2018 annual report final.pdf · datta awards presentation 1st november 2018 333...

ANNUAL REPORT 2018 For the year ended 31 December 2018

Business Liaison Association

BUSINESS LIAISON ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT 2018 For the year ended 31 December 2018

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.bla.org.au

Tel: 0431 022 249

36 Shields Street, Cairns

Business Liaison Association’s Annual Report 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Corporate Sponsors 2018 ______________________________ Error! Bookmark not defined.

Introduction _______________________________________________________________ 4

Sponsorship _______________________________________________________________ 5

Strategic Plan and Strategic Review ____________________________________________ 5

Key Objectives for 2016-2018 _________________________________________________ 6

Success and Achievements ________________________________________________ 7-12

Aspire Award Sponsors _____________________________________________________ 7-8

DATTA Award Sponsors _____________________________________________________ 9

Executive Officer __________________________________________________________ 13

Corporate Sponsorship _____________________________________________________ 13

Financial Management _____________________________________________________ 13

Corporate Governance _____________________________________________________ 13

Marketing ________________________________________________________________ 14

25th Birthday Celebrations ___________________________________________________ 14

Newletter ________________________________________________________________ 15

Strategic Plan ____________________________________________________________ 15

Operations Manual ________________________________________________________ 15

Website _________________________________________________________________ 15

Social Media _____________________________________________________________ 16

Meetings ________________________________________________________________ 16

Conclusion _______________________________________________________________ 17

Office Bearers ____________________________________________________________ 17


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PARTNER 2018

PREMIUM SPONSORS 2018

PLATINUM SPONSORS 2018

GOLD SPONSORS 2018


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INTRODUCTION

In presenting the 22nd Annual Report of the Business Liaison Association, I would like to

thank the Executive Committee for its efforts in the management of the Association

and Working Groups for a highly successful year.

The annual budget of the Association balanced out $362,698 and this was made

possible by substantial sponsorship and donations from the Cairns business community,

government grants, secondary schools donations, both public and private and

through fundraising.

Funding was allocated to the following activities organised by the Association:

• Careers programs including the Careers and Employment Expo

• Business industry seminars, breakfasts and workshops

• Awards and competitions

• Executive Officer and casual Administration Officer wages

The Business Liaison Association’s footprint spans 33 schools within the region from Tully

to the Cape, 11,000 students and actively engages 35 local businesses and educators.

OUR MISSION

To encourage and provide secondary students with relevant up to date knowledge, skills and

resources to meet the current and future challenges of the business community.


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SPONSORSHIP The Annual Networking Cocktails function for 2018 was held for sponsors past and

present, and members. It was well attended by corporate sponsors. The Association

presented gifts to the following 40 corporate sponsors in recognition of their

commitment and contribution.

Partner Premium Sponsors Platinum Sponsors Gold Sponsors

James Cook

University

Cairns Post

CQUniversity

Dept of Education

Oasis Magazine

Star 102.7

Efex

Cairns Show Association

Catholic Education Diocese of

Cairns

FGF

Grant Thornton

Mindwire

QITE

Skill360 Australia

TBS Distribution

Total Exhibition Services

Alive Discount Pharmacy

Big Cat Green Island Cruises

Cairns Airport

Careful Books

Cairns Mate IT

CBC Staff Selection

Ergon Energy

Hutchinson Builders

HEH Civil

Master Builders Qld

Michael Healy MP, Member for Cairns

My Pathway

Newart Group

Painting Party

Ports North

Progig

Rotary International

Sandran Property Group

Simply Hampers

Status Signs

TheSpace

TAFE Queensland

The Wine Tradition

Tong Sing Pty Ltd

STRATEGIC PLAN AND STRATEGIC REVIEW

Following a review of the activities and structures of the Association in 2015, a new

Strategic Plan and Business Plan (2016 – 2018) was developed to progress the findings

and outcomes. The Association continues to source new initiatives to maximise

opportunities for all stakeholders. This plan focused on the following key success areas

and is reviewed annually.


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KEY OBJECTIVES FOR 2016 – 2018

1. Succession planning

2. Technology and change awareness

3. Relationship awareness

4. Corporate and finance

5. Collaboration and expansion

An action plan was developed to progress these areas over three years.

The following activities were carried out in 2018:

• A Careers and Employment Expo;

• Employment of a new Executive Officer – Kerrie Stanley (appointed 1 February

2018) to replace Sandra Grimm;

• Employment of a casual Administration Officer – Kym Copetti;

• The Association diversified its services to schools by offering a Young

Entrepreneurs Breakfast, Science Workshops, Hutchinsons Builders Construction

Site Visits, TAFE Health Careers Forum, Economics Workshops, Young Architect

and Engineer Workshops, She Flies Drones Camp, Legal Studies Workshops,

Enterprising Workshops, Financial Management Workshops and an Innovation in

Agriculture STEM Careers Day;

• During 2018, several rural and remote schools accessed our Visiting Experts

Program including Ravenshoe State School, Kuranda State College, Cooktown

P-12 School, Herberton P-10 School, Tagai College and Dimbulah P-10 School;

• One Annual Aspire Awards Presentation night to recognise student

achievement and success. This event is expanding and a new venue will be

sourced for 2019 to cope with numbers. The number of awards is also growing;

• More networking functions for corporate sponsors and supporters including a

Sunset Cruise and regular networking lunches;

• Expansion of sponsorship opportunities for corporate sponsors to include event

sponsors, lunch sponsors and now raffle sponsors;

• Recruitment opportunities for award recipients;

• The annual DATTA awards has offered expanded categories and the venue,

Cairns Central Event Cinemas has proved to be suitable;

• A new constitution was developed for the Association;


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• Trialed an Education start up Hackathon with TheSpace;

• Regular meetings were held by Finance Working Group, Marketing and

Governance Working Groups;

• Offered a very successful Business Teacher Workshop for Enterprise Education.

SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

The Association is very proud of its achievements and successes. These include:

• Our annual budget balanced out to $362,698;

• A highly successful one day Careers and Employment Expo attracted over 3,225

secondary school students, plus parents, careers advisors and job seekers;

• Approximately 3,000 students participated in 22 Business Liaison Association

awards and competitions with $60,000 (in value) being awarded to students for

further studies. These were generously sponsored by:


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• Another highly successful presentation of the DATTA Awards (Design and

Technology Teachers’ Association) at Event Cinemas at Cairns Central. These

awards were sponsored by:


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• The introduction of a new Oasis Internship Competition;

• Financial Management Workshops offered to St Augustine’s College and

Mareeba State High School;

• The Association was able to attract and finance high profile motivational

speakers for our breakfast seminars;

• The Association continued to trial three-day visits by high profile speakers to

cover Cassowary Coast, Cairns and Tableland schools;

• Over 12,000 students accessed our programs through 2018 – these are allocated

below:

SCHOOL TOTAL STUDENT

ATTENDANCE

Atherton State High School 86

Babinda State School 44

Bentley Park College 605

Cairns School of Distance Education 25

Cairns State High School 1695

Cooktown SSD 13

Dimbulah State School 75

Djarragun College 164

Freshwater Christian College 161

Good Counsel College 220

Gordonvale State High School 259

Herberton State School 55

Holy Spirit College 0

Innisfail State College 234

Kuranda District College 402

Malanda State High School 221

Mareeba State High School 702

Mossman State High School 277

Mount St Bernard Catholic College 150

Peace Lutheran College 165

Ravenshoe State School 76

Redlynch State College 852

St Andrew’s Catholic College 650

St Augustine’s Catholic College 942

St Mary’s Catholic College 323


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St Monica’s Catholic College 181

St Stephen’s Catholic College 123

Smithfield State High School 650

Tagai College 38

Trinity Anglican School 204

Trinity Bay State High School 634

Tully State High School 103

Wangetti Girls Academy 7

Woree State High School 593

Western Cape College 2

Yarrabah State School 88

Other 1,312

TOTAL ATTENDEES 12,207

• The Business Liaison Association fundraised for Headspace (youth mental health)

and donated $2,000;

Set out below is a snap shot of activities for the 2018 year and attendances.

EVENT

TOTAL

Refuel Arts Seminar

24th February 2018 69

International Womens Day Event

8th March 2018 111

FNQ Apprentice Roadshow

12th-14h March 2018 1140

Business Teacher Workshop

16th April 2018 30

A Performance with Christina Anu

23rd April 2018 442

Science Workshops with Jordan Debono

30th April – 2nd May 2018 791

Visiting Author – Cath Crowley

30th April – 4th May 238

Social Science Workshops with Dr Thomas Cliff

30th April – 4th May 2018 300

We Will Remember Forum

3rd May 2018 192

Cairns Airport Visit

9th June 2018 20

Visiting Expert - Architect Matthew Eagle

9th – 11th May 2018

450


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EVENT

TOTAL

CQU Breakfast – A Recipe for Change

11th May 2018

149

Careers & Employment Expo

24th May 2018 3225

Tournament of Drones

6th June 2018 65

Regional Readers Cup

15th June 2018 128

Annual Sunset Cruise

5th July 2018 55

Cairns Cup – BLA 25th Birthday Celebration

4th August 2018 70

UQ Visiting Troupe

24th-27th July 2018 879

STEM Careers Day – Innovation in Agriculture

25th July 2018 184

Education Start-up Hackathon

27th July 2018 35

Enterprise Workshops – Scott Millar

1st – 3rd August 2018 353

Engineers Without Borders

9th – 10th August 2018 235

RACI School Lecture Series

13th – 17th August 2018 715

QIMR School Visit

22nd – 24th August 2018 450

TAFE Health Careers Forum

23rd August 2018 83

Hutchinson Builders Construction Site Visits

May – August 2018 43

Year 8 Fantasy Writers Camp

4th – 7th September 2018 28

Visiting Expert – Prof. Anthony Gray Legal Studies Workshop

15th – 19th October 2018 364

Breakfast with the Law

19th October 2018 110

DATTA Awards Presentation

1st November 2018 333

Annual Aspire Awards

28th November 2018 564

TAFE Cookery Masterclass

29th November 2018 12

Finance Workshops with Brent Kelly

August – November 2018 220

Christmas & BLA 25th Birthday Celebrations

6th December 2018 124

TOTAL 12,207


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EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Sandra Grimm resigned from the Business Liaison Association in January 2018. Kerrie

Stanley was appointed to this role on 1 February 2018. With her strong background in

administration, marketing and public relations, she spent time reorganising the new

office at James Cook University and started planning the Careers and Employment

Expo 2018.

The focus for 2018 was reviewing the administration system, increasing corporate

sponsorship opportunities and exhibitors at the Careers and Employment Expo, raising

the awareness of the BLA within the community and improving marketing collateral for

the association.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP The following sponsorship information includes cash and in-kind sponsorship.

2018 2017

Sponsorship In-Kind $ 104,402 $ 81,190

Awards Sponsorship $ 54,066 $ 48,445

Rotary & School Donations $ 37,848 $ 31,103

Cash Sponsorship $ 78,402 $ 64,925

TOTAL $ 274,718 $ 225,663

These figures are extracted from Grant Thornton Financial Statements, Quick Books

software.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Judith Searle from Careful Books has generously contributed as a gold in-kind sponsor.

Judith carries out checks on finances, supervises accounts and has kept the Executive

informed. There have been regular meetings of the Finance Working Group, chaired

by Brent Kelly to monitor the Financial Reports.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The Association has completed policy and procedures documents to enhance

corporate governance. All members of the Executive undergo training in this area.

Policies and procedures have been reviewed at Executive meetings throughout the

year. There have been some Governance Working Group Meetings chaired by Sandy

Whyte to enhance the corporate governance requirements for the association and to

finalise the new Constitution for the Association.


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MARKETING

The goal for 2018 was to raise the awareness of the Business Liaison Association. To do

this the Executive Officer increased the networking opportunities by joining Cairns

Business Women’s Club, the Cairns Chamber of Commerce, BNI and ad hock

networking events.

The Website has been researched, designed and the new website is currently under

construction, due for launching end of February 2019. It has a modern look and is

consistent with the Business Liaison Association’s new corporate image. It has some

fantastic new features including

• Meet the team – staff and committee

• Social media links

• App link

• Calendar (printable)

• Testimonies from past Alumni

• Statistics

• Expo Video

• More info about the Visiting Experts and Breakfasts programs

• FAQ

• All our sponsorship proposals online

The Executive Officer has increased the BLA’s interaction on the FaceBook page which

has resulted in an increase in the likes. The Executive Officer is also designing an

interactive app for the Youth and Careers Expo in 2019. This app will keep all exhibitors,

teachers and students up to date with what is happening at the Careers Expo. This will

also increase the likes of the BLA’s Instagram profile.

The Sponsors Booklet promoting all the Corporate, Award and Raffle sponsors is ready

for production.

25th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

The Association reached its 25th milestone in 2018, and this was celebrated ‘in style’.

Firstly, our corporate sponsors and supporters were treated to a ‘high fashion and fun

day’ at the Cairns Cup. Our final celebration for the year was held on 6 December at

the Shangri La Hotel. It was a Christmas Cocktails and Birthday Party combined, with

lots of past success stories from Alumni, Laura Leighton, Chairperson, Angela Toppin

and Assistant Regional Director of Education, Steve Bell. A highly successful auction

was held to fundraise for Headspace (youth mental health). Guests were also

entertained by singer and past award recipient Kiara Cabassi and a range of fun

activities organised by Kerrie Stanley and Kym Copetti.


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NEWSLETTER

Four newsletters were produced in 2018 and distributed electronically to around 700

sponsors and supporters. The newsletters keep readers updated on what the Business

Liaison Association is doing, what events have been held and what events are coming

up. We will continue to publish frequent newsletters in 2019 and increase distribution

wherever possible. Within the confines of the newsletter, we were also able to promote

events that sponsors held.

STRATEGIC PLAN

Following a review of the activities and structures of the Association in 2015, a new

Strategic Plan and Business Plan 2016-2018 were developed to progress the findings

and outcomes. The Association continues to source new initiatives to maximise

opportunities for all stakeholders. A review of the current strategic plan is planned for

early 2019.

OPERATIONS MANUAL

Work on the Operations Manual (that was started in 2015) has recommenced. This is a

“how to” guide designed to set out procedures in a clear manner, along with

guidelines on the organisation of key events. This document is annually reviewed and

updated as events occur.

WEBSITE

The Business Liaison Association is grateful for the ongoing in-kind platinum sponsorship

of Mindwire web designers.

The Executive Officer will review and upgrade the website with Damian Codotto in

2018/2019. Our new look website below…


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SOCIAL MEDIA

The Business Liaison Association’s FaceBook page also received a lot of work in 2018.

The FaceBook page was redesigned to mirror the website in terms of consistency of

the BLA’s corporate image.

Facebook page 2015-

2016 529 likes

Facebook page 2016 -

2017 680 likes 151 +29%


2018 793 likes 113 +16%


2019 962 likes 169 +21%

Instagram and Expo App

The BLA is proposing to increase their Instagram presence in 2019 by designing an app

for the Youth and Careers Expo. This will also provide a platform which the BLA can

contact students directly with notification of upcoming events/awards and the like as

they are not using FaceBook as much these days. The app will also provide the BLA

with careers data, collected from students that can be generated into a report and

supplied back to each school. This data can also be monitored and compared each

year by the BLA and identify trending career pathways within our region.

MEETINGS

Meetings of the Executive Committee were held every six weeks during 2018. The focus

of these was:

• Refining accounting systems and procedures;

• Implementation of new initiatives;

• Ensuring accountability and responsiveness to stakeholders’ needs;

• Progressing the strategic plan and reviewing the action items arising from it;

• Corporate governance and finance;

• Technology and change; and

• Reviewing Marketing collateral.

All meetings during 2018 were held at the Business Liaison Association office, JCU

Building meeting rooms, 1st floor, 36 Shields Street, Cairns.


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CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the Business Liaison Association sincerely thanks the sponsors from

industry and community who support this association. Without their generous

sponsorship, we would not be able to do what we do for the young people of Far North

Queensland.

Sincere thanks must also go to the Principals, Teachers, Co-ordinators and Volunteers.

Sincere thanks also to the members of the Executive who are not seeking re-election.

Your professional contribution will be sadly missed.

OFFICE BEARERS

Chairperson: Angela Toppin

Deputy Chairperson: Andrew Hayes

Deputy Chairperson: Sandy Whyte

Treasurer: Les Searle

Executive Officer: Kerrie Stanley

Committee Members

Edna Galvin St Monica’s College

Brynn Livingstone JCU

Stephanie Thomas TAFE Queensland

Jacinta Perry VPG

Lesa Pershouse Mareeba State High School

Brent Kelly Kelly Wealth Services

Joylene Ireland Right At Home

Andrea Ambrosio My Pathway

Hugh O’Brien Education Consultant

Brett Moller Solicitor

Virginia Cullen Community Consultant

___________________________

Angela Toppin

Chairperson

31 December 2018

annual report 2018 annual report final.pdf · datta awards presentation 1st november 2018 333...

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