Councils dump Business Central Coast

The move by both Councils at this time is somewhat of a mystery as the BCC had achieved an enormous amount in the last eleven months under the management of Kerry Ruffels.  Mr Ruffels was the first capable General Manager in fifteen years.
 Prior to that both Councils had poured hundreds of thousands of dollars annually into what was originally the Central Coast Regional Development Corporation, almost all of which was wasted by an incompetently managed and directionless organisation.
Mr Ruffels had succeeded in getting the organisation working closely with the Coast’s highly successful tourism promotional organisation, Central Coast Tourism.  Over the years BCC had adopted an antagonistic and competitive attitude towards the highly successful and competently managed Central Coast Tourism. 
He had also had been proactive and prominent in assisting the Central Coast Mariners, which is sponsored by BCC with Council funding, reach their promotional goals and which both Councils have agreed to continue for the 2008/09 A-League season.  The purpose behind the sponsorship was to promote the Central Coast as a brand both in Australia and Asia and with the success of the Mariners and Mr Ruffels this has been highly effective for our Region.
Executive Chairman Lyall Gorman said of his relationship with BCC.

In the past year BCC has taken the branding and the promotion of the Central Coast to levels not even dreamed about, using the Central Coast Mariners and Central Coast Tourism as the springboards. They were doing what they should have been doing for the previous fifteen years in a practical manner and not wasting money on a myriad of logos that amounted to nothing.
Business Central Coast was behind two seminars during the year: The Economics of Water and the Marine Discovery Centre with Prof. Alistair McIlgorm and The Sustainability Advantage by the internationally recognised Dr Bob Willard.   A stand at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show in 2006.
They had also been working co-operatively with the local commercial and industrial real estate agents for the first time assisting businesses and investors looking at the Region.
Overall, they were proactive and earnest in their pursuit of promoting the Coast, promoting investment into the region and encouraging business growth.
However, from Council reports it appears that they intend to go it alone, each promoting their own area as opposed to promoting the Central Coast as a region.  How they will work together to promote the region is now open to question.
Business Central Coast started its life as the Central Coast Regional Development Corporation some fifteen years ago. At the time it was unique in that it was funded by the Federal Keating Government with the two Councils coming on board with funding a year or so later.  Subsequently, following the election of the Carr Government, a Central Coast Economic Development Board was set up along with many others around the State and as part of the new Minister for the Central Coast, The Hon John Della Bosca’s Central Coast Moving Forward initiative, the two organisations were merged.

Back Send us your comments