Dubbo Chamber Board & Committees - 2018

Matt is the principle of Choice Home Loans, a local award winning mortgage broking company which has been in operation since 2003. Matt has been a regular “Platinum Broker” with Choice, which places him in the top 10% of Choice loan writers nationally.

Prior to this, Matt was employed by the NAB in varying roles in regional NSW locations over a 10 year period. He currently holds a Diploma in Financial Services (Finance/Mortgage Broking Management) as well as a Diploma in Financial Planning.

Matt believes that businesses have a certain level of corporate social responsibility to give back to the community in which they operate, especially those business located within a regional location. 

Being born and raised in Forbes, and being a local business owner, he has a good understanding of the day to day challenges which many business face in regional areas.

Matt is married with 3 young children, and in his “spare time”, Matt enjoys spending time at the gym, playing touch footy and paddling and fishing along the Macquarie River. 

Kerrieanne Nichols is the owner of the Quality Inn, a motel in need of a lot of TLC when she and her partner, Carolyn Rowe, moved to Dubbo nearly three years ago to operate the “worst motel in Dubbo”.  Rising to the challenge, an undisclosed amount has been outlaid in a wide ranging refurbishment to raise the standard of the property to a level which its name indicates.

Kerrieanne and Carolyn literally started from scratch. In the early days they did everything – “you name it, we did it”. Their hard work and the quality of their staff – “they are gold to us” – has paid off with a large increase in guests and repeat business, both in the form of occupancy and patronage of the Reflections restaurant. The popularity of the property has been built on the experience which the partners gained after many years’ in the industry operating motels in Orange, Mudgee, Moree and Lithgow.

Prior to her entry to the tourism sector, Kerrieanne commenced her business career as a professional make-up artist in Orange, participation in Sydney Fashion Week, a stint in David Jones, plus as an extra in a variety of commercials, TV shows, such as, Home and Away, Packed to the Rafters and even a zombie movie.

Kerrieanne loves Dubbo and the potential of the city with an aim of contributing to raising the standard of the region’s accommodation and hospitality sector, particularly through the Chamber. Packed to the Rafters could well be her aim for the city and the motel.

John Southwell brings to Chamber a background that includes marketing, executive and senior level management. This background includes human resources, manufacturing, counselling and people development in government, private enterprise and not for profit. In 2003, John established Coachwell Australia. John is a Certified Graduate of CoachU and holds the designation of Professional Certified Coach as well as a Master of Arts degree obtained in Boston USA in 1989.

In addition to professional coaching, John is a registered trainer of the Coaching Clinic and provides a range of tailor made leadership development programs for senior executives, managers and supervisors.

John looks forward to serving Chamber in ways that will enhance business in the region.

Alex is currently a Senior Corporate Relationship Executive with the Commonwealth Bank, managing high value clients in Dubbo and the surrounding areas.

He has been employed by the Commonwealth Bank for over 20 Years, with the last 12 years of that based in Dubbo within their Business Banking Area. He has worked alongside all levels of business assisting with their finance and banking requirements. 

Alex studied accounting prior to working with the Bank which has given him a sound financial background.

He is a past member of Apex and is active within the Dubbo Golf Club.

Shelvin is a Director at BurMac Financial Services Pty Ltd and was previously the Branch manager for Aon in Dubbo. 

He was born in Fiji and grew up in Sydney. He has been calling Dubbo home for over 3 years with his young family.  Shelvin is very passionate about business and education having completed his Bachelors in Business (Finance & Marketing) at University of Technology, Sydney in 2000. He then went on to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in International Business in 2007 from University of East London. He is currently studying a Master in Cyber Security at La Trobe University.

Shelvin has been in the Insurance and Finance industry over 18 years, working with C -suite clients to small businesses. He has worked in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Japan over the period. Shelvin is a Fellow at Australian and New Zealand Institute for Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF).

Within the Chamber he is currently involved in the Golf Day, diga.tech and Marketing for the Chamber.

The responsibilities of the Member Services Officer include reporting to the Chamber Board; managing the day to day operations of the Chamber; providing support for new and existing members; increasing and maintaining membership; facilitating events and network initiatives.

Toni joined the Dubbo Chamber as Member Services Officer in April 2012. Toni is a Dubbo local who has been involved in her family business for the last 15 years. She has extensive experience in office administration and customer service. Being a local, Toni has a great affinity with Dubbo and its business community and is looking forward to working with the Chamber to help it grow its business.

Marilyn gained employment with Fairfax Media in 1996 (back then it as known as Rural Press Pty Ltd). She began as a local Sales Representative and moved onto Telemarketing Supervisor in 1998. In 2000 Marilyn was offered the position of Western Magazine Special Publications Co-coordinator and then moved to Sydney with The Land Newspaper to co-ordinate events and sell Fairfax products Australia wide.

In 2005 she returned to Dubbo as The Regional Co-coordinator for The Land Newspaper and then was offered her latest role as Local Sales Manager Dubbo.

In this position Marilyn is responsible for The Dubbo Daily Liberal, Mail Box Shopper and Western Magazine as well as the Nyngan, Narromine and Wellington News papers.

Marilyn has two sons (one studying in Bathurst, the other working on the Gold Coast).

In Marilyns own words "Dubbo is my home and I feel I could contribute to our city as it has so much to offer future generations in Business and Economic Development".