What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? A question that was often posed to all of us growing up, but not really a question that you would ask about your town. I was lucky enough to speak on the phone with the speaker for our November breakfast. His question to me was. “So, what does Gympie want to be?”

I was stumped, the question had never been put to me in that form. What does Gympie want to be?

We have quite a few different factions in town that all seem to want different things for our magnificent town. Some want to see a better road network; some want it to be a northern suburb of the Sunshine Coast while others would like it to remain the same. Any which way you look at it, what does Gympie want to be is most certainly the best place to start when planning our future.

Gympie doesn’t need to be just any one thing either, but a central focus might be a good idea.

For example; have you seen the amazing things going on here in the custom automotive industries? We have some top-end custom shops right here. Helltown Hotrods, Hughes Stepsides, Mary Valley American Pickups and Performax, as well as others I don’t know about. Now, this might not be your thing, but it is a huge industry that could put Gympie on the map.

My question to you is; what would YOU like Gympie to be when we grow up?

For me personally, Gympie needs to be a place that has a future for my young boys; new employment opportunities, access to further education, trades traineeships and apprenticeships and also attractions for the next generation of young people.  If we want to keep them here, we must build it.

At the moment Gympie seems to lose our young people for a bit in their prime years, but just imagine if we could keep them here? Not only will it make their families happy, but for Gympie, that means more people for the sports clubs, more customers for the shops, more volunteers, more rates, more more more.

I am sure there are those that will tell me I am dreaming but I don’t believe them, and neither should you.

Speaking of single-minded focus, we are less than two  weeks out from the Gympie Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. Putting these awards together has been a huge undertaking for members of the Chamber and the amazing team at Roadcraft and Tenacious Digital. The tickets are selling like lemonade popsicles in the desert, so grab them quickly.

The quality of the businesses nominated this year were outstanding, leaving a tough job for our wonderful judges, with whom without, none of this could be possible, thank you very much.

If you can believe it, we had well over 2000 votes in the People’s Choice category, so a huge night is on the cards.

See you all there.

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