Bendigo Community Bank^® branches Deepen Connections in Marysville
2019 Victorian Regional State Conference arrives

As the only major bank headquartered in regional Australia, Bendigo Bank makes a point of choosing regional destinations for major conferences wherever possible so that local business can benefit. On Tuesday 02 July, executives, senior managers, directors and staff from across the Bendigo and Community Bank^® network will descend on Marysville for the annual Victorian Regional State Conference.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Managing Director, Marnie Baker said: “We couldn’t think of a better place – and a better, more deserving community than Marysville to hold our Victorian Regional Community Bank^® Conference. These events are critical dates in our calendar as we strive to feed into community prosperity. They provide a great opportunity for more than 130 of our delegates and attendees to hear about the exciting work of their peers, important community-led initiatives, exciting new innovations in the Bendigo Bank network, and of course opportunities for future growth.

“The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Deepening Connections’ and builds on last year’s theme of Partnership, Community, People and Technology. We’ll also be celebrating and sharing some of the remarkable results that our collective network of Regional Victorian Community Banks has achieved in the last financial year.

“The original purpose of the Community Bank® model, which began more than 20 years ago in regional Victoria, remains today. We are committed to feeding into the prosperity of communities not off them and we look forward to pulling into sharp focus exactly where we see our future together”.

“We also look forward to learning about the resilience and future plans of the Marysville community from our Keynote speaker, Tony Thompson, Chair of the Marysville and Triangle Community Recovery Committee, who will address delegates about the progress of Marysville’s recovery on the first day of the conference”, Ms Baker concluded.

Justine Minne, State Manager Regional Victoria & Tasmania said: “The programme we will work through at the Victorian Regional Community Bank® Conference brings together our executives, senior managers, directors and staff from across the Bendigo and Community Bank^® networks and we look forward to hearing some inspirational examples of how our Community Bank^® branches are strengthening their local communities”.

“One of the key takeaways this year will be how we can learn to compound the effect of Community Bank^® grants and donations with funding from local, State and Federal sources for some truly high impact projects and services.

“We’ll be hearing about initiatives such as the Rupanyup Retail Precinct rejuvenation project which received $500,000 funding from the State Government and is a $1.2 million project. North Central Financial Services also committed $500,000 to launch the Charlton Park 2020 project which aims to raise funds to develop a multi-purpose facility at Charlton Park in Charlton. The State Government contributed $1.5 million and this project will total $4.2 million when completed.

“There’s a lot more to share and discuss given that all 57 communities of our companies contributed funds across Regional Victoria over the past year. In fact, the $4.57 million of contributions provided back to Regional Victorian communities was an increase on the previous year.

“It’s not only the big projects that make a difference, but the smaller ones too. Community Bank^® branches continue to support their local schools, sporting clubs, aged care and disability services and so many other important not-for-profit organisations in our state - so we have a lot to celebrate”

“It’s important to reflect on this when we come together in Marysville and to celebrate our success. It’s also a great opportunity to personally thank our amazing network of Directors for continuing to volunteer their time to make such a difference in their local communities”, Ms Minne concluded.

Grass roots support and seed funding from Bendigo Community Bank^® branches has seen the formation of some significant partnerships with government at all levels to make some notable special projects for local communities across regional Victoria. Some of the larger contributions for the last financial year included:

• $360,000 was raised as part of the South West Bushfire Appeal to help those affected by the devastating bushfires in the South West
• A $100,000 grant to the Wentworth Show Society for a new Pavilion
• A $50,000 grant to Moyne Health Services for their Urgent Care Centre at Port Fairy
• A $50,000 donation to the Barwon Health Kids Appeal which featured in Lara Districts “Be the Change” Video
• San Remo & District provided two $40,000 sponsorships to both the Bass Valley Children’s Centre and the Bass Coast Community Health Hub.

You can find out more about Bendigo Community Bank^® branches here:

www.bendigobank.com.au/community/community-bank