IWIB is planning to continue to roll out the big names this year. Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe will be a guest speaker at the business networking lunch this September.

“Ian will be arriving back from commentating at the Rio Olympics in August and joining us for lunch on September 2,” Glenda Papac announced.

Last year was a big year for the business networking group too.

In July, Olympic legend Dawn Fraser was the speaker for the IWIB networking lunch at City Beach Function Centre.

“Dawn spoke of leaving her family home at an early age to pursue her dream of representing her country in swimming,” attendee Rose said. “She inspired many of us and said that if we really wanted something all you had to do was work at it. This is synonymous with making it in the business world.

“I would like to thank Glenda and all the IWIB committee for working hard to bring speakers such as Dawn Fraser, Mark Bouris and Ian Thorpe to Wollongong to talk about their own experiences and for organising the regular networking events. It helps to inspire many of us to strive for things that we thought may not have been achievable.”

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The importance of networking was highlighted at a Illawarra Women In Business networking lunch when Illawarra ITeC business development manager Virginia Wren took the stage at Centro CBD.

In the Finance Control sponsored lunch in June last year, Ms Wren spoke of how she advises business clients on how to grow their business and realise their full potential for real economic growth. The key tools she used are one-on-one mentoring, training and showing business people how they can actively seek out opportunities.

The annual IWIB Conference and Expo Day was held on October 2 at the Sage Hotel.

The first lunch of 2015 was on February 5, featuring Mark Bouris speaking on “What Really Matters”. Mr Bouris said Wollongong was a city on the move with enormous potential as a centre of innovation.

As the founder and chairman of Wizard Home Loans (before he sold it to GE Money) and then founder and chairman of Yellow Brick Road, he also hosted The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.

He said the city had many great things going for it such as beaches, close proximity to Sydney and its major airport.

“Innovation is about creating small businesses...and turning small businesses into a Google or a Microsoft,” he said. “Small business will sustain economies and that is what we need to do. And I reckon this is the perfect place to do it.”

Mr Bouris acknowledged IWIB was a great, well-run networking business - a real compliment!

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