The new Samara's Restaurant Woonona has only been open days but it is already a place where dreams come true.
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That was the case for Gemma Loader late last week when she visited the restaurant for her belated 18th birthday party.
On her actual birthday, six months earlier, sewage flooded the family's Woonona home when friends had come around to celebrate and Ms Loader said the whole celebration literally stunk.
But her mother Karen Loader decided to surprise her with an 18½ birthday dinner at the new Samara's Restaurant opposite Liquorland on the Princes Highway at Woonona.
She also invited her friends exactly six months to the day after they tried to spend the night.
During the course of the dinner Omar Nemer did what he always does in the name of great customer service and moved around the room talking to all the patrons.
When he got to Ms Loader's table she told him how she wanted to find some work in hospitality.
So in the space of one heartbeat he offered her a job, she accepted and was working the following night.
"It is the best birthday ever," she said.
"In the end it has worked out really well."
Mr Nemer said he liked her positive attitude and willingness to just come out and say she wanted a job so he gave her one.
"You can feel her energy," he said.
Ms Loader said her 18½ birthday celebration was definitely better than her 18th.
Student winners
TAFE Illawarra's TwentyTwenty Restaurant at Wollongong Campus has won the award for the best restaurant in a regional training institute at the 2014 Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence - Sydney and Surrounds.
It's the third year in a row that the student-run restaurant has won the award for outstanding commitment to quality and service.
Cloud innovation
Illawarra-based cloud computing specialist Serenus Pty Ltd has secured a grant to develop a Minimum Viable Product prototype of their patented Cloud-VPN technology.
The development will be supported in part through NSW Trade & Investment's Innovate NSW program.
In April this year the Australian Patent Office granted Serenus an innovation patent covering a cloud management system "to monitor data flows, identify bottlenecks, and dynamically optimise network performance".
The breakthrough comes at a tipping point in the adoption of cloud services, as businesses increasingly take advantage of cost savings and scalability of cloud computing services.
Serenus is now moving from the concept and design stage towards commercialisation of the patented technology, which has a wide range of potential applications including enterprise-level cloud management, ISPs, Telcos, and IT hardware and software vendors.
The new technology, when fully developed, will be the latest addition to Serenus' portfolio of global Cloud Connect, Compute and Backup services aimed initially at the Australian and New Zealand business markets.
Creative ability
Artability exhibition features the works of clients of Essential Employment and Training at Wollongong Art Gallery from 11am to 12pm. The idea is to showcase the artwork of people with a disability and focus on their abilities instead of their disabilities.
Work readiness
Business leaders and potential graduate employers are being invited to contribute ideas to help enhance a new UOW Co-curricular Program.
The vision of the program is to develop outstanding graduates who are well-rounded employees of choice.
A breakfast is being hosted on October 10 in the IMB Foyer at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.
Click here for registrations and further information at amcpaul@uow.edu.au.
Project lunch
The Property Council's Illawarra chapter's lunch on October 9 will focus on GPT Group's $200 million Wollongong Central project. The lunch is in the Regent Theatre directly opposite the major expansion of the shopping centre onto the western side of Keira Street.
Flyer to talk
After travelling to Merimbula for his book launch Tony McAdam, a regular at The Illawarra Connection networking dinners, helped secure Ryan Campbell as the speaker for the October meeting.
Mr McAdam, of Wave FM, said he was inspired by the young South Coast man's achievements and when he picked up his book Born To Fly recently and read it in two days.
Mr Campbell was the youngest pilot in Australia at 15, held a commercial pilots licence by 18 and made international headlines at 19 as the first teenager to circumnavigate the world in a solo flight in a single engine aircraft.