About Us

Our History

Stirling Business Associaton’s history begins with the formation of the Osborne Park Businessmen’s Association in 1973 as the result of a suggestion by Colin Beaman, Chairman of Scarborough Rotary Club Vocational Service Committee.

The objectives of the association at the time were to:

Promote reciprocal trade.
Exchange business, manufacturing and trading knowledge between members.
Promote social interaction between members on a regular basis.
To assist members by offering advice and guidance.
To act as a representative body in manners of interest to members in a non-political, non sectarian manner.

Nearly 50 years later these objectives are still incorporated into the Association’s vision and mission to best support our members.

Some interesting

historical facts

In 1973 membership was $5 per year with a $5 nomination fee. The 1975 financials closed with a credit balance of $247.40.

In 1980 the name was changed to “Osborne Park Balcatta Business Association”.

In 1995 the name was changed to “Stirling Business Association”.

In 1993 Hendy Cowan MLA, Deputy Premier and Minister for Commerce and Trade (including small business) was guest speaker at the Association’s AGM. As part of his speech he stated that the small business was acting as the “engine of the economy” through its ability to generate jobs. This phrase is still used today to describe the importance of the small business sector.

SBA started hosted the annual small business awards in 1994.

Early 2000’s the incubator project was surging forward which would ultimately become Stirling Business Centre. Construction commenced in 2004.

Current City of Stirling Mayor, Mark Irwin, was part of the 2002-2004 committee.

SBA moved into the new business incubator, Stirling Business Centre on 9 November 2005.

Stirling Business Association

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is a team of members who volunteer their time to influence the strategic direction of the association.

PRESIDENT

REBECCA ROSSI

Ultimo Constructions joined the SBA in 2018 and Rebecca has been on the Executive Committee and fulfilling the role of VP. Ultimo Constructions joined SBA to connect with the local community and netwo rk with like minded businesses and business owners.

Rebecca is the General Manager of Ultimo Constructions, a residential building company, located in Balcatta. Formerly a secondary education teacher, specialising in Business and Vocational Education and Training, Rebecca has a passion for business and leadership. Her business acumen, love of customer engagement, leadership and business in general has assisted Ultimo Constructions in its journey from strength to strength since its inception. Rebecca is a mum of 3 children and assists in running Ultimo Constructions alongside her hubby Angelo.

VICE PRESIDENT

DOMINIQUE ENGELTER

Dominique is a director of Williams + Hughes; an SBA member since 2018.

He is a commercial litigator by trade; advising on and acting in business disputes and related matters. He has broad experience across a range of sectors applicable to SBA members.

Over the past 17 years Dominique has, amongst other things:

advised corporate boards, directors, and senior management in relation to directors’ duties, insolvency and restructuring, shareholder disputes, confidential information and intellectual property issues;
acted on trade practices and contract disputes, environmental contamination matters, and statutory/licensing prosecutions;
assisted in partnership disputes, property disputes concerning sales and leasing, construction adjudications and building disputes.

At Williams + Hughes, Dominique is able to draw on the experience and assistance of a team of lawyers with expertise across various industry sectors in this State.Dominique’s penchant is for outdoor exploring; such as hiking and off road motorbike riding in remote and challenging terrains.

VICE PRESIDENT

NATHAN BAKER

Nathan is the General Manager of Ramada Vetroblu Scarborough beach and joined SBA in early 2019 to get to know more of the local businesses in the community. Nathan believes it is important to engage and utilise local suppliers so as a community we all grow together.

Nathan is an experienced Hotel General Manager with a career spanning over 20 years in the hospitality industry and over 15 years’ of Management experience in Melbourne and Perth. He has a demonstrated record of performance managing centrally located corporate 4-4.5 star serviced apartments including major multi-million dollar renovations, management of multiple assets, food and beverage operations and development of staff with authenticated people management skills. Nathan is a leader of innovation as a conduit for change to achieve business excellence with a collaborative sense of community. He has the ability to support and liaise with owners, shareholders and corporate offices and was voted a Board Member representative for the Sunset Coast for Region Tourism Organisation Destination Perth.

Nathan joined the SBA Executive Committee in 2020 to continue supporting the local small business community and he describes his perfect weekend as spending time with his 2 black cats and model trains.

TREASURER

MAIREAD HODGSON

Mairead is the Director of Mairead Hodgson Loan Whisperer and has been on the SBA Executive Committee since 2017, and was elected Treasurer in 2018.

A life-changing experience altered the course of Mairead’s life and forced her to re-evaluate her future. After twenty-seven years managing loans from the bank side, Mairead realised her own values were increasingly out of alignment with the restrictive banking environment. Now, she is able to serve the community without limitations, offering her principled, personable approach and elite expertise to find the loan solution that works for you and your future.

Mairead is driven to build lasting relationships by sharing her knowledge generously. Her unique abilities will help you reach your goals through education, understanding and a commitment to getting the right results. It’s time to find a better way of acquiring and managing your loan, it’s time to meet Mairead.

SARAH THOMSON

Sarah Thomson has a long and established career in Marketing and Communications. She founded Online Social Butterfly in 2011. This was built on a solid career spanning a range of organisations from large multi-nationals, not-for-profit, government (local, state and federal), franchise and small business. She took her career from Perth to Sydney and then on to London giving her an eye for international aspects of communications. Her talents lie in understanding marketing and how it is applied in the fast-paced world of digital.

Online Social Butterfly is a boutique agency run by Sarah and her husband Grant, who is a web designer. They offer a range of services that focus on supporting small businesses online and getting results. The team is comprised of 8 contractors who are all experts in their respective fields. Using contractors has allowed Online Social Butterfly to be a nimble operation that can swiftly cater to the specific needs of the client, bringing in experts in specific niches.

As well as offering consulting and web services, Sarah is one of the most seasoned trainers in the social media space in Australia. She started running workshops in 2014 and since then has trained thousands of business owners across a range of popular topics. She is a trainer for the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) and an advisor for the Australian Small Business Advisory Service (ASBAS), a federal program designed to increase the digital capabilities of small businesses. She has also recently won a tender to deliver digital recovery options to small businesses via the City of Wanneroo.

ANNE VENAILLE

Anne Venaille is the Chief Undercover Officer of Thru Customers Eyes, an undercover shopping service solving problems of possible lost sales due to customer service variability or lack of competitor edge.

She joined Stirling Business Association in February 2020 seeking to expand her network of connections and to build solid business and personal relationships along the way. She has also chosen to serve as a member of the SBA committee with the desire to participate and give back to the community.

On a personal level, she loves entertaining, drinking great wine and cooking for her friends and family in her spare time. A fun fact about Anne is that she conquered her fear of heights when she went ice climbing during an adventure cruise to Antarctica and discovered that she really loved it!

Meet

The Team

Meet the SBA team! The office team drive the everyday operations of the Stirling Business Association as well as Stirling Business Centre. From looking after our members, planning the next event, assisting tenants or welcoming the next group of workshop participants in the Training Room – they take care of it all.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Yvonne Atkinson

Yvonne is our Chief Executive Officer and has been a pivotal member of the SBA office team for the last five years. She brought with her a wealth of small business experience and entrepreneurial skills that she quickly put to use at SBA. An expert networker and always up for a chat (either over coffee or champagne) she very much enjoys connecting with members, listening to their stories and providing guidance where she can. She describes her super power as always remembering who and where she has met someone and usually something interesting and relevant about them. It’s like having a database in her head that she regularly taps into to join the dots and create the magic!

If you’re familiar with the UK Midlands accent you may occasionally detect a slight Birmingham sound. Yvonne came to Perth in 1996 as a backpacker after graduating from her Business and IT degree from the University of Gloucestershire. She had been in Perth just 10 days before meeting husband Peter. In her downtime Yvonne enjoys reading about British Royal history and American politics and is currently studying her Masters in Business Administration at ECU.

MARKETING COORDINATOR

Andreea Circa

Andreea is our Marketing Coordinator and has been with us full time since August 2016. Andreea graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Advertising in 2015.

Andreea loves digital marketing and learning new ways of how we can use data to direct SBA’s marketing. She also loves nothing more than becoming absorbed in a complex process and working out an easier and simpler way of tackling it. When she’s not immersed in creating systems, Andreea enjoys chatting with SBA members and being front of house for Stirling Business Centre.

In her spare time you will find her watching the latest true crime show on Netflix, having brunch out on the weekend or making friends with a nearby pooch. She’s hoping for the day SBA allows fur babies to become part of the team too.

EVENTS COORDINATOR

Aimee Edwards

Aimee has been the Events Coordinator at SBA since September 2016. Aimee completed her Diploma in Event Management at North Metropolitan TAFE Joondalup in
2015. Before joining the SBA team, she worked as a receptionist for Community Vision, a disability and aged care organisation.
In her role as Events Coordinator, Aimee oversees many aspects of the regular SBA event calendar including our monthly member sundowners where she spends her time liaising with members to ensure they are well looked after throughout the process.

In her spare time if she is not travelling the globe, Aimee enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends. Aimee loves animals and currently has a naughty cat and two rabbits. Aimee loves all things Disney and her favourite TV show is FRIENDS.