Waterford Chamber holds 225th AGM

New President outlines Key Objectives

Waterford Chamber of Commerce yesterday evening (Thursday June 7th) hosted it 225th Annual General Meeting at Dooley's Hotel in Waterford City at which Anne Marie Caulfield officially ended her term in office and passed on the mantle to incoming President Orm Kenny. In her address Anne Marie congratulated the incoming President and thanked the Chamber Executive, Members and staff for their support during her term.

Commenting on the previous twelve months as chamber president Anne Marie said, “it has been a busy but very rewarding 12 months. Chamber ran over 30 events attended by in excess of 5,000 people. As part of our ongoing objective to lobby for jobs and for Waterford business we met with An Taoiseach on 3 occasions, as well as 7 government ministers, a number of junior ministers as well as multiple government agencies. We have fostered stronger links with other Chambers in the US, Canada, France and the UK. I believe that those links will help generate business opportunities for Waterford and the South East in the future. In the case of the UK we have finalized a business to business trade delegation for October this year which I very much hope will result in increased business for Waterford.

I wish incoming president Orm Kenny, Michael Garland and the rest of the Chamber team every success in the year ahead. Michael and the Chamber team have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months and I am most grateful for their efforts.”

New President Orm Kenny paid tribute to his predecessor and stated “I would like to thank Anne Marie for her hard work, energy and her ability to really get results through the work she has done over the last 12 months. Orm said he looked forward to his term in office and is honoured to be President Waterford Chamber. “I am honoured to take up the role of President of Waterford Chamber for the next 12 months.

I am looking forward to working with the business community in Waterford and the southeast and together working towards strategic goals.

By creating opportunities for business to connect with customers, business partners and key resources, we can achieve results for the South East.

My focus for the year ahead will be enabling indigenous business and attracting inward investment to drive economic recovery and create jobs in Waterford and the South East, and we are already working on a major link event with London Chamber to progress this agenda.”

The Waterford Chamber new Deputy President is Nora Widger and the new Vice President is Graham Doyle; Treasurer is Ronan Brazil, Secretary Michael O'Dwyer the Waterford Chamber directors are Laurent Borla, Jonathan Earl, Ian Fewer, Tina Darrer, Jill Hinks, David McCoy, Derek O'Byrne, Teresa Jane O'Mahoney, Billy Sweetman, Brian Tynan and Kieran Walsh.

Pictured (l-r): Orm Kenny, incoming Chamber President; Michael O'Mahony, former Treasurer; Anne Marie Caulfield, outgoing President; Michael O'Dwyer, Secretary; Ronan Brazil, Treasurer; Nora Widger, Deputy President. (inset) Orm Kennedy. Photo by Leo Murphy Photography.