How do we fix Gympie's identity crisis?

If Gympie had a different name and a different reputation it could be like the Adelaide Hills. It certainly is just as beautiful.

Social commentator Bernard Salt addressed a 250-strong crowd at the Civic Centre last month. Picture: Erle Levey

WITHOUT doubt, the recent Gympie Futures meeting with Bernard Salt was a raging success. Congratulations to the Gympie Regional Council and our fellow chambers for hosting such an enlightening event.

So where to from here?

There were more than 250 business people who got out of bed early and came along. What are they looking for? 250 people to a breakfast event certainly tells us something.

BIG TURNOUT: The 250-strong crowd at the Gympie Futures breakfast with Bernard Salt. Picture: Scott Kovacevic

Could they be looking for a miracle fix? Could they be huge Bernard Salt fans? Maybe they were interested in the buffet breakfast?

For the board of the Gympie Chamber of Commerce 250 coming together is just a good start.

We are a community of doers and the time for us to come together and present Gympie as a united force is now. We all need to be on the same page and working as a unit for things to actually get done.

GRC is doing a great job for the long-term vision of the Gympie region, so that leaves us as the GCOC and you the business owners to work on the now.

However, it is meat and potatoes of Gympie business is where the leaps and bounds can be made.

Our president, Tony Goodman, and the board are working tirelessly behind the scenes on the very building blocks that will help Gympie business right now and into the future.

Let's look at just a small sample of business people who are doing things exactly right in what can be the toughest industry - hospitality.

Sharla Watson in the new, renovated Farmer and Sun Cafe, which offers more space and an eclectic, rustic, vintage vibed decor. Picture: Donna Jones

Have a look at our cafés, Soma Soma, Mama Dee's Kitchen, Johnny Dee's, Farmer and Sun, Emilia's and the list goes on. These businesses are very hard to run and are the first to be attacked on social media if, God forbid, they make a mistake.

Despite all the difficulties they are massively successful. So how can we work together using the magnificent example of our cafes?

Sam Higgins at Emilia's Cafe in Mary St. Picture: Jacob Carson

A very wise, former local, said to me recently, Gympie is the most undervalued gem in the country. If Gympie had a different name and a different reputation it could be like the Adelaide Hills. It certainly is just as beautiful.

I took these words to heart and completely agree. This place is special but has an identity crisis. Let me pose this question to people smarter than me. Just how hard would it be to rename us Nashville? Cute thought, but worth pondering.

Are you a member of the Gympie Chamber of Commerce yet?