About Us
What our members and community say:
FBN supports our not-for-profit on the HR side. Their help means we know we’re compliant and can recruit with confidence.
Ainsley Foulds | Rave About Arts
Our membership in the Fitzgerald Business Network helps us to engage with the local business community, to understand their needs, and increase our exposure.
Ronan Armitage | BOOM Logistics
FBN’s training courses, such as the Heavy Rigid licence, support our business locally. Our business benefits, as well as our employees — and we don’t have to leave town for it!
Jules Belli | Phillips River Grazing
I wanted to acknowledge the warm welcome we received when my daughter and I temporarily relocated to Ravensthorpe. Literally my first stop was the CRC to look for some work for my daughter. To be honest, we didn’t know really what a CRC was! We were instantly asked whether we had received our FBN welcome pack, I had never heard of that either. What a lovely surprise to receive our pack of relevant information about the area!
Karen Swaine | Ravensthorpe District High School
Build your organisation in a strong business community
An emerging region
When the Fitzgerald Biosphere Reserve was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, our little patch of paradise became a region in its own right. Not quite Goldfields-Esperance and not quite Wheatbelt, the Fitzgerald Biosphere boasts a diversity of flora and fauna — as well as a diversity of opportunity for businesses and community groups.
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the people behind Hopey, Ravy, Jerry, and Bremer CRCs put their heads together to consider how they could best support local businesses, clubs, and organisations. And with no Chamber of Commerce on the ground, the solution became clear.
The group saw an opportunity to coordinate at a regional level. To eliminate double handling. To share costs, and raise the profile of the whole region.
The Fitzgerald Business Network, built upon the Hopey and Ravy CRCs’ existing community connections, helps businesses and community organisations thrive with training, advocacy, networking, and promotion opportunities.
OUR PARTNERS
OUR TEAM
All our FBN staff are located within the Fitzgerald region.
Melanie Kerr
– FBN Senior Project Officer
Melanie lives in Hopetoun, she is originally from England, but has lived in Western Australia for over 8 years. Melanie has extensive Project Management and market research background, previously working in the pharmaceutical and healthcare field and more recently moving into the business area. Melanie works at the Hopetoun CRC and was involved in the initial set up the Fitzgerald Business Network when it first launched and is supporting the continued development of the Network as well as being a direct contact for all FBN affiliate members and Hopetoun members.
Karrina Smallman
– FBN Committee Member & Hopetoun Community Resource Centre (CRC) Manager
Karrina has been employed at the Hopetoun CRC for over 9 years, starting as a tourism trainee before being promoted to Manager in 2015. She leads a strong team at the Hopetoun CRC and has excellent working relationships with a wide variety of community groups and stakeholders.
Karrina has a great mixture of skills and qualifications including a Certificate IV in Training and Assessing as well as other qualifications in Visitor Information, Telecommunications and Information Technology.
Karrina thrives on collaboration, enjoying working with other strong community leaders to help support and connect her community through opportunities that promote a vibrant and healthy community.
Karrina is a very active member of the community who is passionate about the community and the environment.
Liz Utting
– FBN Committee Member & Ravensthorpe Community Resource Centre (CRC) Manager
Originally from Perth, Liz has now been living in Ravensthorpe for about 7 years. Liz holds a Bachelor of Arts from UWA and has been working as a Project and Community Development Officer at Ravensthorpe Community Resource Centre for over 2 years and was promoted to manager in Jan 2023. As a volunteer and committee member for multiple community groups, she is passionate about all things community, which has extended to the business community through her recent involvement with FBN.
Katharine Murphy
– Hopetoun Community Resource Centre (CRC)
Katharine is originally from England, but she has lived in Australia for nearly three years. In England she gained her Bachelor of Arts in History at The University of Liverpool and her Qualified Teacher Status at The University of Bradford. For the past two years she has worked at the Hopetoun Community Resource Centre where she thoroughly enjoyed immersing herself within the local community. More recently she has begun studying her Certificate VI in Business through the CRC and has become a part of the Hopetoun FBN team.
