Kurri Kurri District Business Chamber
The Kurri Kurri business people set up their Business Chamber in 1913, less than ten years after the establishment of the town out of a need to establish such basic needs as banking and phone services for the growing business district.
The first Chamber President was a gentleman by the name of Jim Dill with such renowned local names in business as Roderick, Hector and Bickmore being part of the early development of the town.
Coal was the economic driver until the late 1960’s, when the ALCAN smelter (now Hydro Aluminium) arrived to provide the future economic wealth for the community. During this period the textile industry also provided significant income for the women of the district, but this was short lived as the textile industry quickly moved offshore chasing cheaper labour.
With the opening of the steel strapping plant there has been a moderate change in employment outcomes. Between Weston Aluminium and the Strapping plant they employ more than 100 people with a multiplier effect of two additional jobs for every new job at these factories.
The Business Chamber is working closely with a number of agencies in the Hunter Region to expedite the construction of the F3 Link Road between Seahampton and Branxton opening up the Upper Hunter and New England to the Sydney market.
The development of the Hunter Economic Zone (HEZ) is the first step being taken to see unemployment significantly reduced in the Kurri Kurri district. With the establishment of this state of the art industrial park and the F3 Link Road we will see serious economic development for the Kurri Kurri district for the next 100 years.
The Kurri Kurri District Business Chamber was instrumental in the establishment of the Small Towns program now known as “Towns with Heart” in early 2000 and the establishment of the website www.kurrikurri.com. The Towns with Heart committee has become a real success story for the town having developed the annual “Nostalgia Festival” in conjunction with the Californian Crusin Car Club and the remarkably successful Mural project. The Mural project started out as a small project and has grown into one of the largest mural town’s world wide.
The Business Chamber represents in excess of 600 businesses within the communities of Kurri Kurri, Weston, Abermain, Heddon Greta and other smaller communities within a 10 kilometre radius of the town.
