April Cavanagh: Director and CEO
April is a dynamic Senior Executive with a proven record in business, leadership, governance, project management, and consistently delivering exceptional results. Over the course of her accomplished 25-year career, April has amassed diverse experience across various industries, including Financial Services, Agriculture, and Manufacturing. Her professional journey has taken her to London, Sydney, Brisbane, as well as India and more recently the US, providing her with a global perspective.
Bev Stroud: Finance Officer
Bev Stroud is our Finance Officer and comes with a wealth of accounting and administration experience. Bev has spent the last 14 years in Dalby and recently moved to Toowoomba. She brings experience from national and international locations.
Bev has a Cert IV in Business Administration and a Cert IV in Human Resources.
Meg Spry: Personal Assistant to the CEO
Meg grew up in Mackay and has extensive experience working in administration and accounts roles in Sydney and Brisbane, before settling in Toowoomba a decade ago. Coming from farm management and agriculture industry, she provides valued knowledge and administrative support to TSBE’s Operation Administration, Health & Education and Food Leaders Australia (FLA) departments.
Katie Craymer: Brand Marketing, Communications and Events Manager
Katie is the Brand Marketing, Communications and Events Manager at TSBE. Born and raised on the Darling Downs, Katie is passionate about, and knowledgeable of our region. Across the last 15 years, Katie has held marketing, communications, operations and public relations roles across finance, real estate, private enterprise, politics, and education sectors. Holding a Bachelor of Business and Commerce with a Marketing Major, Katie brings skill and experience in marketing strategy, public relations, and stakeholder engagement; focused on enabling growth, improvement, and prosperity.
Codie Rowling: Marketing and Events Officer
Codie is a Toowoomba local who has an extensive knowledge of the local events scene having lived in Toowoomba and Roma. She holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) with Diploma's in Event Management, Tourism Management and Hospitality Management. Codie has over 12 years’ experience working across a variety of sectors including tertiary education, retail marketing and tourism, managing events ranging in size and varying in audience from international events, large scale community events to small scale exclusive functions.
Abbey Willmington: Marketing and Events Support Officer
Abbey is a passionate Toowoomba local, recently returning to her hometown after living and working overseas. She is looking forward to connecting with regional businesses and stakeholders and contributing to the growth and success of our community. Abbey holds a Bachelor of Design with an interst in creative persuits, particulary graphic and digital design.
Stephen Dummett: Innovation and Future Skills Manager
Stephen Dummett is the Agtech, Innovation & Future Skills Manager. He joined the TSBE team from AGDATA Australia, a national industry leader in the Agtech space, where he was charged with business development and marketing responsibilities for the company. Prior to that he was the Microsoft Alliance Manager at UNISYS, a global technology company.
Stephen has broad experience in the Education, Defence, Agriculture, Local Government and Technology sectors in sales, relationship management, project management, marketing, accounts, and ICT management. More recently, he has completed his Graduate Certificate in Business majoring in Strategic Marketing at the University of Southern Queensland.
Stephen is well equipped to facilitate collaborative partnerships across sectors, regions and supply chains, and contribute to economic growth and the creation of jobs through innovation and technology adoption. Stephen welcomes your contact and looks forward to building an engaged regional innovation ecosystem.
Rowie Beveridge: General Manager of Food Leaders Australia
Rowie Beveridge is General Manager - Food Leaders Australia, a role that assists agri-business in progressing value add products, helping establish go-to-market strategies and developing supply chains through to market. With more than 25 years of agribusiness experience in cotton, grain, livestock and horticulture, Rowie has a well-rounded and practical understanding of identifying genuine opportunities and benefits for producers in the food and fibre industries. She is passionate about challenging the status quo and keen to help agribusiness excel at ethical and sustainable growth. Driven by her appetite to change the perception of rural/regional Australia she loves to advocate the innovation, smarts and quality of life that continue to grow and thrive inland.
Lance MacManus: General Manager – Energy and Infrastructure
TSBE stretches from Toowoomba to Roma, and in order to service the region, Lance can be found across the Maranoa and Western Downs meeting with members and businesses as part of his role as General Manager of Energy and Infrastructure.
Supply chain engagement, tendering and investments opportunities are Lance’s specialties, a result of vast consultancy and management experience. While TSBE works with a wide range of industries across the region, Lance works to link regional business opportunities and tendering success in the resources, renewables, coal seam gas, mining, infrastructure and development sectors.
Elena Alcorta: Project Support Officer
Elena Alcorta brings her wealth of administrative experience across a diverse range of industries including resources, construction, corporate and government to TSBE. Raised in the Northern Territory, and having resided in many other regional areas across the country (including Norfolk Island), Elena is knowledgable of and passionalte about opportunity and growth for regional communities. Having now established her permanent residence in Toowoomba, Elena brings a combination of profound expertise and unwavering enthusiasm and embodies TSBE's commitment to the development of our region.
Reagan Parle: Senior Project Manager – Energy and New Industries
Reagan is a skilled business development manager with a project management background. He offers a unique mix of experience and knowledge, having worked in major projects for the owner, contractor, supplier, government and community side in supply chain coordination, sales or lead stakeholder management duties.
He has a demonstrated history of delivery, working for civil, mechanical engineering and rail sector contractors.
Reagan returned to TSBE in 2021 to the Energy & Infrastructure portfolio with a speciality in emerging energy industries, such as hydrogen.
Reagan previously held a senior management position with TSBE and was fundamental in establishing the member offer across supply chain engagement of CSG, coal, road, solar and wind sectors.
Reagan holds a Graduate Certificate of Business with a Masters of Project Management.
Hayley Warren: Project Manager - Hydrogen
Hayley was born and bred in the Western Downs and is passionate about economic change to grow the prosperity in the Toowoomba and Surat Basin region. She has a keen interest in social development and appreciates the role social enterprises play in improving the wellbeing of our community.
Hayley has been a part of the TSBE team for over five years where she gained an in-depth knowledge of TSBE’s operations and our members which enables her to make meaningful connections amongst our membership database and to business opportunities.
As an experienced project officer, Hayley has played a key role in delivering an array of TSBE projects ensuring businesses have visibility into upcoming opportunities in our region.
Hayley holds a Certificate IV in Leadership and Management.
Daniel McNamara: Business Development Manager - Energy and Infrastructure
Daniel McNamara is passionate about the Toowoomba region which he has called home for over 40 years. A qualified carpenter and builder, he has a real interest in property and real estate having built and invested in commercial and residential property and worked as a commercial Real Estate Agent.
Daniel's experience with various industry sectors is an asset to TSBE and our members. He is more than happy to assist members with market intel, business leads, business to business introductions, strategic planning and helping to identify niche markets. The Business Development Manager as part of the Energy and Infrastructure team, he works hard to create opportunities for TSBE members and help identify major projects to bring to the region and ensures these opportunities cascade to our members. Dan travels throughout the region and loves nothing more than to get on site to understand the businesses that help make our region so prosperous.
Ashley Williams: Indigenous Business Connector
Ashley is the Indigenous Business Connector working out of both Toowoomba and Chinchilla. Ashley is a proud Koa People and Wakka Wakka People man who has extensive experience making and managing connections within the resource, infrastructure, and government sectors. With experience spanning Arrow Energy, ARTC and the National Native Title Tribunal, Ashley is passionate and knowledgeable about connecting and assisting Indigenous businesses grow in our region.
Mark Middlemiss: Membership Engagement Officer
Mark Middlemiss has a strong track record of successful project delivery in the recruitment, facilities management, and property sectors, with expertise in these areas backed by experience in business development, client management, and engagement.
As a Toowoomba local, Mark has come full circle via Sydney and Brisbane, in various corporate and professional service roles working across a diverse range of industries, including financial services, oil and gas, manufacturing, and heavy industries. This experience has equipped Mark with a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that businesses face in these sectors.
A proud advocate for local growth and development, in supporting local businesses which is not only good for the economy but also good for building strong communities. This philosophy has guided Marks work in business development, where he has always sought to develop strong relationships with clients and stakeholders, and create mutually beneficial partnerships.
Katie Williams: Health and Education Manager
Katie Williams is an engagement, communications, and policy specialist with over 20 years of experience working within the government, not-for-profit and private sectors in Australia and internationally. Katie is passionate about wellbeing and regional health development and believes healthy and thriving regions underpin successful economic growth. In her previous roles within Queensland government Katie worked for the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Darling Downs Health. These roles helped her to develop extensive networks across all levels of government, business and industry and a proven ability to navigate bureaucracy for timely and effective advocacy. Katie has lived and worked across Asia and the United Kingdom and holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in International Relations, Communications, Political Science and Applied Linguistics.
Jaden Frame: Project Manager - Health
The health sector is the largest employer in Toowoomba. Growing this sector is vital to the growth of our regional economies. Driving collaboration across industry sectors across various levels of government to attract investment, grow workforce and drive innovation will see success outcomes for our region.
Jaden is the Project Manager - Health, and brings a unique mix of health, finance and business skills to the role. Prior to establishing TSBE Health Jaden spent eight years the General Manager for Wise Therapy and the Managing Director of Livewell Australia. Jaden grew these businesses considerably, attracted interest from an equity group and subsequently sold the business in 2017. His time at Wise Therapy and Livewell Australia allowed him to develop a strong network within the Toowoomba health community and gave him a unique insight to the opportunities and challenges within the industry.
Jaden also spent more than a decade in the commercial banking sector. Jaden holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics, a Masters of Business Administration, is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mark Mason: Project Manager – Olympic Strategy and Legacy
With the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the horizon TSBE, in partnership with Toowoomba Regional Council, is delivering a project targeted at identifying and capturing opportunities across the region that will stem from the delivery of The Games. Mark has been appointed to capture and develop these opportunities and to provide advocacy for the region in the lead up to The Games.
With experience gleaned from the Sydney 2000 Olympics and the London 2012 Olympics Mark has a well-developed understanding of the development and delivery of an Olympic Games and a deep appreciation of the benefits Olympic Legacy can bring to the region. Mark also has a broad understanding of the mechanics of community development and the importance of balancing commercial activity and social cohesion to improve the liveability of the region.
Mark is actively pursuing opportunities for the region in agriculture, sports infrastructure, tourism, energy and community development that are linked to Brisbane 2032.
Paulene Rorich: Lead Business Coach, Business Navigator Western Downs
Paulene is a people-focused business management professional with extensive experience building organisational capability, leading change and optimising customer-centred service. Paulene is interested in assisting business owners in identifying and removing barriers in their business processes and developing systems and structures to support sustainable growth.
Paulene has a strong track record of leading organisational transformation and change initiatives, including critical junctions such as company restructures and expansions. Passionate about delivering and high-quality services, Paulene uses a human-centred service design process to assist business owners in creating seamless, easy and memorable customer experiences.
Paulene has a Masters in Strategic Organisational Development & Human Resource Management, is an APMG accredited Change Manager, and is currently completing an MBA. She also has qualifications in management, leadership, project management, educational studies, and training & assessment.
Born and raised in North Queensland, Paulene has spent equal time living and working in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and is now calling the Darling Downs region home.
Suzie Wood: Business Coach, Business Navigator Western Downs
Business Coach Suzanne Wood is a senior finance professional with a unique blend of Australian and International business experience in a wide range of industries, across both large and small businesses. Suzanne is a Big 4 trained Chartered Accountant with over 20 years experience and has a sound ability to understand holistic business financial requirements, helping drive efficiencies and innovation across various business functions.
Successfully delivering a diverse array of financial reporting, forecasting, budgeting and business case proposals, Suzanne is passionate about increasing business owners’ capacity to understand and analyse their finances to drive business improvement. Suzanne is adept at rapidly establishing working relationships with local networks and key stakeholder groups and businesses.
Ailsa Cass: Digital Marketing Advisor, Business Navigator Western Downs
Ailsa is a qualified and passionate marketing professional with experience working with a diverse range of organisations. Ailsa assists clients with preparing marketing strategies and plans, advises on digital media tools and ensures the service is well promoted. Ailsa particularly loves helping businesses define and own their brand position and then tell their story consistently across all marketing communications/platforms.
Fastidious with details, Ailsa is also a strong project manager ensuring clients are well looked after and projects are delivered to the highest standard. With a real passion for ecommerce Ailsa also runs the peer group for our Western Downs based ecommerce businesses assisting in both technical and website design using the Shopify platform and ensuring user experience is delivered.
Tim Entwistle: Digital Marketing Advisor, Business Navigator Western Downs
Tim Entwistle is a passionate Digital Marketing Advisor with a heart for small business. As a strong advocate for supporting local and finding new and innovative ways to generate business success, Tim works hard to deliver strong results for his clients.
Tim specialises in utilising visual mediums such as photography and videography to create compelling, story-driven campaigns that are informed by market data and research. Diving deep to discover the “Why” behind a business and complementing it with effective digital marketing strategies is at the core of Tim’s methodology.
Keeping up to date with the latest trends and advancements in digital marketing, Tim is always looking to offer the most up-to-date advice for small businesses in the Western Downs to give them a competitive edge in the marketplace.
