Interview with Central Coast Councillor John McNamara
Councillor John McNamara highlighted the Central Coast Council’s role as an enabler of business growth, pointing to key strategies that map out opportunities over the next few years.
He encouraged local businesses to take initiative, connect through events like the Suburban Business Summit, and actively pursue growth opportunities across the region.
Interview with Chef Daniel
Chef Daniel is the long‑time owner of Fork and Knife, a catering business he has grown over 19 years to serve the Central Coast and wider NSW across weddings, events, film productions, and music industry work.
From this, he developed the Chef Daniel brand and later opened Baker Street restaurant in Gosford, positioning food as both education and entertainment and actively contributing to Gosford’s growth.
He sees the Suburban Business Summit as a vital, privately led platform to shape Gosford’s future story, strongly advocates for collaboration over ego to make Gosford the next Australian hotspot, and plans to expand Chef Daniel as a community-facing ambassador for Central Coast food, youth, health, and local producers.
Interview with Sarah Cooke
Sarah is the vice president of SBNG, a long-standing small business networking group on the Central Coast that’s friendly, casual, affordable, and open to all types of businesses.
She sees the Suburban Business Summit as a perfect fit with SBNG’s mission because it helps local business owners “get out there,” deepen their networking, and connect with like‑minded people in the region.
At the event, she noticed strong interest from attendees wanting to strengthen their networking, and she spoke passionately about building a concrete local business community on the Coast so people don’t feel they have to go to Sydney or Newcastle to grow.
Interview with David Abrahams
At the Suburban Business Summit, the team interviewed David Abrahams from Combined Coast News about the power of suburban business communities and trusted local media.
“How could I not come along? It’s just a wonderful concept. Everything ticks the boxes for me. I love that it’s suburban, because this is where the energy of Australia actually is,” David said during the conversation.
The summit team shared their appreciation for leaders like David who champion independent, community-focused news on the Central Coast.
Thank You
Julian Leeser is the Liberal federal Member for Berowra and shares a community-focused, heartfelt message from a local MP sharing support for the Suburban Business Summit, thanking organiser Luke Griffin, and reinforcing a commitment to help small businesses in Hornsby cut red tape, access more local business spaces, and create a thriving live-and-work community.