With a new CEO at the helm in Elizabeth Egan, Mr Piper said it was timely for the awards night to also explore a fresh direction.

Instead of a sit-down affair as in years past, the 2009 event at the Racecourse was held on the lawns, and featured local produce prepared by Armidale’s ‘foodie’ industry and live jazz.

The formula appeared to be a winner with the guests - and with speeches kept to a minimum, the curtain was called at 9 o’clock.

A standout of the affair was the performance of ABC TV and radio personality James O’Loghlin - showing the value of investing in a nationally acclaimed guest speaker.

Mr Piper said the chamber was heavily indebted to the University of New England, Peter Sniekers from the Department of Industry and Investment and The Armidale Express for their unflagging support.

“Chambers have been around for 60 to 70 to 80 years and in their heyday in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s they were very significant organisations. Now they have to change, they have to become relevant, they have to become fleet of foot and they have to live well on a miserly budget,” Mr Piper said.

“But you can do that now if you’re clever and we feel we’re very lucky to have a clever CEO and a clever board and you’ve seen tonight we have some very clever people in town who’ve had some astonishing success locally, nationally and internationally.”

Mr Piper also implored - somewhat tongue-in-cheek - those gathered to get onboard with the chamber.

“We had a terrific AGM in September when we had four people attend. The reason it was terrific is because we all like each other and the AGM lasted for about five minutes so we had plenty of drinking time before the AGM and plenty of drinking time after.

“With your support we’ll have many more functions like this (the awards night),” he said.

Full business awards coverage is in today's Express.