The CPE board met for the first time on Friday and Saturday, with the rocking Riverboats festival as a backdrop to its initial discussions.
It will continue to work with Campaspe Shire Council until the middle of the year, when council will step away from the management of the riverside drawcard.
Board chair Joanne Butterworth-Gray, said the board had started its discussions at 9am on Friday and was still going at 6.30pm.
“We had a welcome from the mayor and a bit of an introduction to the Port of Echuca facility by CEO (Declan Moore),” Mrs Butterworth-Gray said.
She said the board spent an hour and a half completing a site tour.
“It was important for us to have a look around and better understanding the facilities, along with the footprint of the port,” she said.
She explained the initial on-site meeting gave the CPE board a better idea of what it would have responsibility for once the organisation was in full swing.
The CPE is still one member shy of completion, with a short list of candidates for the general manager role still being sorted through by a selection committee which includes the CPE chair and council chief executive.
She said getting the six members together, four from outside the area and two from Echuca, was not a difficult task.
"We decided on this date some time ago,“ she said.
After lunch on Friday the board sat down for initial discussions with the council, Echuca-Moama based members Craig Opie and Jim Cosgriff key players in discussions.
"There is a really high calibre of person around our board table. We are committed to working together,“ Mrs Butterworth-Gray said.
"I think it is important to tap into the local intelligence and understand who are the stakeholders.
“One of the reasons this board has been put together is to bring together highly skilled people. This board will not be conflicted,” she said.
Mrs Butterworth-Gray said with four people from outside the region and two from within there was a strong balance to the board.
She said that choosing to stage the meeting while there was an event on in the area made it easier to understand the port’s potential.
“It is going off, I couldn’t believe the gridlock getting back to Moama to our accommodation,” she said.
Mrs Butterworth-Gray said it was “too early to have serious conversations”.
The board met with the Riverboats festival co-ordinator on Saturday, but was not planning to meet with any other groups.
Mrs Butterworth-Gray said the recruitment of a general manager for the CPE was a difficult in COVID-19 conditions.
“With the shire support until the middle of the year, we are not in a hurry. We will need all that time to get it right,” she said.
Mrs Butterworth-Gray said the board had been positioned in such a way to create opportunities for partnerships with business, tourism and community organisations.
“We can really start to activate the port precinct. We will be meeting with all those organisations down the track.
“We had a great discussion about the broader stakeholders.
“As chair I will be a guiding hand towards partnerships and collaboration,” she said.
