Chamber Committee

Director of The Loch, Simmer on the Bay and Simmer Catering, Brigid Kennedy is an expert chef, established catering and events director and successful author. Brigid trained at the well-known Cordon Bleu Institute in London, and La Varenne, Paris. She owned and ran a catering business in London, then became a personal chef to the rich and famous as they cruised the Caribbean and Mediterranean. In Sydney, Brigid owned and operated the successful Simmer Café in Potts Point for three years before setting up Simmer Catering and Events in 1996. In 2001 Brigid bought a farm in the Southern Highlands and began practicing the paddock to plate philosophy – long before it became fashionable. In addition, to this in 2011, Brigid purchased a further 100 acres close to Berrima and converted a barn into luxury accommodation, created farm gate and open gardens, all open to the general public, for the full paddock to plate experience. SMH Travel Editor, Anthony Dennis, named the Loch Bed and Breakfast of the year for 2014. Brigid is also the creator of the seasonal ‘Foodie Field Days’ a seven-course degustation that showcases regional produce and from her farm, including Festival of the Roast, Fungi Field […]

Stephen Lowe is the Campus Manager of the University of Wollongong Southern Highlands campus in Moss Vale. Since taking on the role in 2015, he has worked collaboratively with the co-located Moss Vale TAFE, Council and the community broadly on strengthening links between higher education and local business needs. Some recent achievements have been the introduction of a new partnership between TAFE and UOW to offer a Cert IV in New Small Business providing guaranteed entry a Bachelor of Business, and on connecting iAccelerate (UOW’s business incubation unit) with local new business networks. Previously Stephen has worked in a range of roles in the tertiary sector, including at the UOW Wollongong campus, and has lived in Moss Vale for 8 years.