Neil Schembri, the quiet achiever, business leader and entrepreneur

So, how do we sustain and grow our business base and support those looking to bring their ideas to fruition?

The Lithgow District Chamber of Commerce is about to create something unique and special.

On March 24, it will be hosting the inaugural Start Ups Information Session and Workshops, a program actively supporting and mentoring new business ideas and ventures.

Having received a Bushfire Local Economic Recovery funding grant, the Start Ups program is one of five exciting business events and programs the Chamber will be rolling out in 2022 and 2023.

What is appealing about the Start Ups program is the excellent group of entrepreneurs and experienced mentors and business advisers the Chamber has assembled.

One of those is Neil Schembri, a 'local', who turned opportunity into a major and highly successful business.

Neil is a quiet achiever, entrepreneur and business leader in the field of recycling and re-purposing old industrial sites.

Now a joint owner of Greenspot, Neil is turning its attention to building a significant employment hub featuring renewable energy production on the site of the old Wallerawang Power Station.

Neil had the vision to do something great with the site, even after EnergyAustralia had earmarked the site for complete demolition.

It wasn't easy.

It took five years and three expressions of interest for EnergyAustralia to respond.

Never one to give up easily, it took another 18 months of negotiations before he convinced them to sell the site to him.

"I could see the way through the problems and issues at hand. Sure, it was complicated, it was a big deal and it was a monster - but it was nothing that couldn't be worked through and achieved with the right type of thinking and team with me," he said.

"Having a vision or an idea for a new business is just the start of creating a business.

"To be successful requires firstly knowing the market you want to work in, knowing what kind of gaps there are in the market that your potential business can fill and then having the perseverance and determination to see the idea through."

From humble beginnings, Neil purchased a small chicken manure business from his parents after high school.

His work included shovelling chicken manure and then selling cow manure and mushroom compost. This eventually led to the creation of his very successful business Bettergrow, which recycles all sorts of organic materials.

When he started out in the late 1970s, no-one was recycling chicken manure en masse. No-one wanted to do the hard work of selling manure on a large scale, but he saw the opportunity and took it.

Neil worked 100 hours a week to pay off the $35,000 loan (it was huge in those days) but realised to make the small business grow he had to hire people to help him. Presto, the business grew three-fold.

Going from Bettergrow to Greenspot wasn't easy. It was a massive new undertaking. But the hard-earned lessons of Bettergrow taught him a thing or two. Knowing your limitations is one of those lessons. He solved this by bringing in partners.

"Towards the end of the closing stages of me purchasing the Power Station, I was fortunate enough to meet John and Michael Borg, owners of major timber operations in NSW, with Oberon being a major production facility," he said.

"Their ethics, integrity and determination meant we were like-minded and I could see they were the right people for me to go into partnership with. This led them to purchase Bettergrow and a 50 per cent share in the Power Station.

"We want the Lithgow community to be part of our journey. Everyone wins and eventually the old Power Station site will be a hub of activity, creating employment opportunities for everyone in the region and beyond.

"I have ideas for little start-ups that can also benefit the local community and contribute to the future growth of the entire region. There is so much that can be created and achieved on the old Power Station site."

People wanting a chance to speak to Neil about his business career, his challenges, his inspiration behind recycling and repurposing or to get some insights about his start up ideas can register for the Start Ups Information Session on March 24 between 9am-12pm.

For those wanting to be part of a business advice and mentoring program, they can stay after lunch to pitch their ideas to business experts and/or can sign up for monthly mentoring workshops at the Western Sydney University's Lithgow Transformation Hub. Registrations are essential by emailing Natasha@lithgow.org.au or calling on 0403 397 645 for more details.

The Start Ups Information Session will give you -

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