Last week a man who made a difference to Noweyung, Ernie Metcalf, celebrated his forthcoming retirement surrounded by Noweyung staff, supporters and clients.
Former chairs of Noweyung, Kaye Thurmond, Bruce Hammond and projects officer Sharron Collins spoke glowingly of Ernie’s leadership, loyalty, business acumen and his common touch.
Ernie was chief executive officer of Noweyung for 13 years and after retiring from that position went to head up Distinctive Options Sunbury, only to return to Noweyung to oversee the joining of Noweyung with Distinctive Options two years ago when Noweyung faced a bleak financial future and direction.
Today Noweyung, thanks to Ernie, is on stable ground.
Ernie, as a team player, surrounded himself with a good team to ensure the success of Noweyung.
Kaye Thurmond listed key memorable milestones under Ernie’s leadership including the purchase of the Noweyung site for $130,000 from the East Gippsland Shire, developing the Colour Gang, the LeAP program, Yackity Yak radio, partnering with Monash University, and encouraging staff to develop with new qualifications.
Bruce Hammond also paid tribute to Ernie on his most successful career in the health sector and wished Ernie and his wife Jackie both a long and rewarding next chapter of their lives. “Ernie has and does live up to strong management principles and has done so for the 13 years he was Noweyung’s CEO. Perhaps nothing epitomises Ernie’s commitment to and loyalty to our enterprise more than his return as CEO of the merged Distinctive Options Noweyung,” Bruce said.
