Welcome to Business News, where we share information and activities relevant to Bega Valley Shire businesses, including marketing updates, training opportunities, and activities to grow and support your business.
We’re always keen to hear about what’s happening in our region, so please share your news with us so we can expand the reach. Send information and ideas to economicdevelopment@begavalley.nsw.gov.au.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues around us, be sure to keep up-to-date via our COVID-19 webpage and social media alerts.
And don't forget our Bushfire Recovery service is active. Follow our Facebook page to keep in the loop.
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COVID-19 UPDATE
Increased mobility on NSW/VIC border
Key changes will be made to ease restrictions on the NSW Victorian border to help residents and local businesses operate as Victoria continues to battle COVID-19.
A single border region will be reinstated that extends to about 50 kilometres on either side of the border. The new border region and ‘border region resident’ permit will come into effect at 12:01am on Friday, 4 September 2020.
SME and Regional Procurement Policy
The NSW government has a new Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and Regional Procurement Policy aimed at encouraging government agencies to ‘buy local’ in order to provide a boost to regional economies in the wake of droughts, bushfires and now COVID-19.
Under this new policy, government agencies need to first consider buying goods and services from a small, medium or regional business for all direct procurement up to $250,000. It also provides a ‘Small Business Exemption’ to give local businesses an opportunity to cut through red tape and government processes. It allows government departments to buy directly from small businesses for any purchases up to $50,000, even if there is a mandated whole-of-government contract in place.
ICT/Digital Sovereign Procurement Taskforce
The NSW government has recently established an ICT/Digital Sovereign Procurement Taskforce to make it easier for SMEs to provide information and communication technology to the government. The Taskforce’s main goals are to:
- establish greater diversity of ICT suppliers and service providers to the NSW government by ensuring SMEs can compete on an equal footing in procurement activities
- increase spending on SMEs, Aboriginal organisations, disability enterprises and startups to help stimulate the local digital economy and to extend it through regional NSW.
Changes to tax rules
There have been changes to tax rules and some of them provide assistance to small businesses to meet the challenges faced by COVID-19. It is important for small business to have the latest information.
JobKeeper Payment
Businesses will need to reassess their eligibility for JobKeeper Payment, which is extending to 28 March 2021. From 28 September 2020, the JobKeeper Payment will reduce from $1,500 to $1,200 per fortnight. This rate will reduce to $1,000 per fortnight from 4 January 2021. Reduced JobKeeper payments will also apply for employees who've worked less than 20 hours a week.
Council has a dedicated COVID-19 webpage with information applicable to Bega Valley businesses and residents, which is updated as relevant information comes to hand.
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Southern Border Small Business Grants open 8 September
Bega Valley Shire businesses can apply for $5,000 and $10,000 grants through Service NSW from Tuesday 8 September, for six weeks until Sunday 18 October 2020.
The Southern Border Small Business Support Grant is designed to support small businesses doing it tough through the current border restrictions.
The grants can be used to pay for unavoidable expenses such as utilities, as well as to develop marketing and communication materials or to diversify offerings to adapt to the new environment.
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Smart Farms Small Grants
Smart Farms Small Grants is an open, competitive, grant opportunity to support projects to increase farming, forestry and fishing communities’ awareness, knowledge, skills and capacity to adopt best practice sustainable agriculture.
The grants support land manager practice changes that will deliver more sustainable, productive and profitable food, fibre and forestry business while protecting Australia’s biodiversity, improving the condition of natural resources and helping Australia meet its international obligations.
Supported projects contribute to achieving one or both of:
- Outcome 1 – Increased adoption of best practice sustainable agriculture
- Outcome 2 – Increase the capacity of land managers to adopt best practice sustainable agriculture.
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Council renews arts and culture funding
Bega Valley's arts community has received a boost with Council agreeing to continue its joint funding of the region’s main arts and culture advocacy group. Councillors recently voted to renew its support of South East Arts, with a pledge to jointly fund the organisation until 2024.
South East Arts Executive Director, Andrew Gray said the Memorandum of Understanding is vital for the continuation of artist support and cultural development in the region.
“The next four years will be crucial for the creative industries in our region, as we emerge from the impacts of bushfires and COVID-19, and embark on cultural tourism development and the next phase of our strategic support of Aboriginal arts and culture,” he said.
Photo: Giiyong dancers at the 2018 Giiyong Festival, by David Rogers.
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Virtual Drop-In Centre for Bega Valley business owners
Paul Morris has recently taken over from Steve Millott as Community Lead for Bega Valley’s Virtual Business Drop-In Centre (BVDIC).
The BVDIC is a free service for bushfire and COVID-19 affected businesses. The service was established by Ernst and Young and is supported by Council in partnership with the NSW government.
Paul can create a 'roadmap' with small and medium business owners to access the support required to operate, grow and build sustainability around their business. The 'roadmap' will be informed by the immediate and medium-term needs identified by business owners, and services and support tailored to meet these needs.
The Virtual Business Drop-In Centre will be operating until 11 September 2020.
If you need business support, don’t self-assess - get in contact with Paul via begavdic@gmail.com or 0459 422 873.
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Guidance on Mandatory Dairy Code
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has produced extensive guidance on the mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct, including a fact sheet and webpages, and established the Dairy Consultative Committee.
The introduction of a mandatory code was a key recommendation of the ACCC’s 2018 dairy inquiry, which found significant imbalances in bargaining power between dairy processors and farmers.
The Dairy Consultative Committee is a forum for industry representatives to discuss code implementation issues and to increase industry education and awareness. The ACCC has been reviewing code compliance, including whether processors met their publishing obligations under the Code.
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Many Rivers can help turn your business idea
into a real business
Many Rivers is an organisation that helps people start and grow their own small business, and the Bega Valley's Development Manager, Matthew Beare can provide support and encouragement at no cost to you.
Many Rivers provides Microenterprise Development to support individuals to start, stay and thrive in business, with business coaching and financial support so people can open their own business.
Many Rivers will be with you over the long term, offering accessible business development support and products and services, including pro-bono legal advice and microfinance business loans.
With this support, individuals (sole traders or partnerships) can regain control of their financial future, reduce personal stress, move away from welfare dependency, provide for their families and contribute to society (producing goods and services, income, jobs and financial security).
Contact Matthew today to discuss your business idea at matthew.beare@manyrivers.org.au or call him on 0429 262 712.
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Arts and cultural funding
Create NSW’s Arts and Cultural Funding Program provides funding opportunities for arts and cultural organisations, professional artists and arts/cultural workers across a wide range of art forms and disciplines.
Create NSW is calling for applications from individual artists, arts and cultural workers, practitioners and organisations for Round 1 of its 2020/2021 Arts and Cultural Funding Program - now open for Annual Organisation, Project and Creative Koori Project categories.
Applications close Wednesday, 23 September 2020.
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Webinar – Creating value through research & innovation
AusIndustry invites business owners to a FREE Tuesday lunchtime webinar on how to develop your capability to attract future work.
In Creating Value Through Research and Innovation, the CSIRO’s James Robinson and Dr Megan Sebben talk about the value of business collaboration with the research sector and understanding the tangible benefits this can bring to your business.
Find out about programs you can access to strengthen your business, become more globally competitive and start developing your own intellectual property.
Tuesday 8 September from 12pm to 1pm. Register early.
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Digital hub to support small business mental health
The Ahead for Business digital hub has relaunched, with an expanded range of resources to support small business owners’ mental health and wellbeing. It offers:
- anonymous peer-to-peer forums
- an online wellbeing plan
- a support directory
- a personalised small business portal
- tailored resources including articles, podcasts, videos, case studies and toolkits.
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Sapphire Coast is featured in this month’s Australian Golf Digest magazine, on sale now, with a readership of around 123,000.
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Online toolkit for businesses
Business Connect has an online toolkit packed with more than 40 pre-recorded webinars, training videos and fact sheets.
Resources are free and accessible 24/7, offering practical advice and training on a range of topics.
Businesses can find a wealth of tips to help them cope and adapt, from building an online store and understanding Facebook marketing to redefining your product or service for recovery.
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Increased optimism for more business events in Australia
Business Events Australia has completed a first wave of research to understand attitudes to restarting events among Australian corporate decision-makers.
While there are several factors affecting confidence to host business events in the short term, results showed increasing optimism for events in the next six to 12 months, with 43% of respondents saying they are planning events within the next year.
In addition, 77% of respondents who usually hold at least one event overseas annually say they are likely to relocate one or more of these events to Australia, while two thirds of respondents believe they are likely to hold the same number of events or more in Australia after the pandemic compared to before it.
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Grow your small business with Google
Grow with Google OnAir has launched its second series of live webinars created specifically for small to medium businesses. The webinars have great tips to help small to medium businesses thrive online while providing recommendations on how to best apply learnings to your business. All sessions are now available to watch on demand.
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Most popular Facebook post for Sapphire Coast NSW in August was a whale and her calf in Dolphin Cove. We love our whales!
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Get the latest Bega Valley and Sapphire Coast business news and information direct to your inbox.
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Business News is a key channel that connects us to you and helps us support your business.
Let us know what you need from us. You can contact Alison and Tim in the Economic Development team on (02) 6499 2222 or EconomicDevelopment@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
As we navigate the pandemic, we thank you for continuing to care for yourself, your staff and your families. Please check Council's dedicated COVID-19 webpage for the very latest news and information on the pandemic, including business news.
Feedback and topic suggestions are welcome:
EconomicDevelopment@begavalley.nsw.gov.au
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