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I’d like to give a big shout out to all the amazing people in our community who have taken up the challenge of running a business and providing jobs in our region.
It’s no easy feat operating and growing a business, particularly if you’re one of the 4,259 small businesses in Noosa who employ only themselves. It takes passion and drive, energy and commitment, skill and technical knowledge, support from family and friends and a circle of contacts who provide advice, services, wise words, introductions and referrals. These contacts can add real value in helping you to plan and solve problems, share knowledge and experiences, be visible and stay current in an ever-changing business world.
Henry Ford is credited in the most part for coining the phrase ‘surround yourself with people who know more than you do’. It’s a phrase adopted by a long list of very successful business people and built upon by others, so I’m thinking there is something to it. Richard Branson also suggests that succeeding in business is all about making connections. | | So, this month we’ve focused on just that - connections. We have a number of programs running and information available on our website to help you connect – be it one of the 5 digital meet up groups catching up at our Peregian Digital Hub, the education and training sector or your local business association – we’re looking to help you to connect with the people, organisations, agencies, programs and service providers who can help you on your business journey.
Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year!
Carolyn Bullen Senior Economic Development Advisor
| | | | | | | | Connecting your way to business growth...
We are a community that thrives on connection and collaboration. Connecting to our customers, staff and other business networks is critical to our business success. From the Peregian Digital Hub, co-working spaces or just hanging out a local coffee shop together – collaboration is everywhere here in Noosa, so here are three top tips to make sure you are maximizing your connections.
| | Connect with your local business association.
Noosa’s business associations provide information and networking opportunities. Click below for a list of your local business associations
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Connect with your industry influencers
Make sure you keep up to date with the latest information from your industry. Start by connecting with your industry association. For a list of industry information and associations, click below.
| | | | Connect with your staff
A strong work culture is one where there’s trust, connection and belonging. The cost of not connecting with those around us poses significant threats to personal health, organizational performance and particularly, your bottom line. | | | | | | | | Local business, Helitak, takes on the fire challenge... | | 1. Tell us about Helitak … what does the business do & how long has it been operating out of Noosaville? Helitak are specialist Designers and Manufacturers of Aerial Firefighting Tanks for Helicopters. Helitak started in the region in 2006 after CEO and Chief Engineer Jason Schellaars who is himself an experienced aerial firefighting pilot realised there had to be a better way of delivering more water more quickly to the fire source. Helitak moved to larger premises in the Noosaville industrial area in 2018.
2. What sort of clients do you service and where are they based? Whilst many of our customers are Australian based, our main market currently is export and we have customers based across the USA, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. Helitak's first tank orders were actually for USA based customers back in 2007 after the tanks were displayed at the International Heli-Expo that year.
3. Why is Noosa a good place to do business? Over the last few years Helitak has been offered rather large financial incentives to move our manufacturing plant both interstate and to western Queensland but it was agreed that no amount of money could replace the benefits of living and raising a family in Noosa. Whilst it’s a struggle at times to source the highly technically qualified staff we require, we have set about training up our employees to the qualification and experience levels required rather than searching beyond our region.
4. How have you found the level of support available to local businesses, especially new businesses like yours? Up until two or so years ago we did not think we required, and were possibly not ready to ask or bring in, outside support until we organised our internal systems to a level we were happy with. With the major expansion over the last two years we have been more confident in asking for support and have received some level off local, State and Federal support from various Government agencies since. From a supply basis we are lucky that we have sourced more than 85% of all manufacturing componentry from South East corner here in Queensland and we are very proud that our success is also flowing down financially to hundreds of families throughout our region.
5. What's your business looking forward to about 2020?? 2020 will be the largest year in Helitak's history with more orders to fill than ever before. The first half of the calendar year will see an increase in production to complete orders from the USA, NZ and Austria plus finishing off tanks for a few Australian customers. Helitak will also present and release two new tank models at the International Heli-Expo in Anaheim California in January and again in Sacramento in March and then later in the year throughout Europe.
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Further expansion will bring about more employment opportunities and we will start the search for larger premises to accommodate a purpose-built facility to help lower costs of production and decrease our energy consumption footprint. Helitak will continue discussions with State and Federal Government agencies from the aerial firefighting perspective about the ongoing protection of assets and lives in Queensland from our every increasing bushfire risk.
| | | | | | | | | | Awards Winners announced...
Congratulations to the six outstanding local businesses who won at this year's Sunshine Coast Business Awards, including the Business of the Year gong going to Peter Kuruvita's Noosa Beach House. Check out this showreel of interviews with our local winners. | | | | | | The list of 2019 winners are... | | | | Congratulations to all those who nominated, were finalists and eventual winners - great effort by all businesses. | | | | | | | |
The recent fire events in the area got Digital Hub Director, Chris Boden, thinking. As a result, the Peregian Digital Hub is launching a FireTech Business Accelerator program. FireTech will be connecting the best minds and businesses from the region and across the country to work on technologies to predict, prevent, fight or manage bushfire emergencies. This is a growth sector with a rapidly expanding global market and this program will be the first of its kind globally. More at peregianhub.com.au/firetech.
Congratulations to Team Wilky from Peregian Beach for their recent win at GovHack. The team of Max Diamond, Marco Grigull and Ben Duncan was represented at the awards by 15y/o Max, one of the Hub's Young Inventor mentees. "Wilky" - a novel edutainment solution developed at GovHack - uses hydrophones and Internet of Things technology to record and stream whalesong in realtime to public PA systems in coastal towns, like Peregian Beach. Wilky aims to enhance community engagement with whales and the ocean environment and also uses public API data from the QLD Government and the CSIRO to pull ocean temp, currents, salinity, weather and tidal information for display in public areas to see real time whale locations of the coast and hear their sounds.
The Hub continues with its busy range of programs for inventors, coders, and creatives with Meetups, Young Inventors Program and Inventor In Residence Program. These connections are proving vital for the continuing growth of the tech sector in Noosa.
Be sure to keep an eye out for future events, including an extensive Holiday program for youngsters in January, at the Peregian Digital Hub website.
| | | | | | Closing the gap between education and industry is the focus of a Noosa cluster group that’s connecting the two sectors to better support the development of Noosa’s future workforce. Noosa Education and Training Alliance – known as NETA – was formed 12 months ago, in response to Noosa's Local Economic Plan that identified the need to diversify the local economy. Made up of leadership representatives from local schools, tertiary institutions and training organisations, NETA is committed to strengthening and promoting the education and training sector within the region and delivering projects that benefit the sector and have positive outcomes for Noosa students. If you want to find out more or are interested in being involved, please email us.
| | | | | | Local business events are a great way to boost your connections. For more information, visit our Events page.
December 10
Noosa Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party
Cooroy Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party
December 12 Export Connections Series - Trade & Investment Queensland
Welcome to Noosa Group workshop - Tourism Noosa
December 19 Noosa Eco-Check - Tourism Noosa
January Holiday programs at the Peregian Digital Hub for Tech workshops for local young digital talent. Open for those in Years 4-12. | Business opportunity for Solar Retailers The Australian Energy Foundation is expanding their services into Queensland. Noosa Council will be partnering with the Australian Energy Foundation (AEF) to inform, encourage and enable more local people to install solar on their homes. AEF will also provide a residential quote service for energy products and services. AEF are currently running a tender process for solar retailers, and are calling for expressions of interest from businesses interested in working with them to provide these energy products and services to communities. The tender is now open and closes at the end of December.
Please note that this is not a Noosa Council tender and if you would like more information, please click on more info. To view the notice, click on “All current Tenders”, the Notice Reference Number is : AU-854751. | Subscription Competition ... | It was great to see so many businesses signing up for the ‘Noosa: Good for Business’ E-Newsletter in September and October. Congratulations to Brian Dunn from Noosaville-based business Gutter Wizards who won the $500 Officeworks Voucher in our subscription competition. If you have a friend or a colleague that might be interested, encourage them to subscribe by sharing the below link. | Generation Innovation Winners | | How well do you know your customers...?
Looking to connect with families, or the youth market? Or maybe you’d like some information on the ethnic diversity of our population? Using the economy id. data, you’re able to drill down into the demographics of Noosa. You can find out the latest available information about our population to connect with your customer base. For example, 23% of our population are families with children – how helpful would information about your customers be?
| Your update from Noosa's local Business Associations
Your local Business Association is a wealth of connections and information - make sure to join!
Noosa Junction Association Noosa Junction businesses are looking forward to a bumper holiday season. Giant Santa will be back in Arcadia St soon, more lights are being installed in Sunshine Beach Rd, Arcadia St & Lanyana Way and a summer shopping spree is up for grabs for the best selfie with Santa - details will be posted on the Junction's social media pages. Importantly, the Association has been a voice for businesses throughout the Council's consultation for the new Noosa Plan and Local Laws regarding signage. Noosa Junction businesses are encouraged to join the Association for input into activities promoting their precinct.
Tourism Noosa There's alot going on at Tourism Noosa.
Click here for more info on: - Refreshed Noosa Country Drive
- Indigenous Water Station in Hastings St - Welcome to Noosa & Eco Check training sessions in December
- Buy a burger and help Noosa's green projects
Noosa CCIQ Noosa CCIQ welcomed their new Committee at their AGM in November. Keep your eye out for the Chamber's new branding and website. The Christmas Party is being held on December 10. Buy your tickets here.
Peregian Beach Business Association The community spirit shown throughout the fires has buoyed the Peregian Village community ever since. The production of “Village Vibe’ the essential guide to Peregian Beach profiles the village and its businesses. Get your copy at all Peregian businesses.
Cooroy Chamber of Commerce Cooroy Chamber of Commerce is in the festive spirit having decorated the township thanks to dozens of wonderful volunteers and sponsors. The two major Cooroy Christmas events that the Chamber runs are the Official Lighting of the Studio Steel Christmas tree on Friday 6th December from 6.30pm and the annual Christmas in Cooroy festival from 4pm on Saturday 7th December – two fantastic free events run for the community with awesome support from local businesses. Country Noosa
Make sure to head over to Country Noosa’s Facebook page to view the activity happening in our hinterland. There’s New member businesses, events and workshops supporting our thriving hinterland economy. Join the AGM and Country Noosa’s Christmas Party on December 7. Book here.
Noosaville Business Association NBA have welcomed new members this year, and continue to host their monthly BA breakfasts and work on their strategic plan.
Sunshine Beach Association The newly formed Association is working on their new Business Plan, promoting and improving their Village precinct.
Click here for a full list of Business Associations in Noosa Shire. | | | | Congratulations to the winner of the generation Innovation Challenge for 2019 - Zariah Lamont of X&O Media who was the winner of the 2019 Peoples Choice Awards at the recent Sunshine Coast Business Awards. Zariah was amongst 5 finalists who put their heart and soul into their business idea. The GI Challenge is supported by a network of mentors, marketing gurus, volunteers, sponsors and business partners – a perfect example of collaboration to support budding entrepreneurs on the Coast. | Connect and collaborate through Grants...
Other open grants at the moment include:
Small Business Digital Grants are now open. These grants provide up to $10,000 in matched funding to eligible businesses to enhance digital capabilities such as implementing specialised software, receiving online payments or creating a digital marketing strategy.
Energy Efficient Communities Program – opening in early 2020 will deliver grants to assist businesses and community organisation to improve energy efficiency practices and technologies, and reduce power bills.
Noosa Funding Finder - don't forget you can discover more grants with Noosa Funding Finder. Register to be kept informed of all grant opportunities via noosa.grantguru.com.au. There's also a new button identifying grants specifically for those impacted by fires which identifies emergency support for bushfire impacted businesses. | Congratulations to team Slow Food Noosa who recently led a successful Partnership Grant application to grow the Snail of Approval Program. Slow Food Noosa connected with Tourism Noosa, the Food & Agribusiness Network Sunshine Coast and Country Noosa to share resources and expand the benefits of the Snail of Approval Program to industry and visitors. So keep your eye out for the Red Snail to see how you can support Snail of Approval outlets.
| | Consultation It’s been a busy year of consultation for Council's Local Laws and Noosa Plan teams. Consultation has now closed – thank you to the many businesses who made a submission. Your comments are now being reviewed.
| Bushfire Ready The bushfire season has certainly started early this year with significant fire events across Noosa Shire already, impacting residents and businesses. Remember in the event of a fire, keep up to date on our Facebook pages and Council disaster dashboard. As a business it’s always worth being ready for disaster. There are some handy hints here: |
'Go Noosa' this summer
The program aims to provide a relaxed and fun travelling experience for locals and visitors during the busy holiday season. Visit the Go Noosa page for more information about bus timetables and parking options. |
Council Holiday closure
Please take note of Council Holiday hours - Council’s Customer Service counters will close at 2.30pm on Christmas Eve and reopen January 2. The call centre will close at 3pm Christmas Eve, but continue to operate during the Christmas/New Year period from 8.30pm to 5pm, excluding weekends/public holidays. | Business Success event
Council recently celebrated some of the local business success stories of 2019 with a thank you morning tea hosted by the Mayor and the Economic Development team. This included our Business Award winners but also recognised pioneering programs and businesses such as the Athena Symposium, Young Inventors Club, GovHack win by Wilky, Create Noosa, Food and Agribusiness Network and EarthTech. |
Cities Power Partnership Summit
Noosa is proud to be hosting the next Cities Power Partnership Summit in 2020. From October 28-30, 2020, some of the world's most acclaimed speakers will descend on Noosa for the 'Transforming Australia 2020' Summit. | | | | | | EarthTech Challenge
Turn your ideas into real impact to solve humanity’s greatest challenges!
Registrations for the EarthTech Challenge are open to all 13-29 year olds now. Join the EarthTech Challenge at https://earthtech.io/challenge/
| | | | | | What business related topic would you like to read about in future editions? We'd love to hear your feedback! | | Connect to government services like those providing access to fully subsidized training for apprentices & trainees.
| | Have your say on the Queensland Small Business Strategy Discussion paper, open now for consultation. | | | | | | | | You are receiving this email because you are on the Economic Development database. You can unsubscribe from this email or change your email notifications. | | | | | | | |
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