RCCIWA Members Partnering with Business Station to Deliver ASBAS Program

Last year our friends at Business Station were the successful tenderer for WA, QLD and the NT to provide the Digital Solutions Program for the Australian Small Business Advisory Services, a Federally funded program. ASBAS Digital Solutions provides small business with low cost, high quality advice on a range of digital solutions to help them meet their business needs and grow their digital capabilities.

They use service providers across regional and metropolitan Australia to give small business operators and intenders professional low-cost advice. Services are being delivered through a mix of one-to-one and group formats, including face-to-face and online. Assistance is available until June 2021.

RCCIWA supported Business Station in their tender, with the understanding that RCCIWA members would be able to partner with Business Station in the delivery of the service. I am pleased to inform you that Business Station have been busily reaching out to our members in regards to working together to deliver this service in Regional WA, and to date several of our members have entered into a formal agreement and will deliver the service locally.

Business Station will be approaching all of our members over the coming months. If you would like to find out more go to https://www.businessstation.com.au/whats-on/

 

RCCIWA Members  Supporting Local Businesses – Chamber Dollars/Vouchers

Quite a few of our members offer local vouchers or local “Dollars” that are redeemable at participating local businesses. This is a fantastic way to encourage local spending and to highlight and profile local businesses. It is also another terrific example of the different ways our members support their local businesses. They are used widely both within and beyond their communities and we have seen them purchased as employee rewards, councils offering them as incentives for early rate payments and for sports club’s awards. They are also really useful for people from outside of that area wanting to buy a gift for their friends or family members.

The Moora Chamber of Commerce recently switched from Chamber cheques to having plastic cards that can be loaded with whatever amount the purchaser choses.  Their brilliant local CRC sells the cards (cost is only to load the cards; Chamber pays for the physical card) and purchasers can load $10-1000 on  each card. The CRC also went to every business to engage their eftpos machines to allow the gift cards. If you want to find out more about where you get the cards from visit here. I have also included links to some of our members Voucher programs:

• Kalgoorlie - Kal Dollar$
• Karratha - Try Local
• Toodyay - #ToodyayFirst
• Denmark - Denmark Dollars

 

Streamline WA – Have your input about ways to improve regulatory impact

Streamline WA is a whole-of-government initiative to make it easier to do business in Western Australia via better regulation and regulatory practices. Launched in December 2018, the initiative aims to encourage more investment and create more jobs in WA by developing better ways of creating and applying regulation, and improving how government interacts with business, industry and the community. It also seeks to reduce the barriers, costs and complexities of actually doing business.

Streamline WA is led by a steering committee, supported by regulatory and economic development government agencies, and in collaboration with industry and community group leaders. The initiative is being implemented by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation with support from the Department of Treasury.

RCCIWA will be contributing a submission, however we encourage you to do the same as well. For more info please go to their wesbite here. If you have ideas on how to improve regulation, now is the time to let government know.

 

Regional Economic Development (RED) Grants – Can RCCIWA Assist?

You will have noticed that we have highlighted the fact that the RED Grants are now open. We think that this grant program represents an excellent opportunity for many of our members – particularly with a focus on developing skills and capabilities. We are currently working with a few of our members in regard to what types of programs they could deliver and how they would go about making a submission. Please get in touch with me at ceo@regionalchamberswa.com.au if we can help your Chamber with this. The RED Grants program is a State Government initiative that invests in community driven projects to create jobs and boost economic growth across regional Western Australia. The State Government's Royalties for Regions program will invest $28.8 million towards the RED Grants program over five years for projects that will directly benefit regional communities. 

Each of the Regional Development Commissions (RDC) manage the grant round process for their region, and will provide advice to applicants during the application process. Eligible applicants can apply for RED Grant funding of up to $250,000 for individual projects that promote sustainable jobs, partnerships, productivity, skills and capability, as well as stimulate new investment in industry diversification.

Round one investment totalled $6.38 million in 70 projects for initiatives across the nine regions.

The objectives of the RED Grants Program include:

• Sustainable jobs growth;
• Increasing productivity;
• Expanding or diversifying industry;
• Developing skills or capabilities; and
• Attracting new investment in the region;

To find out more about the Grants read here.

 

WA AusIndustry Networking Event

The WA AusIndustry Office is sponsoring CORE Innovation Hub’s upcoming Industry Networking Event which will highlight Government grants and assistance for business. The networking event is a great way to meet members of the innovation, resources, and start up communities to come together and discuss the latest happening in Industry. I realise this is being held in Perth – however I am aware of a few of our members who would be keen to attend. Please share as appropriate.

Event Details:

Friday 30 August 2019, 4.30pm - 6.30pm

CORE Innovation Hub

191 St Georges Terrace, Perth

If you would like to attend please register directly.

 

RCCIWA Members Forum – October 31^st and November 1^st 2019

Planning is underway for the second RCCIWA Members Forum for 2019 – which will be held on October 31^st and November 1^st in Perth. We encourage you to get in touch and let us know the speakers and topics you would like to see included, to ensure we continue to provide a relevant and valuable experience. Please email me at ceo@regionalchamberswa.com.au with any suggestions you may have.

 

National Scam Awareness Week - NBN Co’s top tips for protecting against scammers:

• Visit NBN Co’s website for information on how to identify and avoid potential scammers or for advice if you suspect you have been scammed.  
• Remember NBN Co is a wholesaler, which means it does not sell phone or internet services directly to the public. People need to contact their preferred phone and internet provider in order to make the switch.
• Do not share your financial information ((i.e. bank, credit card or gift card details) or personal details with an unsolicited caller or door knockers trying to seek payment for an nbn™ service. 
• Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer or devices via the installation of programs, such as Team Viewer.
• NBN Co does not make automated calls, such as robocalls, to advise of disconnections to nbn or existing copper phone line services. Do not engage with these calls.  

If in doubt, hang up and call your retail service provider on their official customer service centre number to check if the call is legitimate. Do not use contact details supplied by the caller.