“SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN 2010” IS STILL THE CHAMBER’S CALL
There is still an urgent need to help the many small businesses in the Geelong region recover from the effects of the severe economic downturn last year especially with the greater majority of them having operated in a positive economic environment for the previous sixteen years.
Further, with the additional costs for businesses and residents from the introduction of an emissions trading scheme or a carbon tax in 2011, businesses need to become more acquainted with carrying out their operations in a more sustainable way and the savings that will accrue to them if they embrace sustainable practices in the process.
This is still the firm opinion of the Geelong Chamber after assessing the success of its very popular Survive & Thrive in ’09 business sessions held in the first half of last year and a recent examination of the current economic climate where many small businesses are still struggling to maintain adequate cash flow.
The 19,000 small businesses in the Geelong region employ over half of the region’s workforce and are the ones that have made the region grow in recent years which is why the City of Greater Geelong, Gordon Institute of TAFE, Barwon Region Water Corporation, Geelong Advertiser and Small Business Victoria, through Regional Development Victoria, have joined forces again with the Chamber to continue with its Survive & Thrive theme in 2010 with a new series of business advisory sessions.
This help to local businesses will be available through a series of eight sessions on financial and sustainability topics which will commence on 20 May and continue over June and July.
The sessions will give strong financial, marketing and sustainability advice to assist and guide them through the years ahead while the Geelong Advertiser will assist with promotion and editorials to increase the project’s overall value and reach.
The Survive & Thrive in ’10 launch session on 20 May is a Keynote breakfast on the topic Insight into Marketing and will be delivered by John Thompson, Director of Marketing, Transport Accident Commission. The venue is the Captain’s Room in the new Geelong Cats Stand at Skilled Stadium.
The other Keynote breakfast on 6 July will be an Economic Snapshot delivered by Robert Gottliebsen at the same venue.
The other six sessions will be a mixture of Q&A Panels and Mentoring Sessions and will be delivered by professional advisers and commentators in the financial and sustainability fields.
VECCI is assisting the Chamber with its Survive & Thrive in ’10 program and will deliver sessions on Carbon 101 and Grow Me the Money – both of which are very popular and focus on sustainability issues and how businesses can profit from introducing the many sustainable practices that VECCI will confidently suggest.
If the success and acceptance of the Survive & Thrive in ’09 program can be taken as a guide, the new 2010 program should deliver more positive advice that will help businesses in the financial and sustainable areas.
Full details of the program and the individual sessions are available on the Chamber’s website at www.geelongchamber.com.au and will be featured in the Geelong Advertiser.
The project partners are sincere in the hope that the many small businesses in the Geelong region avail themselves of the opportunities provided by these business sessions and that their businesses will continue to “Survive and Thrive in ‘10”.