View this email online

Wednesday May 27, 5.30 pm : The Growth Vision
Join small business marketing guru, Linda Hailey, from Ch7 Kochie's Business Builders Program to show you how, even in tough times, small businesses can continue to grow and prosper.

Tuesday June 23, 5.30 pm : Innovation - How it helps your business today!
Learn how doing things differently in your business can help you become more efficient, productive and profitable today!

Both workshops are $15.00 pp each (incl GST) at Noosa Blue Resort, 18 Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads.

For more information and to register visit our website or call 5449 5118.

In this month's edition:

• New levy to help secure Central region's economic future
• Workshop: Go Figure! For Women in Business
• The Results Are In - Business Confidence Survey
• Re-tooling For Climate Change
• Grant assistance for food and seafood industries
• Tourism Grant Applications Now Open

New levy to help secure Central region's economic future

Council has moved to safeguard the central region’s financial future through the introduction of a tourism and economic development levy from July 1.

The unanimous decision will bring the central region into line with the northern and southern regions, where the levy already exists.

Councillors agreed it was an essential element of its broader tourism reform process and would assist the Coast’s key economic driver position itself in a very competitive and challenging market.

The levy is expected to raise $2.7 million in the next financial year – all of which would be spent to promote and support the central region.

The money raised will be invested in tourism and destination marketing, on major events of economic significance, sponsorship, research and other key projects for the central region. Council will also allocate a portion of the funds in response to requests from external groups or boards.

Tourism leaders in Noosa and Caloundra have strongly backed the introduction of a levy in the former Maroochy Shire, saying the move would support the industry and business in the central region and provide consistency across the Coast.

A number of tourism operators and business groups in the area have also voiced their support.

The equivalent of a bed tax already exists in the central area, forcing residential property investors to foot the entire bill for tourism marketing, events and promotion.

The tourism and economic development levy will apply to short-term accommodation, and commercial and industrial property, ensuring greater fairness and equity throughout the central area and across the region. The levy system would also allow those contributing to see clearly how their money was being spent.

The owners of around 11,000 accommodation, commercial and industrial properties in the central region will pay a minimum of $50 per annum under the new levy system.

The amount each will pay will be calculated according to the property’s use, its location and unimproved capital value.

Workshop: Go Figure! For Women in Business

The Go Figure! for Women in Business Program is about you using your information to build knowledge and gain confidence in:

• Reading financial statements
• Using financial ratios to check the fitness of your business
• Developing a cash flow statement for the business and yourself
• Practical options for making/saving $’s

The program runs over May 15, 22 and 29. For more information download the information and registration form [221KB].

The Results Are In - Business Confidence Survey

Businesses on the Sunshine Coast remain “incredibly upbeat” compared to the rest of the State, according to AEC Group Economic Analyst Michael Campbell after reviewing the Sunshine Coast’s first regional Business Confidence Survey, undertaken by the Noosa Boardroom.

Mr Campbell said despite some signs of weakening performance, the mood on the Sunshine Coast remained overwhelmingly positive.

He said the clear majority of respondents (73 percent) expected business to stay the same or improve over the next three months – in stark contrast to the findings of a recent statewide survey where only 53 percent of businesses indicated the same level of confidence.

The survey was conducted online over three weeks and consisted of five questions targeting business owners across the entire Sunshine Coast region, to gain a representative view of business confidence across all sectors. It is expected the surveys will be conducted on a quarterly basis.

The survey results also indicated 40 percent of the Sunshine Coast businesses expected an increase in revenue and profit in the future, 15 percent expected to hire more staff and 20 percent were planning to invest additional capital.

Download the report [PDF 745KB] and view the full results.

Re-tooling For Climate Change

The $75 million Re-tooling for Climate Change program helps small and medium enterprises reduce their environmental footprint by improving the energy and/or water efficiency of their production processes.

The Government has recently made some changes to the program, namely: 

• manufacturers with an entity turnover of less than $100 million (changed from group turnover) will be eligible to apply for assistance under the program.
• the level of grant assistance has been amended from up to one-third of eligible project costs to up to half of eligible project costs.

Round three of the program closes on 1 June. The closing dates for rounds four, five and six will be 24 August 2009, 30 November 2009 and 22 March 2010 respectively.

For more information on the Re-tooling for Climate Change program visit AusIndustry's website or call 13 28 46.

Grant assistance for food and seafood industries

Expressions of interest are invited for Round 2 of the Regional Food Producers Innovation and Productivity Program (RFPIPP).

Under the program, competitive, matched-funding grants are available to food and seafood businesses to undertake projects that will help boost the productivity, profitability and competitiveness of Australia’s regional food producing industry. Registrations for Round 2 close Monday 22 June 2009.

Program guidelines, registration forms and frequently asked questions (FAQs) can be viewed on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry's website.

Tourism Grant Applications Now Open

Applications are being called for TQUAL Grants, the Australian Government's tourism program.

Grants ranging from $5,000 to $500,000 are available in three categories to tourism businesses, tourism organisations, non-profit organisations and local government agencies. Applications close 11 June 2009.

TQUAL Grants is a competitive merit-based funding program aimed at stimulating sustainable growth in the Australian tourism industry. It will do this by supporting innovative, high-quality tourism products that contribute to the long-term economic development of Australia.

For more information please visit the AusIndustry website or phone 13 28 46.

This message was sent to [subscriber-email]. Click here to unsubscribe.