Following the recent devastating floods in Townsville and surrounding areas, small businesses will soon receive more assistance to get back on their feet thanks to the Queensland Government’s announcement of a Small Business Recovery Centre today.
Member for Mundingburra, Coralee O’Rourke, welcomed the opening of the new hub to assist local businesses in the area.
“The recent flooding has hit the local community hard and especially when residents are struggling to get their homes and businesses back up and running,” Ms O’Rourke said, “this new Small Business Recovery centre will provide our local business owners with the vital support and assistance they need to get back on their feet as soon as possible.”
Located at 143 Walker St, the new centre is expected to be a ‘one-stop-shop’ where local small business owners who need support can access advice and services from a range of organisations ready and willing to lend a hand.
The Townsville City Council has already provided a venue for the centre and partnered with the Townsville Chamber of Commerce, Townsville Enterprise Limited, Townsville Business Development Centre and several state and national industry bodies to provide advice on what services are needed and to contribute to the centre.
Among these are Australia’s leading building and construction organisations: the Property Council of Australia and the Master Builders Association.
Minister for Employment and Small Business Shannon Fentiman said when they put out the call to local, state and national organisations to come on board with the centre, they were overwhelmed by the response.
“Supporting small businesses to reopen as soon as possible will assist the entire community to get back on their feet and contribute to the long-term recovery of Townsville and the wider region,” Ms Fentiman said.
Already at this early stage, the centre will be able to provide advice on insurance, retail leases, workplace health and safety and human resource issues in addition to offering one-on-one Mentoring for Recovery sessions (either in person or online) and act as a workspace for those operators who are currently unable to access their normal place of work.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the Small Business Recovery Centre was a great example of the community and all agencies working together to help the city get back on its feet.
“The Centre will provide information and support to help local businesses get up and running as soon as possible,” Cr Hill said.
“It will be crucial to help local businesses re-open again to get residents back into work and allow the economy to recover.”
Organisations involved in establishing the centre to date include:
- Townsville City Council
- Townsville Business Development Centre
- Townsville Chamber of Commerce
- Townsville Enterprise Limited (TEL)
- Department of Employment, Small Business and Training
- Queensland Small Business Champion
- Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning
- Department of Innovation, Tourism Industry Development and the Commonwealth Games
- Queensland Reconstruction Authority and Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority
- Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland
- Property Council of Australia
- Master Builders Association
- Insurance Council of Australia
- Tourism Industry Council
- National Retailers Association
- AusIndustry
- Australian Taxation Office.
The Small Business Recovery Centre is located at 143 Walker St, Townsville and is open from 9am-5pm every day.
Appointments can be made by calling 0459 873 781 or by dropping into the centre.