Pick up any internal Government publication these days and you will find a lead story about Councils becoming more proactive in facilitating economic growth within their communities. It seems that every level of Government is telling us about what they intend to do ‘over the next decade’, how what they do will nab more diverse opportunities and better paid employment and ‘win top dollar for everyone’.
The truth is that any Council worth voting in, now gets out into the community and looks for opportunities to help businesses to develop, grow and prosper. But sometimes the rhetoric of Council can sound great and deliver very little, so here’s a story about how AlburyCity Council has committed itself to doing what it says it will do – supporting the establishment of businesses and increasing economic growth – and how that support has paid off for everyone.
AlburyCity has made an innovative decision to place its Economic Development function within its Planning and Approvals Department. What that means for the person who comes to AlburyCity with a business proposal or plan is this. They get to talk to an Economic Development Officer who works through every stage of their plan with them and determines what exactly they require to make their idea a reality.
Sounds simple doesn’t it? AlburyCity Economic Development Officer, Teresa Lever, explains how the decision was made.
“We saw that business developers were sometimes frustrated and delayed in their work while trying to find and navigate the correct procedures, departments and legislation to get their venture up and running,” Teresa Lever said. “Council recognised that the greatest destabilising factor for prospective businesses was the time delay caused by the fact that they couldn’t always get their needs met without delays.
The other factor behind AlburyCity’s way of managing its economic development role lies in its recognition of the existence and contribution of other organisations within the region, and is proactive in providing businesses with information and connections to a range of business processes. Formulating partnerships and networking to improve relationships is a significant part of the work in progress at AlburyCity.
