Business resources – what is out there to support me and my business?

Small Business Support

• Coffs Harbour City Council: Incentives for business which generate employment , 6 Degrees is a one-stop application Council has initiated, and provides a well-rounded opportunity for local businesses to learn and connect, and the Partnership with Service NSW and the Easy to do Business Program, including specialised support for cafes, restaurants and small bars, and the housing construction sector.
• Kempsey Shire Council: supporting smart and sustainable agribusiness in the Macleay Valley.
• Midcoast Council: Grants Hub to support writing and applying for grants, Business help hub and Barrington Coast Business Hub.
• COVID-19 support: COVID-19 support for small business.
• Service NSW Business Concierge: Service NSW can help you to access disaster support and payments, start, run or grow your business, apply for grants and licenses, work with councils, understand regulations, connect to services and advice:
• Business Connect is a dedicated and personalised NSW Government program that provides trusted independent business advice and events to help you start, run, adapt or grow your small business.
• Business Connect Advisors: Business Connect advisors are accredited professionals with first-hand experience of running their own small business. Choose a local advisor by selecting your LGA or browse by business topic or industry experience:
• Support for businesses in Australia: business.gov including information, grants, services and support from across government to help your business succeed
• Digital Solutions – Australian Small Business Advisory Services: Looking for tailored advice for your small business? The Digital Solutions program works with you to adopt digital tools to save you time and money, and to help grow your business.
• Working and Business: Learn more about starting and running a business in NSW, including financial and business advisory support options available to you.
• Business Australia: Provides support and resources for all stages of your business, from start up, maintain and sustain, and exiting. Resources include guides, videos, templates, podcasts, FAQs and News. 
• Edmund Barton Centre: has been created to help sustain economies across regional Australia by helping new start up and existing businesses. 

Industry/Advocacy

• Department Regional NSW: A central agency which advocates for regional issues, helping build strong, resilient communities and economies, grow primary industries, create jobs and employment, and steward the use of natural endowments: our lands, minerals, agriculture, mining and natural resources.
• Local Jobs Program: The Local Jobs Program brings together expertise, resources and access to funding at the local level to support job seekers and their communities in each region.  The program has a particular focus on reskilling, upskilling and employment pathways and is part of supporting Australia’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Employment Facilitator: Stephen Saunders facilitatormnc@localjobs.net.au
• Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast: is a voice and an advocate for the Mid North Coast region. They act as a link between all levels of government, industry, and our community, analysing local priorities, communicating the issues clearly and bringing key players together to produce real outcomes for the region. Local contact Kerry Grace ceo@rdamnc.org.au

Disaster Support

• COVID-19 support: Government assistance is available to help your business withstand the impact of the Coronavirus and encourage an economic recovery into the future.
• COVID-19 support: COVID-19 support for NSW small business.
• Recovery Support Officers: helps recovery and resilience in communities affected by disaster or drought, working with all levels of government, industry, charities and other organisations. Contact email: liaison@recovery.gov.au

Entrepreneur Support

• Entrepreneur’s Programme: get help to innovate, compete and grow by providing expert support, funding and incentives.
• Entrepreneurship Facilitator: Entrepreneurship Facilitators help people to start a new business and create their own job.
  Local contact: Courtney Tune courtney@altcollective.com.au

Training Support

• NSW JobTrainer program: includes skills brokers, workforce development, construction industry initiatives and funded qualifications.
• Apprenticeship Support Australia in NSW
• Employer Incentives for Australian apprenticeships

Grants and Funding

• Ausindustry: AusIndustry will partner with you in the next step of your business growth, supporting you to innovate, invest and commercialise. You may be eligible for funding. Contact: Wolfgang Grayson grayson.wolfgang@industry.gov.au
• Grant portal

• Customised list of grants relevant to the tourism business.
• Rebates for safety equipment
• Jobs Plus Program NSW: The Jobs Plus Program provides NSW businesses with various support measures to grow their
• Research & Development Tax incentive
• Asset write offs for business
• Current tourism opportunities
• Regional Tourism Activation Fund
• NSW Government funding opportunities
• Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR): If there are community aspects to the project this may also be of interest

Support to Employ

• Wage subsidies are a financial incentive to encourage employers to hire eligible participants in ongoing jobs by contributing to the initial costs of hiring a new employee. Wage subsidies can help to build a business and give employers greater flexibility in their hiring options.
• Job Access – driving disability employment: One in five Australians lives with disability. This represents a vast pool of talent, which employers can tap into to enhance workplace diversity and overcome labour shortages.
• Indigenous Employment – hiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff 
• Smart and Skilled is a reform of the NSW Vocational Education and Training (VET) system. It’s helping people in NSW get the skills they need to find a job and advance their careers.
• Transition to Work: ensures young people meet employers needs and are supported to settle into a job.
• JobActive: jobactive is an Australian Government-funded network of organisations that are contracted by the Australian Government, through the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, to deliver employment services to unemployed job seekers on Government income support payments and employers.
• New Employment Services Trial (NEST): Currently being trialled on the Mid North Coast, NEST will transform employment services, replacing jobactive from 1 July 2022. For employers, the new model will provide better applicant matching and dynamic servicing based on employer need, as well as working with employers to support those job seekers who need additional help to find and sustain employment, including through more flexible wage subsidies. Employers will be able to seek support to fulfil their recruitment needs, as well as targeted industry projects and solutions, via a range of avenues.
• New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS): NEIS provides personalised support to help people pursue self-employment and start a small business. NEIS provides accredited small business training; help to develop a business plan; personalised mentoring and support from a NEIS provider; NEIS Allowance for up to 39 weeks, and NEIS Rental Assistance for up to 26 weeks (if eligible).
• Migration program: Business, Industry and Regional Outreach officers, located across Australia to provide general information on Australia’s regional and Skilled Migration Program. Contact: Brennan Servet brennan@homeaffairs.org.au