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February 2025 Edition of the Alpine Business Newsletter

4 February 2025

Alpine Business Newsletter
 Information for business 27 March 2024
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Alpine Business Newsletter

Welcome to the February 2025 edition of the Alpine Business Newsletter!

Welcome to the February issue of our business newsletter where you can find exciting news about upcoming events, grants and other valuable resources for your business!

  • Alpine Shire Council are running two free First 72 Hour workshops (emergency planning) for farming enterprises.
  • Alpine Shire Council tourism update and networking events.
  • Don't miss Tourism North East's upcoming events.  
  • Free training courses available for residents of the Alpine Shire - First Aid, Chainsaw Safety, Mental Health Essentials and more. 
  • Explore grant funding opportunities such as the Victorian Gig Fund and CSIRO Innovate to Grow Program. 
  • Victorian Government's Economic Growth Statement.
  • Take a Lodger Program.
  • Tourism brochures available - reach out to the tourism team for brochures at your business.
  • Beyond Blue have developed NewAccess, a program to provide small business owners with free and confidential mental health coaching.


Thank you for being part of the Alpine Shire business community. Stay tuned to Alpine Shire Business Hub for more updates and resources to help your business thrive. 

Alpine Shire Business Hub is your one-stop shop for up-to-date information on events and news 
The Business Hub has been curated as a one stop shop for business owners and operators in the Alpine Shire to access support resources and stay up to date with the latest grant opportunities, workshops and events. 
 
We highly encourage all businesses to sign up to Engage Alpine and follow the Business Hub to stay in the loop for information and opportunities related to businesses in the Alpine Shire.
Sign up here
Upcoming events

Farmers invited to free emergency planning workshops

Alpine Shire Council invites farmers in the Kiewa Valley and Upper Ovens Valley to attend workshops focused on supporting people to plan for emergency events. 

For more information and to register, visit here: https://www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/news/farmers-invited-free-emergency-planning-workshops
Alpine Shire Council Tourism Update and Networking events.
Come along for an update on all thing's tourism from Council, trends and up and coming projects. Light supper supplied. Time - 5.30-6.30pm
Monday 24 February - Bright - The Alpine Hotel
Tuesday 25 February - Harrietville - Mountain View Retreat (TBC)
Wednesday 26 February - Myrtleford - St Paul's Anglican Church Hall (with support from the Myrtleford Chamber of Commerce)
Thursday 27 February - Mount Beauty - Mountain Monk Brewers

RSVP Friday 21 February, piak@alpineshire.vic.gov.au

Tourism North East training and events:

VHC App and ATDW - Optimising your listing
Tuesday 11 February 2025
Online, 10:00 am - 11:30 am AEDT


Tourism North East Industry Forum - February 2025
Tuesday 18 February 2025
Online, 10:00 am - 11:30 am AEDT

For more information and to register, visit: Workshops + Training - Tourism North East


 

Free Training Courses

To enable increased capacity for local communities during and after serious events. 

Alpine Shire Council was generously funded by the State of Victoria through Emergency Recovery Victoria's Community Recovery Hub grant program and Australian Government in response to the October 2022 Flood and Landslip which impacted Alpine Shire Communities. 

There are a number of free courses available for residents of the Alpine Shire:
  • Wildlife Education Training
  • First Aid
    • CPR Update
    • Farmers CPR
    • Level 1 First Aid
    • Defibrillation Awareness
  • Chainsaw Safety
  • Mental Health Essentials
  • Food Handling (online only)
    • Level 1 Food Safety
    • Food Safety Supervisor
    • Food Safety Supervisor Refresher
  • AgVet Chemical User
    • Full 2-Day Course
    • 1-Day Refresher Course
Grant funding opportunities
The Victorian Gig Fund
The Victorian Gig Fund provides venues with grants of up to $11,000 to contribute towards Victorian artists' fees for gigs. 

Funding amounts of $5,500 or $11,000 per venue, to deliver 10 or 20 gigs respectively are available. 

Applications close 3pm Thursday 27 February 2025. 

For more information, visit: https://creative.vic.gov.au/funding-opportunities/find-a-funding-opportunity/10,000-gigs-the-victorian-gig-fund
 
CSIRO - Innovate to Grow Program: Recycling and Circular Economy
This program provides a free 8-week R&D learning program for SMEs working on innovative recycling and circular economy solutions. 

The program is made up of virtual webinars and self-paced learning. The time commitment is approximately 2-3 hours per week. 

Applications close Sunday 16 February 2025. 

For more information, visit: https://www.csiro.au/en/work-with-us/funding-programs/SME/Innovate-to-Grow/Recycling-and-Circular-Economy
Industry Growth Program
The Industry Growth Program supports innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia by providing advisory services and grant opportunities to help commercialise and grow their businesses. Eligible SMEs can receive grants ranging from $50,000 to $5 million for projects that align with the priority areas of the National Reconstruction Fund. 

For more information, visit: https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/industry-growth-program
Disaster Ready Fund (Round Three)
The Disaster Ready Fund: Round Three 2025-26 provides funding to support projects that enhance disaster resilience and risk reduction in Victoria. Eligible organizations can apply for grants to deliver projects that increase the understanding of natural hazard impacts, improve preparedness, and reduce the exposure to risk and harm from natural disasters. 

For more information, visit: https://www.emv.vic.gov.au/how-we-help/grants-and-awards/the-disaster-ready-fund-round-three-2025-26#eligibility
To find more information about these grants and more, visit the Alpine Shire Grant Finder at: 
https://grantguru.com/au/alpine
Employment news
The Pay Equality Toolkit
Equal pay matters for all Victorian workers. Progress toward an equitable workplace creates benefits for employees and business performance. Generally speaking, contributing to a more satisfied and productive workforce. The Pay Equality Toolkit is comprised of 8 different tools created to help business make progress on pay equality. 

For more information, visit the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission website..
Other news

Victorian Government's Economic Growth Statement 

in December 2024, the Victorian Government released the Economic Growth Statement which provides a vision and priority actions to make it easier to do business in Victoria and build a strong economy. The Statement describes five priority sectors:
  • Advanced manufacturing and defence
  • Health technologies and medical research
  • Circular economy
  • Digital technologies
  • Agribusiness
The document underscores the importance of regional Victoria in the growth of priority sectors, including agriculture which is the backbone of many regional economies, providing food and fibre to local, domestic and global markets. 

The Statement also outlines four key actions, informed by business and industry:
  • Open Doors: Backing business to invest, expand and innovate
  • Cut Red Tape: Making it simpler to do business in Victoria
  • Build New Skills: Ensuring a workforce that's ready to go
  • Reach Every Community: A strong Victoria underpinned by a strong regional Victoria
Read the full Economic Growth Statement here: https://www.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-12/Economic-Growth-Statement.pdf

Take a Lodger Program

Alpine Shire Council is partnering with local real estate agents to introduce the Take a Lodger Program, a creative solution to help address the region’s housing shortages. This initiative encourages homeowners with spare rooms to open their doors to lodgers, providing affordable housing options and strengthening community connections. For more information, visit https://www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/takealodger

Tourism Brochures available

If you are a tourism business looking to provide more information to visitors consider the following;
  • Suggest to your visitors they download Victoria's High Country app.
  • Visit our websites:
    • visitbrightandsurrounds.com.au
    • visitmountbeauty.com.au
    • visitmyrtlefordvic.com.au
    • visitharrietville.com.au 
  • Offer our brochures (email tourism@alpineshire.vic.gov.au to request brochures that can be picked up from council offices). 
    • Bright and Surrounds Official Visitor Guide
    • Bright and Surrounds Walks and Trails Guide
    • Bright and Surrounds Cycle Guide
    • Tear off map of each of our tourism regions.
    • Dinner Plain walking and cycle guides

How to get exposure for your tourism business with local and regional tourism bodies.

The best value for money to get your tourism business on local, regional and state tourism websites and apps is to get an Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) listing. Getting an ATDW listing is a fantastic way for businesses to boost their online presence and attract more customers. By listing with the ATDW, your business can be featured on tourism websites like Tourism North East and Bright and Surrounds. This means more visibility, better search engine optimization (SEO), and increased traffic to your website and appearing on the High Country App. 
https://www.tourismnortheast.com.au/industry-resources/get-involved-with-the-vhc-app/
Plus, you can update your information anytime, ensuring your business always has the most accurate and appealing details available. For more information, visit: https://www.visitbright.com.au/list-my-business/ 
Business support services

NewAccess for Small Business Owners

Beyond Blue have developed this program to give small business owners free and confidential mental health coaching. 

Delivered over 6 sessions, a NewAccess coach will work with business owners to provide support and practical skills to manage stress during difficult times. 

To find out more about the support available, visit: 
https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/newaccess-for-small-business-owners


 
Visit Bright Visit Bright
Visit Myrtleford Visit Myrtleford
Visit Mount Beauty Visit Mount Beauty






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Alpine Shire Council · Great Alpine Road · Bright, VIC 3741 · Australia