The Hervey Bay Business Information Centre
The Hervey Bay Business Information Centre project is a cross sector business community partnership involving four organisations the University of Southern Queensland (Fraser Coast campus), Hervey Bay City Council, Hervey Bay Chamber of Commerce and, the Queensland Government's Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry. The aim of the project was the development and establishment of a web based portal/focal point of resources to assist the establishment of new, and to give support to, existing businesses, in the Hervey Bay region. The portal has been established and designed to:
- provide access to a central hub/entity/organisation similar to an Enterprise Unit to act as a point of information and connection for the regional business community
- encourage business support organisations to better engage with local industry to make available existing programs and services and to develop new services and programs to meet the needs of growing companies; and
- promote and develop the need for business to adopt positive attitudes to sustainability and the environment; especially when considering existing and new, business initiatives and the giving of help and advice upon the way forward.
The purpose of the project was to establish a web based information portal within the Hervey Bay region with the capacity to ensure that the Business Community Capacity of Hervey Bay, both new and existing, grows in line with the increasing population of the region which is growing at 4.9% pa. This strong growth placed Hervey Bay as one of the fastest growing local government area (LGA) in Queensland. The expected outcome of the project is general economic growth of Hervey Bay through new business opportunities being undertaken resulting in new job creation.
The portal provides access to a wide range of business promotion/help information/resources including:
- links and contact details for information relevant for doing business in Hervey Bay e.g. local government & state government business support and service areas
- acts as an information clearing house with links to relevant city/regional reports
- highlights business initiatives taking place in the City
- provides links to relevant contact information re growing the business or relocating the business in Hervey Bay
- links to information on Hervey Bay specific issues e.g. education facilities, demographics, cultural and social activities etc.,with links to relevant sites/resources to facilitate direct contact.
This project has raised the profile of USQ in the business community of Hervey Bay and also with those site visitors from other locations. The portal site includes numerous links to the USQ website along with specific links to USQ's Office of Commercialisation.
Further information can be found on the Hervey Bay Business site.