9 May 2024

In this newsletter – have your say on Council's first ever Customer First Strategy, find out about a federal agriculture grant opportunity and the state manufacturing awards. Plus, learn more about local organisation StartUp Central Victoria.

Have your say on our first ever Council Customer First Strategy

We’re working on our first ever Customer First Strategy and we need your help.

Tell us your stories of what it’s like to interact with us. Were we helpful? Did you feel heard? How can we improve?

Your stories, and feedback, will help identify areas of strength and weakness for us to build upon and improve. Give us some examples of your experience, take a short survey, join a focus group or get along to a community pop-up session – anything you share will help us understand which areas to focus on. 

Climate-Smart Agriculture Program – Small Grants Round 1

Applications are now open for this Australian Government program for grants of between $10,000 and $100,000. The grants are for small-scale projects at the grassroots and community level that will support farmers and land holders to adopt sustainable agriculture best practices, as well as facilitate and implement practice change.

New or innovative, as well as tried and tested, climate-smart, sustainable agricultural practices are within the scope of the program.

Round 1 closes: 4 June 2024

2024 Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards

Now in its 22nd year, the annual Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Awards recognises outstanding achievements in Victoria’s manufacturing industry. There are categories for individuals as well as businesses, plus a regional category.

Online information sessions for prospective nominees will be held throughout May.  Register for a session by emailing industryevents@ecodev.vic.gov.au

Nominations close: 17 June
Winners announced: 9 October

Local Spotlight: StartUp Central Victoria

We recently met with founder Kerry Anderson OAM to understand more about this organisation.

Can you introduce yourself to our readers and explain what StartUp Central Victoria is, and what you do?
StartUp Central Victoria has been running for four years now and covers six local government areas from Echuca down to Gisborne, and across to Maryborough and Wedderburn, although anyone in any part of regional Victoria is welcome to tap into our resources. We run online meetups, keynote events, pre-accelerator programs, and offer a mentoring service. All of this is free and designed to inspire entrepreneurs to think big and help them build successful startups or scale up their existing business. It is also about building a stronger ecosystem. Apart from the keynotes, all our mentors, speakers and masterclass presenters offer their time pro bono.

Our next keynote event is on Tuesday 28 May with television personality Jane Bunn talking about her new startup weather app. And it's free to attend! See the details here.

You are about to open a new round of your Pre-Accelerator Program. What does ‘Pre-Accelerator’ mean?
A Pre-Accelerator program is a bit like speed dating to see if you have the right business idea. We share tools and strategies to help you test your idea and give you an understanding of what important elements you need to consider along the way to have a successful startup. Proving it is a bad idea is a good outcome as you won’t waste any more time on it and can move on to another idea.

What kind of person/business is the Pre-Accelerator Program designed for? Is it only for startup businesses? Can more than one person from a business attend
Anyone can have an idea and we want to work with those that are passionate, obsessed and determined to give it a red hot crack. We encourage more than one person participate because every founder needs a good team around them, whether it be a cofounder or someone in a supporting role. Existing business owners often have an idea for another new startup or product or service and they are also welcome to use the program to test and further develop their idea.

How long does the program last for, what time commitment is required and what do you cover?
Our next program commences in late June and runs for 12 weeks finishing in early September. We cover the following topics:

1. An Entrepreneurship Mindset
2. Vision, Culture & Risk
3. Customer Discovery
4. Experimental Design
5. Business Model Canvas
6. Branding
7. Value Proposition
8. Digital Marketing
9. Commercial Law
10. Protecting your IP
11. Financial Structures
12. Tech, Data & Ethics
13. Global Markets
14. Investors & Funding
15. Pitch Perfect

There will be the opportunity to showcase your business idea, and pitch to investors if you wish. A draft program can be found on our website https://startupcv.com.au

Expressions of interest for this intake close on Monday 10 June.

What does the program cost and where is the program held? Can people attend online?
The program is totally free. We run the masterclasses online and there is also travel to three events in Bendigo which is central to the region. Part of the fun is meeting people from other places.

Can you share any success stories about local businesses that have been involved with StartUp Central Victoria?
In our ecosystem we have some incredibly talented business people contributing to Startup Central Victoria as mentors and master class presenters, including Barry Robinson from Activist Pty Ltd, based in Maldon.

We always have a wide range of startups participate in our programs. Last year we were delighted to host the world launch of Ligantic, a new tech platform that has been developed in the region by three founders – Mark, Stef & Carmel. They used the 2023 Pre-Accelerator Program to focus on taking their service to market. When we checked in with them recently, they reported that growth is steady in terms of staff and customers to the point that Mark has left his job and taken on the full-time management of the company.

---

Thanks Kerry!

Follow us on social media

Mount Alexander Shire Council
email: business@mountalexander.vic.gov.au  web: www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au

Mount Alexander Shire Council acknowledges that the traditional custodians of this
land, the Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung peoples, proudly survive. We acknowledge their continued practice of custom and their close cultural, spiritual, physical, social, historical and economic relationship with the land and waters that make up
their country, which includes Mount Alexander Shire.