Projects Growing Regional Communities Mapping the Connections Mapping the Connections was commissioned by Enterprise Connect – the Commonwealth Government’s business and industry development program, to map and analyse supply chains in three hi-tech industry sectors in northern Adelaide (defence, ICT and advanced manufacturing). Dr Houghton ran the project through Elton Consulting. The project combined secondary research into the economic context and capabilities of northern Adelaide and a major literature review of approaches to strengthen competitiveness in selected industries. The primary research included extensive primary research of business links and potential across the target industries through quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. The overall project built the findings from the primary and secondary research into an interactive mapping environment enabling Enterprise Connect staff to interrogate supply chain data to identify and quantify gaps and opportunities. This project was completed in 2009.
Begga Valley Economic Development Strategy In early 2010 SES was commissioned by Begga Valley Shire Council to prepare a Regional Economic Development Strategy for the region. This work was completed in June 2010.
Wagga Wagga Economic Development Strategy In early 2010 SES was commissioned by Wagga Wagga City Council to prepare a Regional Economic Development Strategy for the region. This work was completed in June 2010.
Benalla Economic Development Strategy In 2007 and 2009-10 we worked with the Economic Development Officer at Benalla Rural City to prepare triennial economic development strategies. The 2007 strategy was successfully completed by 2009, and we were re-engaged to set the strategy for the next three-year period. In doing the strategies, we worked in 2007 with the newly-convened Economic Development Advisory Committee on a concentrated economic planning process. The first step was reviewing existing data, recent developments and developments in the pipeline. The outcomes of this review were then workshopped with the Committee, and a priority list of essential actions agreed. We then worked on this list with Council staff and prepared a more detailed action plan which was presented to the Committee for discussion and priority setting. The third step was to combine the information gathered and created to prepare a stand-alone economic development strategy for Benalla. We followed the same steps in 2009-10. This concentrated process worked very well in terms of maximising the value of our involvement, building on existing work and engaging the individuals who would be responsible for acting on the actions documented.
Adaminaby Community Economic Strategy In 2009-10 we worked with the small community of Adaminaby (around 400 people) in the Snowy Mountains to prepare a community-led economic strategy. We used a highly pragmatic process which recognised the limited resources available for economic development in the town, and the reliance on volunteers to drive initiatives.
Eurobodalla Shire Economic Development Strategy In early 2009 SES reviewed work done by Eurobodalla Shire Council on economic issues and priorities and helped Council’s Economic Development Manager distil these into an operational Economic Development Strategy. Our approach was to maximise the value of our involvement to Council by building on what had already been done rather than replicating it. We undertook careful interpretation and analysis of existing data which identified economic strengths/weaknesses and future growth scenarios incorporating regional, national and international trends. From this platform we worked with Council staff to prepare an Economic Development Strategy, based on understanding of community (and Council) priorities and existing data and analysis. The Strategy included specific targets on large business expansion/relocation, attracting new SMEs, and working with existing SMEs as well as the pre-requisites for economic gardening, clustering initiatives etc, performance criteria and measurable outcomes.
Cooma-Monaro Economic Profile In 2008 SES prepared a detailed economic profile for Cooma- Monaro Shire and presented the outcomes to Councillors and staff. We facilitated an in-house ‘economic directions’ strategy day for senior staff in late September 2009 which built on that work, and other planning and environmental work done by Council in recent years, to gain consensus on short and medium term economic priorities for the Shire.
Capital Region Regional Development Australia Consultations In late 2008 SES Director Kim Houghton facilitated a series of consultations on local and regional economic priorities for the Capital Regional Area Consultative Committee as part of its work in transitioning to the Southern Tablelands Regional Development Australia Committee. The sessions required sharp presentations on local and regional economic contexts (which we prepared in-house), and facilitation of often robust discussion amongst attendees. The final session was a specially-convened gathering of Mayors and General Managers from 7 councils surrounding the ACT.
Upper Lachlan Economic Development Plan and Strategy In 2008 SES worked with Upper Lachlan Shire Council on an audit of current industrial lands and forecasts for future demand. The project provided a snapshot of the Upper Lachlan Shire’s industrial land supply and determined through auditing, analysis of market trends and demand forecasting a series of recommendations that will underpin planning for industrial expansion within the Shire over the next 5-15 years.
Regional State of the Environment Report (RSOE) waste and regional overview In 2008 SES compiled the waste section of the regional State of Environment Report for the ACT Commissioner for the Environment. In this work we collected and collated data and made recommendations on future waste management practices for the 17 local Councils in the Capital Region. Northern Grampians Investment Plan In early 2006, the Northern Grampians Shire Council contracted SES to undertake the next stage of its Economic Development Strategy comprising an Investment Plan and Prospectus for sustainable business development at the Shire level. The Investment Plan and Prospectus was used to promote the future economic growth of the municipality. It was not a land-use planning document but was used to provide informed advice to the Council on land that should be earmarked as suitable for key economic activities including:
This project was completed in 2007.
Noosa Shire Council In May 2006, SES was commissioned by Noosa Shire Council to research 'the impact on the Noosa economy of a defined population carrying capacity'. Noosa Shire is likely to run out of developable land in the next 5 to 8 years. This will have a major impact on the Shire’s population growth rate – though redevelopment and re-purposing of buildings are likely to enable the population to continue to grow slowly. Noosa Council’s economic prosperity strategies focus on diversifying the economic base towards high value-low volume-low impact economic growth and towards employment generation within industry sectors not wholly dependent on population growth. Within the context of this strategic focus, Noosa Council wanted to understand the implications of nil population growth for the Shire’s economy at a more detailed level, in order to better plan for and identify additional strategies that can be developed to strengthen future economic performance The crux of the question is how much of Noosa’s economic growth is influenced by population growth. Population growth brings two of the underpinning economic factors of production – labour and capital, while consuming the third – land. Without population growth in the Shire, will the Shire still be able to sustain Noosa’s current industry and employment base, and will it be able to attract skilled labour and capital to reach its aim of becoming a ‘knowledge economy’? This project was completed in 2008.
Mid North Coast workshops SES Director Kim Houghton was invited by the Mid North Coast ACC to give a series of ‘small business futures’ workshops in that region. The workshops turned out to be of great interest, as much to many of the Councils in the region as the business operators. Kim was commissioned to give a return series of follow-on workshops for businesses, alongside a series of ‘in house’ economic strategic planning sessions for several of the Councils. These sessions included review and fine tuning of economic development strategies for Great Lakes and Gloucester Shires.
Local economic impacts of Batemans Bay Marine Park on Eurobodalla Shire Client Need: The Marine Park Authority (MPA) has released two studies on the impact of the proposed Marine Park on Eurobodalla Shire. Neither of these reports provide a platform for looking at two issues crucial to the Shire: SES has used existing recent reports on recreational fishing and its importance to draw estimates of the significance of recreational fishing to the Shire and to the two towns. We have identified three important information gaps which will have to be closed to enable tighter assessment of the economic impact of the Park on recreational fishing, and set out approaches to closing these gaps. The project was completed in July 2006. ACT NOwaste Knowledge building In March 2006 SES was commissioned to develop and present a series of ten workshops for the ACT Government's NOwaste section. The workshops cover a range of issues from contract management to zero waste. This project was completed in early September 2006.
ACT NOwaste Submission to the Productivity Commission In late May 2006 SES was commissioned to prepare a submission for the ACT Government in response to the Productivity Commission's Draft Report on 'Waste Generation and Resource Recovery'. This project was completed in mid June. Grain Bags CSIRO Strategic Economic Solutions was engaged by CSIRO Entomology in August 2005 to undertake a broad-based survey of grain growers on grain bag issues. The survey was undertaken in two parts. The first part was a broad survey of grain growers in the pre-harvest period, which was open from October 2005. The second part was a post-harvest follow-up of the sub-sample of respondents who were willing to talk about their harvest experiences. The second part ran from March to April 2005. The final report from this project is available as a PDF here. Regional Economic Development Support A core element of the work of SES is in developing economic strategic plans for small towns and regions in New South Wales and Queensland. We have worked extensively with the towns such as Narooma, Moruya, Jindabyne, Braidwood, Lake Macquarie, Noosa, Biggenden, Gunnadah and others on identifying practical strategies for strengthening their local economies. This work requires extensive consultation, tact, knowledge of local networks, vision and creativity. Drought Case Studies The research found that the drought is having a major impact on non-farm small businesses and communities in the two case study areas. Farmers and non-farm business operators interviewed reported that they plan for a season or a season and half of poor returns, but there were concerns that if the drought continued, financial resources would be depleted and the consequences would suddenly become much more severe – in a departure from the pattern of steady decline observed to 2004. The paper proposes a model for interpreting the impact of drought on non-farm businesses by taking account of two main drivers of drought impact business:
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Women in Business In the Bush
The project found that women running businesses in rural and regional Australia are real business operators, running real businesses and facing real business issues. Women in business are clever business managers, are putting in long working hours, have years of experience, and clear motivations and desires for business. The businesses are extremely important to family and farm survival and to the employment and economic base of local communities, and are not just a job alternative. Women in business are multi skilled, often managing family life, caring for children, assisting on the farm, and running a viable, growing vibrant business. Wimmera Drought Paper Tallaganda Shire Council Best Practice Resource Recovery In 2003/2004 SES undertook research into best practice small town and community recycling and resource recovery models and developed site plans for Council's three landfill sites. Workcover NSW: Effective Intervention Strategies for Small Business In 2003/2004 SES worked with CREEDA Projects and with OHS experts The Viner Group to undertake research on behalf of WorkCover, that focused on effective intervention strategies for small business. This project filled the gaps in WorkCover’s understanding of its small business client base by complementing recent ‘top down’ reviews with a comprehensive ‘bottom up’ assessment of the experiences and views of small businesses in high-risk industries in NSW. The project comprised of six main activities: The project resulted in Workcover having a reliable baseline picture of workers compensation and OHS issues for small business operators in NSW from which progress can be judged in the future. Recruitment and Induction for Farmers Risk Management for Farmers Australian Capital Region Statistical Summary and Regional Profiles Tallaganda Shire Economic Development Plan As a result of this process, funding was received by the community to appoint a Community Economic Development Officer and in 2005 SES was engaged to evaluate the outcomes of this role. ACT Economic White Paper In 2002 SES was one of nine consultants appointed to undertake research on aspects of the ACT’s economy as a focused contribution to preparation of the ACT Economic White Paper.
The Support Models Assisting New Apprenticeship Completions (SMANAC) project ran over 18 months and involved support model trials in four locations in three states. In partnership with CREEDA and other specialist consultants, SES helped build, test and evaluate community-driven approaches to help New Apprentices (trainees in this case) complete their traineeships. SES played a major role in developing the models to be trailed, coordinated one of the trial sites, prepared case studies of good practices already being used in regional areas, conducted the quantitative evaluation and was involved in the qualitative evaluation of the project. The project was completed in 2000. Vocational Education and Training in Victoria As part of this long-run and wide-ranging project aimed at improving the capacity of Victorian ACCs to play a more active role in the VET sector, SES prepared labour market overviews for each of Victoria’s 15 ACCs and presented the key findings to a state-wide workshop. The reports covered demographic trends, business formation and employment trends, with an emphasis on young people. The overviews also presented detailed regional data on apprentice and traineeship commencements. This project was completed in 1999. Vocational Education and Training in Schools Back to top In 1998 the ACC engaged SES to report on local, regional and national employment patterns and trends relying largely on Australian Bureau of Statistics national census and labour force survey data, and this report was revised and updated in 2001. Analysis revealed significant differences between regional and national trends in growth industries and age and gender balance of the labour force. Demographic changes, characteristics of workforces in different industries and vocational training options and patterns were also studied. Back to top SES prepared the series of detailed community and labour market profiles for the ACC. The profiles cover demographic trends and projections, business formation, employment trends, unemployment trends and vocational training patterns for each of the region’s five shires.
SES undertook the survey and analysis which included quantifying patterns of exporting – scale, share of turnover, destination countries, forecasts etc – and focused on training and support needs. The study analysed the different patterns of training and support needs of respondents by size, industry and whether or not they already export. The project was completed in 1999. Small Business Profiles SES worked with COSBOA again on this assessment of opportunities and threats facing small businesses in the Wide Bay Burnett region in Queensland. The project involved preparation of an overview of the region’s labour market trends using existing data, along with a carefully constructed series of surveys and interviews with small businesses across the region. Regional Small Business SES Director Kim Houghton worked with COSBOA to undertake the research project and write the public report: Jobs in Our Regions: Building on the Small Business Base. The book provides the first comprehensive analysis of small business in regional Australia designed for people and organisations committed to local employment growth and regional economic development. Completed 1997. |
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