June saw the facilitation of our JobsSI program in Goulburn, Queanbeyan and Cooma. We produced multiple industry tours in these targeted regions focussed on construction, trades, aged and disability care services which were both well attended and achieved excellent jobs pathways outcomes for numerous participants.

Our Chair, Rowena Abbey OAM was acknowledged on the King’s Birthday honours list with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to local government, and to the community of Yass. We wish Rowena a HUGE congratulations for this well-deserved recognition.

With the next roadshow of Regional Connect events now locked in, we are very excited to announce an expansion of the program into Queanbeyan-Palerang and Hilltops. Government grants are available for a vast array of development programs and we are bringing our grants extraordinaire, Tash Maguire on tour to talk you through grant writing tips and tricks.

Reflecting on the year that’s been, we need to be grateful for the opportunities Regional NSW abounds. With incredible community-minded people, beautiful open spaces, vast infrastructure investments, employment options like never before and a wealth of experiences and adventures to explore, we literally live in the best place on earth.

Last month was again a busy one for our team. Our workforce development programs have been very successful. Local employers were able to connect directly with jobseekers and school age kids to discuss opportunities and careers pathways.

Advocating for regional solutions is a large part of our work, so please get in contact with us if you have an issue of challenge you need assistance with.

August has been another exceptionally busy month for RDASI. Many of our local industries have told us that workforce issues are critical and so RDASI is partnering with three local chambers, Business Southern Highlands, Goulburn Chamber of Commerce and Yass Chamber of Commerce to bring a specialist HR consultant to the regions.

RDA Southern Inland's Southern Highlands Stakeholders Dinner held at Southern Highlands Brewing & Taphouse on 23 June was a great success! Almost 50 locals joined us to network and meet the new business support people servicing the Wingecarribee Shire.

Recently RDASI has been your voice in several strategic discussions for our region. Participating in the Southern NSW Destination plan update, the Regional Economic Development Strategies updates, and the Resilience Blueprint project we have provided on the ground local intel contributing to the planning and sustainable development of our beautiful region.

With the election being called for May 21st, the Federal government and its subsidiary bodies are now in caretaker mode. For RDASI it’s business as usual, however we just don’t have the same level of engagement from some of our closest stakeholders. With funding promised for RDA’s until 2025, we will look forward to working with the next government, whoever they may be.

Suzanne Gearing, RDASI's Deputy Chair and myself were lucky enough to attend the latest Jindabyne Connect at the end of last month with some of the Jindabyne Connect Business Owners, Kristy McBain, the local Federal Member and Olivier Kapetanakos, the Jindabyne Chamber President.

Small Business Month kicked off in March and with it our grants guru, Phil Gibson is hosting a number of targeted grant writing workshops throughout the month. RDASI can assist businesses and community organisations with their project development and grant writing, so please contact Phil at grants@rdasi.org.au for any grant assistance that you may need.

I wish to acknowledge the work of Gladys Berejiklian as our Premier over almost five years. I’d also like to congratulate Dominic Perrotet MP coming into the role as the youngest Premier ever, and Paul Toole MP the new leader of the Nationals and now Deputy Premier.

We know this year continues to be challenging for many regional businesses and communities and we’d like to support you in any way that we can. Please reach out if you need assistance, especially with visa’s, grants or advocacy.

Welcome Phil Gibson to the RDA Southern Inland team. Phil started with us as our Grants and Projects Officer. Phil has extensive experience in grant writing and funding acquisition and is available to assist businesses and community groups with the application process on a fee-for-service basis.

A new initiative designed to boost the local economy and encourage local shopping has seen the Goulburn Mulwaree Council, the Goulburn Chamber of Commerce and Regional Development Australia Southern Inland combine their talents to create an innovative new Goulburn gift card.

The Resilience Project explores evidence-based approaches to building resilience, in order to develop and sustain positive mental health.

So, what attributes do you need to become a successful entrepreneur? Fred Schebesta is the founder of Finder, one of Australia’s largest and best-known comparison sites. He shares his thoughts.

Looking forward, RDASI has an exciting year ahead filled with new opportunities, ideas and a few very big changes. Our most significant change is the appointment of our new chair to our board. RDASI welcomes Yass local, Rowena Abbey to our team. Rowena comes to us with years of economic development experience, being the Yass Valley council Mayor along with extensive business acumen and a dedication to Regional NSW.

We have been honoured to be a part of the extremely successful SISP program and that we were selected as a pilot region. The program has significant momentum and has expanded to over 30 schools in 2020. In what has been a challenging year, the program has assisted schools and students to integrate STEM into the classroom and engage with industry.

Remember that old saying, if all the fish are swimming in one direction, dare to be different and swim in the opposite way. It’s kind of similar when it comes to lead generation and growing your business.