All welcome at The Old Butter Factory Café, Doepel St, Bellingen.

The Chamber is proud to bring you these 2 Important presentations!

Is Your Business FloodSafe?
Be wise, Be clever and Be Prepared!

Does your business know what to do if flooding is  predicted?

Flooding causes an average of $128 million damage in NSW each year.

A business in the Bellingen area is more likely to suffer damage from a flood than a fire.

At this business breakfast you will hear from Bellingen SES and Bellingen Shire Council about the impact of local floods, the role of SES during floods, and what steps your business can take to be better prepared. At the end of the session you can take a free copy of the SES Business FloodSafe Toolkit.

Don’t be a victim of Crime – Prevention is better than cure!!

Inspector Brendan Gorman from the Coffs Clarence Local Area Command will be talking to business owners about crime prevention. He will be passing on tips and strategies to minimise the risk to your business of crime. Inspector Gorman joined the police in 1990, graduating in 1991. He has spent most of his working life policing in Western Sydney until his promotion to Inspector with Coffs/Clarence LAC in December 2011.

Everyone welcome for breakfast and networking!

Bookings essential by midday Wed 30^th May Registration 7am for 7.30 start.

Chamber members and their guests – $20,   Non members – $25.   Please pay on the day.

RSVP to Andrew – coordinator@bellingenchamber.com.au

Ph 0447 647 828 or web – www.bellingenchamber.com.au

Get the flyer and tell your friends

The WLT Gift Card program provides a unique and convenient gifting solution for consumers whilst also supporting local businesses in your community.

The program is aimed at keeping money within the community by essentially creating a local currency through gift cards.

The program runs through EFTPOS and is open to all local businesses. It is very easy to operate and has a Fly Buys type rewards system which runs parallel to the program.

Not only does the program provide a unique gifting solution but it provides a better way to give local sponsorship, donations, prize draws and shop discounts.

All business owners in the area are urged to attend the information evening as the program will be kicking off in June.

Read all about it

business, how the process can be undertaken and who is available to support the

process is critical, especially in times of great economic change and uncertainty.

INNOVATION! WHY? HOW? WHO? is a forum presenting the opportunities, process and

networks available to businesses which adopt research, development and innovation as a

potential business growth strategy hosted by Manufacture Coffs Coast Inc.

To be held at Bonville Golf Resort Thursday 24th May from 3:30pm, this is a rare

opportunity to meet a targeted network of professionals and organisations which work with

businesses of all sizes to bring about innovation in the areas of business strategy,

product development and intellectual property. Learn not only what Federal Government

grants, services and tax incentives are available from AusIndustry and Enterprise

Connect, but how to apply and what you can claim. You may be able to claim some

current business activities under the R&D Tax Incentive, don’t miss out!

Read all about it

Please print and distribute to as many of your friends as possible and invite them to come along to The Old Butter Factory Cafe

• Start Up Business Development Program, sees new business owners mentored by more experienced business people.

• Key Business Development Program provides assistance to existing business managers/owners.

Both programs use mentors that come with a wide diversity of business and industry experiences, not necessarily from the same industry or sector, but experienced in business in general.

The programs are operated through the Edmund Barton Centre, a not-for-profit organisation sponsored by the NSW Business Chamber with funding support from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

The initiative which has been successfully piloted in Port Macquarie for 3 years has helped over 180 businesses and generated 140 sustainable jobs.

The initiative is now being extended to the Nambucca – Bellingen and is coordinated by Client Manager, Rod Leane.

“Too often new and existing businesses fail, not so much because of financial circumstances, but by poor management decisions” said Mr Leane. “The idea here is to use the knowledge and experience of the mentors to guide the business owners, and further improve our business communities” he added.

Ian Scott, a Community Account Manager with NBN Co will address the meeting to outline the NBN Co plans for wireless internet in the outlying areas of Bellingen Shire. Possible tower locations will be a hot item of discussion. Ian is happy to answer all your questions about this important initiative.

The actual township of Bellingen is slated for Fibre at some point in the future (timing not yet announced) , and the fixed wireless is for areas surrounding Bellingen. You will only get access to a single delivery method so if you are getting fibre at some stage, you will not connect to fixed wireless.

Therefore the audience for the fixed wireless is not premises in the actual township of Bellingen,

The audience for fixed wireless is very much the properties at Gleniffer, Fernmount, Brierfield, Kalang and Thora.

Read the NBN Co Fixed Wireless Fact sheet

Read today’s press release announcing areas

15 May, 2012

NBN Co announces plans for fixed wireless broadband on the North and Mid North Coast

The company building Australia’s national broadband network, NBN Co, today unveiled the locations in the Taree, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour regions, which are scheduled to receive high-speed fixed wireless broadband.

The fixed-wireless network will deliver high-speed broadband to homes and businesses at wholesale speeds up to 150 times faster than dial-up and up to eight times faster than ADSL*.

“For decades, rural and regional Australia has been left behind when it comes to telecommunications,” NBN Co General Manger of External Relations Trent Williams said today.

“NBN Co’s plan to deliver high speed broadband to every Australian using one of three technologies – fibre, fixed wireless and satellite – aims to change that.

Read the full list of sites here

Read all about it here

Read all about it here.

Tonight the Federal Government has delivered a long awaited balanced Budget for 2012-13, but the path to surplus has been paved with additional cost burdens on Australian business.

This is a Budget that returns to surplus on the back of hard working Australian businesspeople. The Government has imposed significant additional costs on businesses, costs that will be particularly difficult to bear given the current weakness in the economic outlook.

It is a Budget that fails to reward Australian businesses for driving the world’s most resilient economy by stripping away the promise of a modest company tax cut and instead imposes an even greater burden through the start of the world’s biggest carbon tax from 1 July.

Budget key points:

• A forecast $1.5 billion surplus in 2012/13;

• Economic growth forecast next year at 3.25%;

• Abandonment of the promised company tax cut (was to reduce from 30% rate to 29% as part of mining tax);

• New small business loss carry back scheme;

• Other tax imposts (not proceeding with standard deduction promise, reduced living away from home concessions, reducing some higher income concessional caps for superannuation, reduced tax concessions on termination pay);

• Spending cuts (including to defence, foreign aid, tightening access to some traineeship payments and extra GST compliance);

• New spending on families, on disability scheme, aged care and dental care;

• Modest new investment in skills (including mature aged workforce participation, and upskilling trades persons to operate own businesses – an ACCI proposal); and

• The carbon tax remains from 1st July.

NSW Business Chamber has analysed tonight’s Budget and has provided our judgement on the impact it will have on our members.

A full copy of the NSW Business Chamber’s media release is available on our website.

NSW Business Chamber would warmly welcome the sharing of your views on this Federal Budget.

You can share your views with us on NSW Business Chamber’s Twitter account or through our Facebook page.

P.S. TELL THE FEDERAL TREASURER WHAT YOU THINK OF THE BUDGET

NSW Business Chamber will be hosting the Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, for his annual post-Budget Luncheon address to the NSW business community on Tuesday 15 May.

This event is your opportunity to tell the Federal Treasurer what you think of the Federal Budget and share your views on the direction Australian business is heading.

Please join us for this important business briefing.

Further details including registration are available on the NSW Business Chamber website.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Cartwright

Chief Executive Officer

NSW Business Chamber