Horsham Rural City Council has begun a new program with several funding streams, in a bid to convince more businesses to set up shop in the city.
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At its meeting on Tuesday January 28, councillors voted to endorse the Business Assistance Program.
The funding can also be accessed by existing Horsham businesses wanting to grow, diversify or sustain themselves.
Funding under the program is available in two streams. One stream involves mentoring, where applicants fund an initial mentoring assessment to the value of $100 and the council can then fund any follow up sessions up to $300 per applicant.
The second stream, professional development, will see council cover or contribute to the cost of accessing professional services. These include business planning, marketing strategies and specialised training and workshops.
The council has allocated $10,000 in its 2019/20 budget towards the program.
Horsham mother-daughter duo Jo and Casey Weyburg relocated their business Iso Hair and Beauty from Roberts Avenue - where it had been for 17 years - to Darlot Street in January.
They said Horsham small businesses would find marketing help in particular useful.
"It's so expensive to put yourself out there," Jo said. "If I was to advertise in a traditional sense it would cost a lot of money."
"There is me and Casey who is basically full-time, and then we have two part-timers. It can be hard sometimes because wages are really high and because of the rent you have to pay."
"We moved because the rent here was cheaper. The tough part (of relocating) was having to build the salon, put new fixtures in. We've gone from two stories down to one, so we've had to downsize a lot.
"It's been a new beginning - fresher and a bit more up-market for us. Casey had young ideas for younger people for the new salon."
The duo said they hoped Horsham shoppers supported small businesses more with their spending.
At Tuesday's meeting, councillor Alethea Gulvin said she hoped to see "a lot of businesses people" apply for the program.
"We are endeavouring to help our local community and businesses. It is available to anyone who wishes to take part in it," she said.
Councillor Les Power said: "If we are to develop into a regional city like we talk about - and have been doing so for the past three years - we then in turn need to encourage businesses small and large to come to Horsham and support our region.
"This is something we need to push strongly so all of Australia knows we are doing this to make Horsham a bigger and better place to live.
"(This is about) providing employment for the kids who are at school now from year six, so that in future years Horsham grows the way it should. It offers through these programs (the chance for) employers to grow with the town itself and give future employment to our young. We are not just a farming community."
Councillor Pam Clarke said small businesses employed most people in Horsham Rural City.
"We know the retail sector is struggling with the competition online, but there are some businesses in Horsham that are doing extremely well - where they're doing work internationally - and I think that's something that we miss," she said.
Development Services Director Angela Murphy said: "We do offer training courses in an ongoing way but I think this is going to be more targeted. We're keen for businesses to lodge expressions of interest and we will work very closely with them to get this moving quickly."
Business Horsham relationship manager Claudia Haenel welcomed the new program.
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