In This Issue:

• Welcome From The Chair
• Come On Inland
• Growing The Digital Economy In Northern Inland NSW
• Social Enterprises - Finance
• Digital Technology Training – Northern Tablelands
• Economic Facts and Figures
• Small Business Online Education Program
• Upcoming Conferences
• What’s On In The Northern Inland
• New Grants and Funding Opportunities

Welcome From The Chair

Dear Northern Inlanders,

Come on Inland!  RDANI are very pleased to announce the launch of the Come on Inland campaign.  This is primarily a social media campaign where our aim is to attract further businesses and families to relocate to the Northern Inland region.  The Come on Inland campaign complements individual Councils promotional efforts.

Check us out on facebook and let us know how much you ‘like’ us!

All the best,

Mal Peters, Chair

Come On Inland

"Come on Inland” is an initiative of Regional Development Australia Northern Inland (RDANI) to promote the Northern Inland as a desirable region to relocate business and families to.

"Come on Inland' is an exciting program which creates an umbrella brand for each of the 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to work under, to further attract economic development in their area,” explains Mal Peters, RDANI Chair.

“Extensive consultation was conducted with all 13 councils within the Northern Inland, so that we are confident that this campaign positively reflects the region,” says Mr Peters.

Whilst the concept of “Come on Inland” was originally developed in 2011, the re-launching of it as a social media campaign more directly aligns with the target demographics.

“Research has shown that those aged 35-55 are more likely to consider relocating for business or family reasons,” explains Nathan Axelsson, Executive Officer RDANI.  “This age group is also very switched on to social media, so it seems like a good fit.”

“In addition to the “Come on Inland” website, we have a Facebook, twitter, and pinterest presence”, says Mr Axelsson.

We encourage all recipients of the eNewsletter to go online and look at the website, and then ‘like’ us on Facebook, and become followers.

Growing The Digital Economy In Northern Inland NSW

Regional Development Australia Northern Inland (RDANI) is developing a Digital Economy Strategy for Business and is keen to ensure that organisations across the region capture the benefits of high-speed broadband. The RDANI Strategy will focus predominantly on how high‐speed broadband can contribute towards the growth of existing private sector businesses, together with opportunities for ‘new’ technology firms to establish themselves in the region.

“Put simply, the Digital Economy is the global network of economic and social activities that are enabled by platforms such as the internet and experts put the potential value of this economic sector at somewhere between 7% & 12% of our Regional Domestic Product. This could mean great things for our local economies and businesses need to be empowered and prepared for change in this area to ensure they maximize their own opportunities,” said RDANI Executive Officer, Nathan Axelsson.

RDANI Executive Officer, Nathan Axelsson explains, “We are looking to consult with local organisations that are already taking part in the emerging digital economy. We can learn from the experiences of these businesses, incorporate their ideas in the Digital Economy Strategy and promote their digital business success stories as case studies for other organisations across the region to learn from in moving their business online.” You are invited to RSVP to one of the following Digital Business Consultation sessions or to book a consultation via phone or desktop video conference by emailing rda@attentiveconsulting.com.au.

Inverell
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
10am, 12pm, 2pm or 4pm
Kurrajong Room, RSM Club, 58-62 Evans Street

Moree
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
10am, 12pm, 2pm or 4pm
Training Room, Community College Northern Inland Inc, 45-47 Frome Street

Narrabri
Thursday, 2 May 2013
10am, 12pm, 2pm or 4pm
Exhibition Rm, Crossing Theatre, 117 Tibbereena Street

Tamworth
Friday, 3 May 2013
11am or 1pm
School Room, Community Centre, Cnr Peel & Darling Street

Wednesday, 8 May 2013
10am, 12pm, 2pm or 4pm
Britten Room, Community Centre, Cnr Peel & Darling Street

Armidale
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
12pm, 2pm or 4pm
RDA-NI Board Room, Suite 6, Level 1, 175 Rusden Street

Social Enterprises - Finance

Social enterprises are businesses that are set up to make money, both in not for profit and for profit structures, but not relying on grants and donations and have a strong social objective as their reason for operating. DEEWR,  through the Social  Enterprise Development and Investment Fund, partnered with banks, philanthopic organisations and not for profits and selected  three fund managers. The aim is to improve access to finance and support for social enterprises to help them grow their business and increase the impact of their work in their communities. These are loans not grants, the fund managers also link into support through the partner organisations such as mentoring and capacity building in the enterprise.

Further details are available on the SEFA website, www.sefa.com.au

Digital Technology Training – Northern Tablelands

The Armidale Digital Enterprise Program is expanding to share the benefits with other Local Government Areas in the Northern Tablelands region. The Armidale Digital Enterprise Program is a federally funded initiative delivered by Armidale Dumaresq Council that aims to provide free information and training sessions to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) including local cultural organisations (LCIs).

Armidale Dumaresq Council have partnered with Guyra Shire Council, Glen Innes Severn Council, Inverell Shire Council and Tenterfield Shire Council to provide the Free Digital Business Strategies 8 week workshops to five different venues within the Northern Tablelands region (Armidale, Inverell, Guyra, Glen Innes and Tenterfield).

These free workshops are delivered by Attentive Consulting, and  are focused on providing businesses with the knowledge and activities to form a digital (online) business strategy for their business and develop a model of delivery to transform their organisation into a competitive trader in the digital economy. Once registered businesses, are also given the option to watch the live video cast on their own computer from their business or home.

All participants that attend these workshops also receive free access the Digital Business Academy at www.digitalbusinessacademy.org. The Digital Business Academy is an online Learning Management System (moodle2) that will assist participants with their 8 week free business workshops by  providing them with consultative guidance strategy and workshop templates, reading material, rich media video and many more resourceful materials all supplied free of charge. Recordings of each workshop will be uploaded into the Digital Business Academy for participants to watch if they would like to revisit a topic or miss a workshop.

Details of each of the workshops are available in PDF format for each town here.

Economic Facts and Figures

At the recent Building Regional Australia Summit held in Armidale, a very interesting speaker told participants of where some very useful statistics can be found.

Lailani Burra from id.Australia discussed who each Council and business is able to benchmark performance based on statistical analysis.  The National Economic Indicators based on the 2011 Census data, are available for free on id.Australia website at www.id.com.au and http://economic-indicators.id.com.au

Small Business Online Education Program

The ACCC has released a free online education program for small businesses to help them learn about their rights and obligations under Australian competition and consumer laws.

There are ten modules in this small business program providing a broad overview of the key provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 which includes the Australian Consumer Law. You can work through all the modules or you can select the ones most relevant to your business. At the end of each module, there is a short self-assessment quiz which you can take to test your understanding.

The ten modules cover:

• Misleading conduct and advertising
• Pricing and unfair selling practices
• Consumer rights and guarantees
• Selling safe products
• Scams
• Consumer contracts
• Unconscionable conduct
• Exclusive dealing and resale price maintenance
• Cartels
• Misuse of market power

The free online education program for small business is available at www.ccaeducationprograms.org.

Upcoming Conferences

Sustaining Rural Communities
5 & 6 June 2013, Narrabri

The fourth annual Sustaining Rural Communities Conference will be held once again in the Northern Inland regional centre of Narrabri.  Touching on themes of resilient communities the conference will help community leaders and community activists with the tools, skills, networks and resources they need to make their rural and regional communities  better places.

To be held on Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th June at the Crossing Theatre, the conference will be free to attend (fee for catering).  Stay updated at the site www.sustainingruralcommunities.org.au or look for the Facebook group page for Sustaining Rural Communities.

What’s On In The Northern Inland

The 2013 Australian Celtic Festival
Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th of May
Glen Innes

The 21st Celtic Festival is bigger and better than ever! A complete program of events, for the 2013 Australian Celtic Festival "Year of Scotland," is available from the Visitors Centre in Church Street or can be downloaded from the Australian Celtic Festival website at www.australiancelticfestival.com

King Of The Ranges, Stockmans Challenge & Bush Festival
Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th of May
Murrurundi

This annual Murrurundi event commences at 7pm Friday with a family night, events all day Saturday, finals from 11am Sunday. For more information, visit website www.kingoftheranges.com.au.

50th Currabubula Art Show
Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th of  May
Currabubula

The 50th Currabubula Red Cross Art Exhibition 2013 coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Currabubula Red Cross Branch and will be held at the Currabubula Memorial Hall.  To celebrate, a history cook book will be launched and there will be a memorabilia display. The admission to the opening Night on the 9th of May  is $20.00 and includes catalogue and finger food.  Admission on all other days is $5, school children free. For more information please visit www.countryconnect.com.au/curraart.

The Great Nundle Dog Race
Sunday 5th of May
Nundle

Bring your dog and family for a great day of fun at Nundle. There are many races to enter such as the House Dog Races, Mongrel Invitation Stakes and Juvenile Canine Mini Stakes. If your dog can jump there is the Doggy High Jump, or if he loves to chase rabbits then you might try him in Stumpy’s Circular Dog Derby.

There are great prizes to be won.The main race is The Great Nundle Dog Race, which is open to bona fide working dogs only. District graziers and station hands pit their pride and joy working dogs against each other to keep the tradition alive of finding the fastest dog. A barbeque lunch and morning and afternoon tea are available at the ground, and water is available for your dog. Money raised on the day goes to the Nundle Public School P&C. Further information can be found on the Nundle website at www.nundle.com.au/events/the-great-nundle-dog-race/

Sustainable Namoi Living Expo 2013
Friday 10th to Saturday 11th of May
Tamworth

The 2013 Sustainable Namoi Living Expo is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever! This is the flagship event of the Sustainable Namoi Living Program.

Held on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th May 2013, the expo will have something for everyone including live demonstrations, celebrity presenters, workshops and exhibits from a huge range of industries including building and renovating, interior design, eco retailers, sustainable food producers, native vegetation, climate action, birdwatchers and composting. It’s a great day out for the whole family. And it’s Free! Further details are available on the expo's website, www.sustainablenamoiliving.com.au.

Cotton Fibre Expo     
Saturyday 11th to Saturday 18th of May
Narrabri

The Australian Cotton Fibre Expo is an exhibition of artworks, craft and fashion, showcasing the creative uses of the cotton fibre. The Expo is one of a kind and there isn't another cotton fibre expo like this in the world. Preperations are now underway for the 2013 Expo and there are many ways to become involved.
Venue: The Crossing Theatre, Narrabri. Further details are available on the expo's website, www.australiancottonfibreexpo.com.au

Local Shows in May
Warialda Show - 9th to 11th of  May
Wee Waa Show  & Draft Punk Album Launch - 17th to 19th of May
Bingara Show - 25th to 26th of May

New Grants and Funding Opportunities

Community Environment Grants
Applications Close: 8 May 2013

Community Environment Grants of between $5000 and $50 000 are now available from the Australian Government to community groups working to achieve an environment that is healthier, better protected, well managed and resilient.

Funding is available to established and emerging groups currently operating in the environmental sector, including Indigenous organisations.

Regional Relocation Grant
Applications Close 30th of June 2015

This scheme will provide applicants with a one-off payment of $7,000 to assist them with the cost of relocating from their metropolitan home to a regional home.

The Regional Relocation (Home Buyers Grant) Act 2011 will operate for four years, commencing 1 July 2011.

The metropolitan area means the local government areas of the Sydney metropolitan area, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Gosford, Wyong, Wollondilly, Wollongong and Newcastle.

The regional areas are participating local government areas which are located outside of the metropolitan area.

Regional Filming Fund
Applications are ongoing

The NSW Regional Filming Fund [RFF] has been established to ensure that regional NSW benefits from the growth of the NSW screen sector. The aim of the RFF is to encourage NSW screen productions to film outside metropolitan Sydney by granting assistance to offset costs associated with shooting in regional areas. The fund is administered through Screen NSW. Funds are provided by way of a grant and will not be recouped by Screen NSW.

Further informaiton on grants and funding opportunities are available in the Grants and Funding Opportunities area of the RDA-NI website.