Economic Development Portfolio Report - 15 June 2016

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Is the name of the innovative Shop Local Campaign that will commence in September this year.
The program includes an electronic rewards system which will be rolled out exclusively for the South Burnett. In the coming months interested businesses will commence trialling the system for free in the build-up to the campaign launch.
Benefits of the campaign include:
- Increased awareness of products and services offered
- Increased awareness of competitive local offers
- Increased foot traffic into local retail businesses
- Improvement in the levels of customer service provided
- Renewed enthusiasm and support for business operation
- Opportunity to unite with other businesses for shared economic growth
- Fostered community pride
- Regional promotion
To celebrate 2016 Small Business Week and recognise the importance of local small business to our economy and lifestyle, South Burnett Directions hosted a series of business breakfasts across the region.
The breakfasts included the launch of our South Burnett Rewards campaign, including a demonstration of the electronic lRewardle equipment, and some ideas on how individual businesses can capitalise on this opportunity through their own in-house rewards program.
The upcoming CVEP (Customer & Visitor Experience Program) workshops were also promoted.

Over 100 local businesses participated in the recent South Burnett Business Confidence Survey.
Key Findings:
Business trading conditions across the South Burnett region improved significantly over the past twelve months (116.3) compared to the previous twelve months
Non-retail businesses significantly out-performed retail and personal service businesses over the past twelve months, although both are anticipating improvement in outcomes in the coming year
General business expectations for the next twelve months are increasingly positive in contrast to pessimism in the wider regional economy over the same period.
Outlook for businesses over the medium-term (3 years) is even stronger than expectations for next twelve months, although projections for the regional economy are incrementally worse.
Sales, profits and staffing levels of businesses all increased during the past year and are expected to continue to grow over the coming twelve months
The most important issues viewed by businesses of a wide range including local, state, domestic and international factors included:
- Local government leadership and efficiency
- Government policy and regulation
- Increasing input costs
- Declining customer base
- Broadband and IT access

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