We are proud to announce that the Somerset Region Business Alliance Inc (Chamber of Commerce) has been awarded a $100,000 grant to provide advisory and mentoring services to primary producers, tourism operators and local small businesses affected by the 2011 floods.

The funding was made under the Australian Government’s Small Business Advisory Services Natural Disaster program (SBAS) to help local businesses hit by the recent natural disasters.

The Somerset Region was identified as one of the worst hit areas in Queensland during the January 2011 floods.

The Somerset Region Business Alliance has played a leading role in the flood recovery process by maintaining an Internet information network for the community during and after the flood (for which our I.T. guru Paul Heymans was awarded a Queensland Flood Hero Medal), contributing to the Somerset Region Council ‘Flood Economic Recovery Committee’, donating 14 new Toshiba laptops to flood affected members of the community with money raised by our ‘Sponsor a Laptop’ appeal, establishing Facebook and Twitter community safety alert services, and actively promoting the interests of both the community and local businesses at Local, State and Federal Government levels.

The successful outcome of our SBAS funding application is testimony to the hard work of our committee members who have devoted significant time to this project during the past 6 weeks.

The objective of the SBAS program is to maximise the growth potential, prosperity and sustainability of primary producers and small businesses through enhanced access to information and advice on issues important to sustaining and/or growing small business.

This locally based SBAS program aims to improve the business skills of small business operators and owners.

Professional consultants with considerable expertise and experience will be available to deliver a range of mentoring, advisory and training services to assist primary producers (farmers), agri-businesses, tourism operators, small businesses, trades people and home based businesses to recover from the economic impact of the January 2011 floods.

Advice, training and/or mentoring will be available to assist with the following:

Business planning and consultancy, Legal problems, Agricultural Consultancy, Tourism, Financial Planning, Insurance, Business Administration, Ecommerce, Information Technology & Broadband, Book-keeping, Marketing, Loans & Banking Products, Leasing, Government Regulation and any other business advice you may need to help get your business back on track.

If your business was affected by the flood, whether directly (eg property damage) or indirectly (eg loss of income) and you would like to know more, please register your interest using our online form or call Paul on 07-5427 0132.