SMALL businesses in the Goldfields will have access to a range of mentoring services and training programs following the opening of the region’s Business Growth Centre last week.
The BGC is the latest in a network of four centres to support the development of small businesses in Western Australia.
Established in 2008, the BGC is an initiative of the Department of Training and Workforce Development, and is hosted by West Coast Institute of Training in Joondalup.
With additional funding from the state government, its services have been expanded into regional Western Australia, where it has partnered with local state training providers and private training organisations to service the region’s small business sector.
Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier said the facility would help boost the uptake of training for small businesses and provide job opportunities for the local community.
“Small business is crucial to WA’s economy and it is vital that the sector has the capacity to be innovative,” he said.
“BGC has partnered with the Vocational Training and Education Centre Kalgoorlie and the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and Industry to expand its range of services throughout the Goldfields.”
The other three centres have signed up more than 740 people to its accredited training programs, has had almost 6,000 one-on-one contacts with small business owners, and has developed six new programs tailored to assist small businesses.
Programs developed and launched last year focused on Aboriginal business mentoring, green business skills, tourism training and networking.
