On Saturday we assisted Sunshine Coast based charity, Bloomhill Cancer Help to successfully launch their new Op Shop at Noosaville, with a family fun day.

In just four hours the event, which included a super 30% off sale, the team from Zinc FM with giveaways and hot dogs, face painting and balloons for the kids and a grand opening by former Olympian and Bloomhill patron Raelene Boyle, hundreds of people attended.

The event also attracted significant pre and post event media coverage including being featured on Seven Local News and Win News Sunshine Coast on Monday night, after we submitted a video news release.

The new store is the first for the charity at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast.  It like the other six Op Shops at Maroochydore, Nambour, Buderim, Mooloolaba, Caloundra and the Distribution Centre at Kunda Park, is a vital source of funding for the organisation, which helps people throughout the Sunshine Coast and their families to live well with cancer.  To find out more about Bloomhill visit www.bloomhill.com.au.

As the economic climate hits a new low, Business Incubators across Australia are continuing to provide great value and practical support to new businesses.

Business Incubators are set up to boost the potential of entrepreneurial companies through flexible office space and the support they receive from Incubator Management and the network of contacts associated.

A new publication by the US based National Business Incubation Association (NBIA Review, Volume 24 Issue 6) highlighted the following key areas in which value is seen:
1.    Incubator subsidies by government pay off through the client companies generating local tax revenue
2.    Incubators reduce the risk of small business failure
3.    Incubators are part of a larger value chain, adding value to the local business community
4.    Incubators enhance economic development in a region

The Sunshine Coast’s own Business Incubator – The Innovation Centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast – encompasses all of these benefits for start-up companies and has recently expanded to accommodate more established companies as part of their Business Accelerator.

Innovation Centre CEO, Colin Graham, suggested that in the current economic conditions, with many people being made redundant, there would be more ‘forced entrepreneurship’ beginning.  ‘It is often the case that people who have been thinking about a particular business idea for a long time, may see being made redundant as their chance to get started,’ he said.

The Innovation Centre began its Incubator program in 2002 and has helped over 50 companies, primarily in the IT, creative and green-technology sectors, through the introductory and growth stages of their development since then, creating over 300 jobs.

Business Incubator’s also assist associate or virtual clients by providing them with similar services, without those companies being based on the premises. The Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast currently houses over 20 businesses and has four associate clients, and is assisting them through mentoring, advice and business development and networking events.

According to the National Business Incubation Association, there is no doubt that Business Incubators are a great investment and that public sector support for them pays off. Their study showed that for every $1 in estimated public operating subsidy to an Incubator, its graduate and current companies generated approximately $30 in local tax revenue alone.  They also significantly reduce the risk of small business failure, as the success rate of companies who complete the Business Incubation Program is about 87 percent.

The Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast’s Business Incubation program includes flexible office space, fast speed fibre optic connectivity, basic business start-up mentoring, assistance with sourcing capital investment, executive development seminars, networking activities, shared administrative facilities marketing and finance assistance.

Innovation Centre Business Incubator Manager and Entrepreneur in Residence, Nigel Hall commented, ‘Businesses who participate in our program have a much higher chance of success due to the mentoring, executive development, networking and lower total cost of operating they can access at the Centre’.

For more information about the Business Incubator and the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast visit
www.innovation-centre.com.au, phone +61 7 5450 2600 or email innovationcentre@usc.edu.au.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/3714177[/vimeo]

This video was produced to promote the Innovation Centre to the external business market. It is being broadcast from their website, on YouTube and has also been used in a viral email campaign and is regularly played at events.

We always work hard to achieve great results for our clients and in the past six months have achieved significant coverage for the Innovation Centre through an on-going strategic media relations and online video campaign.

The latest success in this campaign was a great quarter page article in the Financial Review today.  Because of AFR’s copyright restrictions we are unable to reproduce a copy of the article here but you can check it out online if you have a subscription with them.  Just go to www.afr.com.au and search for Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast.

If not here is a summary of the article:

‘Smart state’ needs wider focus – By Jason Clout
As the Queensland Government prepares itself for the upcoming election on Saturday, chief executive of the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast, Colin Graham, said government support needed to go out to the regional areas of Queensland and not just Brisbane. The Liberal National small business spokesman, Rob Messenger, said increasing small business in regional areas was a key goal. The centre, a subsidiary of the Sunshine Coast University, is funded through the support of the state government and the university. Mr Graham said ‘the centre has developed strengths in looking after IT and clean technology businesses but we are also seeking to build health and creative businesses.’ One of the creative companies in the centre is game developer Big Ant Studios.

Michelle Smytheman has been my PR person exclusively for 3 years. During this time she has been able to get some amazing media attention for me. Her journalistic background makes her ability to communicate to the media second to none and has been able to attract loads of free publicity either via press releases or her own contacts.

Michelle is dedicated to giving her clients 110% and will do what ever is needed to get the results you want.  I can whole heartily recommend her to anyone who needs a dynamic PR person.

Ryan Early has been my camera man for many years now and has helped me produce video clips, show reels and has filmed many of my launches such as my 5th cookbook and Weight Loss Workshop. Ryan has also produced videos for my website and was even trusted with filming our daughters wedding. He is an amazing editor and is passionate about achieving outstanding results and I can highly recommend him to anyone wishing to use his services.

Annette Sym
Symply Too Good Pty Ltd

Using the RIP mail system has been the best marketing move I have made in my business to date.  From the very first newsletter, traffic to my website increased 10-fold.  I receive positive feedback after each send. Best of all, the system is easy to use.

Nicki Parkinson

www.stylingyou.com.au

At the Mooloolaba Triathlon Festival from the 27th to 29th of March you would expect to see elite athletes challenging themselves but you should also be on the lookout for Bloomhill Cancer Help.

With businesses throughout Australia facing challenging economic times, the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast is throwing open its doors to support even more businesses throughout south-east Queensland.

The Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast, a University of the Sunshine Coast company which houses entrepreneurial businesses and operates business incubator and accelerator programs, is expanding its 2009 business development program, offering a mix of free and cost-effective events to help businesses grow.