A program driven by The Business Centre promises to launch hundreds of new businesses in the Hunter in the next five years, and help existing ones gain solid support after the pandemic.
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The Entrepreneurship Pathway has been developed by the Centre in partnership with Business Hunter and regional business chambers and will launch in October.
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The Centre's CEO Steve Wait said there were 600 places, each worth close to $15,000 and with a potential collective value of $8.97 million, through a joint venture deal, known as New Hunter Business, with the federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
People can apply via the Self-Employment Assistance scheme, which in July replaced the former New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, previously only been open to job seekers.
Mr Wait said the program is "genuinely significant" because it was practical, offering individual business advice and coaching over a year, and open to "anyone in the community", including current and aspiring business owners.
"From professionals looking to go out on their own to people that want to turn their side hustle into a full-time business, people young and old, with disabilities, from indigenous or culturally diverse backgrounds, this program is for people who simply want to take that leap into starting a business."
Mr Wait said the new program may add as many as 1200 new jobs to the region if each participant business employed one person.
Beginning with four weeks of intensive training, the program's start dates are in October and November this year, plus others in 2023.
Business Hunter CEO Bob Hawes said the organisation would actively promote the new program given the vast number of SMEs and new entrants that are eligible.
"There are plenty of existing businesses in the micro category that have been knocked around through COVID and have stayed afloat on the back of support programs like Jobkeeper," he said. "With those support measures stripped away, many businesses are vulnerable. This program offers a pathway back to health."
Mr Hawes said the Hunter had a strong reputation for supporting entrepreneurs and start ups and the new program would "add another dimension by virtue of the structure of the program".
"The ambition across the region to grow into new sectors and industries will be enhanced by having this program available," he said.
"Business Hunter is a strong advocate for growing business locally and the more great ideas that emerge here that can stay and grow here, the better off the region will be."
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Penelope Green
Business, news and feature reporter.
Business, news and feature reporter.
