MEDIA RELEASE
17 March 2017
On Wednesday 7 March on the eve of International Women’s Day, local businesswomen gathered at Wantima Country Club for an information session with Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy and Minister for Small Business, Leeanne Enoch, Local Member for Pine Rivers Nikki Boyd and representatives from the Department of Small Business to hear about a range of programs the Queensland Government has launched to support small business.
“Small business is such an important part of our local economy, with over four thousand small businesses in the region,” Ms Boyd said.
“Nationally, small businesses employ approximately forty-seven percent of the workforce. That’s a significant chunk of our population. If we are going to ensure jobs are continuing to grow, then we need to make sure we are supporting small business.”
“Women represent only about one third of small business owners. There’s a lot of room for growth there and what better time than International Women’s Day to focus on that.”
Minister for Small Business Leeanne Enoch said the Palaszczuk Government was committed to supporting small businesses and to create the environment for them to start, grow and employ.
“The Palaszczuk Government launched the Advancing Small Business Strategy in 2016 and one of the key areas was to develop women in business and encourage them to start and grow their own business.
“Nationally, the number of women operating businesses has increased by 46% over the past 20 years and they now make up over a third of all business operators in Australia. We want these numbers to grow.
“The Office of Small Business consulted with an array of women across Queensland’s business community to better understand the challenges they face including juggling priorities, a desire for mentoring opportunities and a need to connect with other business operators.
“Over the next 12 months, there will be a number of initiatives to support women in business including workshops catering to those at different stages of a business lifecycle,” she said.
Additional initiative to support small business operators including women in business can be found at www.business.qld.gov.au.
Jeanette Murray from Bell and Bird Boutique in Lawnton found the function very beneficial.
“I got to expand my customer base and meet other businesswomen in the area whose services will be useful to me. I’ll definitely be following up with them to utilise their services,” Ms Murray said.
“Opening up a new business is really challenging. There’s so much to learn and it can really be make or break. It’s great to see the State Government launching programs to make what can be a really daunting and stressful process that bit easier.”
“I’ve already started looking into how I can best utilise the programs that are available and I’m sure other attendees will as well. I think they will be very beneficial.”
For more about the State Government’s programs supporting small business please contact Ms Boyd’s office on 3448 3100.
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