Port Lincoln business owners had the chance to network with fellow businesses and discuss ways to improve the way they operate at a special event last night.
The Port Lincoln Chamber of Commerce hosted an event at the Port Lincoln Hotel in collaboration with the Regional Development Australia and the Port Lincoln City Council, sponsored by Adelaide Business Hub.
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There were over 100 people at the Building Sustainable Businesses and Growing Our Region event, involving a spread of businesses and councils from around the Eyre Peninsula.
Chairperson of Port Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Sharni-Marie Barney said the chamber wanted to organise a networking event that focused on growing business sustainability across the region and in turn, growing the region as a whole.
"Tourism is a key focus tonight - we have had some brilliant speakers tonight as well - We had Annabel Hender from the RDA and hayden from the tourism accelerator."
Ms Barney said she was thankful for the Adelaide Business Hub for sponsoring the event, enabling all parties involved to bring the event to fruition.
"As a chamber we are a volunteer organisation and membership funded - to be able to host such an amazing event tonight could not be possible without our sponsors."
Ms Barney mentioned this was an opportunity to hold discussions around different ways of growing the region from a higher level type vision space.
"Also individually do we work on our businesses and what are some of those opportunities that are out there that perhaps we are maybe not taking notice of or we just need some more help about how we think about putting those things together."
She believed there had been sectors of business that had struggled over the past two of years through the pandemic, mentioning there are set to be more challenges to come in the post COVID-19 landscape.
"Generally speaking the Eyre Peninsula from a tourism perspective saw massive growth and exceeded numbers - we were really lucky in the region as far as the economy goes compared to other areas in Australia."
Ms Barney said skill shortage was a continuing problem in the region.
"I hear from different areas it is certainly an area that is being worked on and leaders in certain industries are looking at ways they can help support that further. It is an ongoing issue that we continually need to address."
Ms Barney said she had mostly positive feedback around where the region is at in this space currently, believing there are a new set of challenges still to come across a variety of industries including seafood sectors, food industry, the agricultural industry and the tourism industry.
"All of those have their own set of unique of challenges - people are feeling quite confident it is just a matter of maintaining that moving forward."
Ms Barney and the other guest speakers had interactions with the crowd throughout the presentation, engaging with them about where their businesses could be improved and areas they needed to work on.
The chair stressed the importance of one percent changes throughout the presentation, and how they can make a considerable difference to the businesses.
"It is about being proactive constantly looking at those areas of business that we can be improving, seeking out the support potentially that we need to improve those areas."
Ms Bareny outlined some avenues of support businesses could access to assist them in making changes to improve their business.
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"The Adelaide Business Hub have got an amazing mentoring program for small business owners it is $44 you get three hours training with the business expert on any particular area you need help with."
"The RDA provide an endless amount of information, Port Lincoln City Council have certain programs people can access and us as a chamber we are always looking to facilitate events."
