ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY
Project and trialled the ground-breaking model in
their Visitor Information Centre during 2017. The
program assisted young jobseekers with work
experience, core skills development, mentoring and
the development of worker traits that will make them
more competitive for employment - using an existing
council facility and council staff. The program
successfully upskilled the young people, and saw
them obtain relevant industry qualifications assisting
them into employment. Departments, six Queensland Statutory Bodies,
seven Commonwealth Government Departments,
two Commonwealth Statutory Bodies, six Regional
Stakeholders and 10 Industry Stakeholders.
The EDU then created an innovative Toolkit based
on their model. In January 2018 the Toolkit was
distributed to all Councils across Australia to support
them to implement their own successful programs.
If every Council could get 10 unemployed young
people into work using the Youth First Employment
Toolkit, a minimum of 5,000 jobs can be filled
nationally each year. FINALIST
FINALIST
CITY OF IPSWICH
Ipswich Economic and Workforce
Development Plan
The Ipswich Economic and Workforce Development
Plan is the convergence of two major strategic
plans and more than three years research and
consultation. It consolidates, simplifies and shares
the priorities, actions and measures of Council’s
Office of Economic Development (OED).
The Economic and Workforce Development Plan
was developed to align the staff and resources of
OED, and Council more broadly, towards a set of
clear priorities, actions and measures which it could
take responsibility and accountability for.
The Economic and Workforce Development Plan
identifies 45 actions which would deliver, facilitate or
support positive outcomes aligned with the identified
priorities. All of those 45 actions have performance
measures, 57 in total, which are reported monthly
internally so that the team can track their progress
and every quarter, those measures are reported to
the industry and community so that stakeholders
can transparently engage with our work.
The Plan was designed in coherence with the
Queensland Government’s South East Queensland
Regional Plan 2017 to generate greater opportunity
for partnership collaboration and funding
commitment.
The Plan has been consulted with the Mayor
and all Councillors, five regional Members
of Parliament, ten Queensland Government
The Ipswich Economic and Workforce Development
Plan has generated immediate productivity
benefits, increased investment, partnership gains,
and industry outcomes.
SUNSHINE COAST COUNCIL
Business Continuity during construction,
Bulcock Street revitalisation project
To support and activate growing communities, the
Sunshine Coast Council is currently creating a
vibrant, modernised hub in downtown Caloundra,
via the Bulcock Street Revitalisation Project. The
fourth, and final stage of the upgrade commenced
in April 2018 and is due to finish in December 2018.
After a challenging Stage three project in 2016,
which included delayed timeframes due to weather,
under prepared business owners, and reduction
to footfall. Sunshine Coast Council identified an
opportunity to better support business owners.
The goal was to; develop a resource that
businesses could use and implement that
would assist in reducing the impact caused by
construction. Following research into other regions,
interviews with businesses and uncovering
business continuity best practices, a powerful
and easy to digest resource was produced by the
Economic Development team.
The “Business Continuity - a guide to doing
business during construction and road upgrades”
(attachment 1) is one of the first of its kind in
Australia and aims to encourage business owners
to look at steps and actions they can take, to
support their own business continuity during
construction. It’s also a testament to the Council
Economic Development team’s understanding
of potential business difficulties during disruptive
construction periods and commitment to innovative
planning and preparation for these to mitigate
impacts.
This Guide and associated activities have been
the driving force behind businesses being better
prepared, collaborative activation initiatives
which have driven visitation to the area and
with significantly improved economic outcomes
and a measurable decrease in business owner
frustration.
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