SMALL businesses in the City of Wanneroo will be able to benefit from a program designed to iron out some of the issues businesses and local governments have over red tape.
The Wanneroo Business Association (WBA) also has a part to play in the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC)-led program’s rollout in the City of Wanneroo.
SBDC commissioner David Eaton said the small business friendly approvals program was not about trying to remove regulation or licensing as they were necessary but about being up front with businesses about the process and also finding out what small business found to be a problem in the approvals process.
WBA general manager Lauren Bell, who is a member of the city’s Covid-19 economic recovery taskforce, said participating in the SBDC approvals program demonstrated the city’s commitment to making themselves more accessible to local businesses.
“When Covid hit in 2020, I saw first hand how quickly the city acted to find ways to help local businesses combat challenges and rapid changes to their operating environments,” she said.
“This shows their commitment to shaking up their processes and systems to make sure it is easier for small businesses to work with them.”
She said the WBA played an important role in recommending which businesses were part of the program, to provide their feedback and input for consideration and the face-to-face workshops would take place at Enterprise House in Wanneroo, where the WBA was located.
The City of Wanneroo is one of 20 local governments the SBDC will work with in 2020-21 and 2021-22 to identify approval reform initiatives to streamline the approvals process and help small businesses start, operate and grow in their local areas.
Mr Eaton said small and medium sized businesses were vital as they created the jobs in Australia.
City of Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts agreed on the importance of small businesses to the city.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our community, with 13,000 local businesses providing more than 54,000 local jobs and many other significant benefits, such as opportunities for the city’s residents to work closer to home,’’ she said.
“A 2020 city survey of local businesses identified reducing red tape as key to their post Covid-19 economic recovery.
“By participating in the SBDC Approvals Program, we are directly responding to the needs of our business community.
“Through streamlining processes and reducing red tape, the program will not only benefit our existing local business community but will make it easier for new businesses to establish themselves in Wanneroo, supporting innovation, investment and job creation in the city.”
Small Business Minister Paul Papalia said local governments played a central role in creating an environment in which small businesses could successfully start and thrive in WA.
Mr Papalia also said it was essential all levels of government worked together to make the operating environment as supportive as possible for small businesses.
“The launch of the SBDC’s approvals program is an important expansion of the work the agency has already undertaken with the local government sector through its small business friendly local governments initiative, which has successfully run since 2017,’’ he said.
