Media Release by Central Coast Industry Festival
If you’re in business on the Central Coast, the program of nine free capability-building workshops on offer as part of the Central Coast Industry Festival is an absolute must to attend.
Designed to support local businesses to rebound from the challenges of the last two and a half years and be more resilient in the face of adversity, the series of workshops run from Friday, August 19 to Thursday, September 1 include a workshop designed to help businesses improve their chances of accessing grant funding, a workshop which explores ways to turn waste into new income streams, and an intensive two-day workshop geared to help businesses collaborate more effectively.
Festival manager Alex Blow said, “We have some world-class experts delivering the workshops, and these would normally cost thousands to attend. We’re offering them for free and I can’t recommend strongly enough to local business leaders to jump on this unprecedented opportunity and sign yourselves and your employees up to relevant workshops before you miss out, as places are limited.”
Innovation strategist Anton Kriz is making a welcome return to the region for the event from his current base in the ACT where he is an Associate Professor at ANU as well as a high-level executive trainer and expert on doing business in Asia. In his own words, Anton thrives on “wicked innovation and trying to resolve complex ecosystem games”. His one-day workshop, Turbo Charging Innovation in Your Organisation, will be hands-on with participants given the opportunity to “play” with their own innovation project and work it through to a next-level solution.
Laureate Professor Veena Sahajwalla, an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer, inventor and 2022 NSW Australian of the Year will be a feature presenter at the Circular Economy Makes Good Business Sense workshop. This half-day workshop will provide participants with insights into how to view waste differently by seeing it as a potentially valuable resource for tangible business benefits.
While the Central Coast Industry Festival has a prominent focus on the manufacturing, agribusiness and food and beverage production sectors, the workshops are open to anyone in business. Importantly, the workshops also offer participants the opportunity to meet, network and share best practice with other local industry leaders.
The inaugural Central Coast Industry Festival is being held at Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi from August 19 to September 3. The festival is a Bushfire Local Economic Recovery project that has been jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales Governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. The festival’s overarching objective is to support key local industries to recover from the impact of recent floods, bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic and to build resilience against future disruptions through capability-building, skills sharing, talent pipeline development and relationship building.
In addition to the workshop program, the festival includes a 3-day Industry Expo from September 1–3, showcasing 50 leading local businesses which is open to industry visitors each day and the general public on Saturday, September 3.
For more information and to register for workshops or register to visit the Expo, head to the festival website at www.centralcoastindustryfestival.com.au.
