Regional Queensland in the spotlight for Qld Small Business Week

THE Queensland Government is hosting major events in regional Queensland as part of its 2014 Queensland Small Business Week celebrations from September 1-6 – and the line-up offers an extraordinary opportunity for business leaders to hear from, and speak with, some of the world’s best business innovators.

Sunshine Coast entrepreneurs looking for ways to accelerate their businesses met TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky, for example, whose business has developed amazing new products from rubbish, even down to cigarette butts. 

TerraCycle has been described as the ‘Google of garbage’ by the New York Times and ‘the coolest little start-up in America’ by Inc. Magazine. Mr Szaky spoke at the Innovation Centre of the Sunshine Coast University on September 3.

Queensland-born international cricket superstar Matthew Hayden will chronicle his journey from the sporting world to successful business owner at a lunch with business owners in Roma on Friday, September 5. The business lunch is at Explorer’s Inn, Roma. 

A business panel discussion event at QUT, Brisbane, on Monday discussed how local businesses could join the few ‘small business tigers’ in Queensland, and was live-streamed across the state. Small business tigers are small businesses that expect to grow their revenue substantially in the next 12 months.

Headlining the launch event on Tuesday, September 2 at a business lunch titled When small business thinks BIG at Brisbane City Hall, wasl Harvard Business School professor Josh Lerner.

Prof Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff professor of investment banking at Harvard Business School, and head of the Entrepreneurial Management unit, focussed on what business can achieve when it thinks globally. Prof. Lerner also sits on the World Economic Forum and presents annually on small business and entrepreneurship.

A luncheon for business leaders showcasing Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games business opportunities, is on Thursday, September 4. 

Ms Stuckey will also be on the Gold Coast on Saturday, September 6, to celebrate Buy Locally Saturday, a Queensland Government initiative in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland encouraging communities to support their local communities.

Queensland Business Week highlights the importance of the Queensland small business sector and provides opportunities for growth, according to Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, Jann Stuckey. She is hosting the five events in Roma, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and Brisbane.

“Small business employs approximately one million Queenslanders and represents about 95 percent of the state’s businesses,” Ms Stuckey said.

“The Queensland Government is committed to growing a strong and prosperous small business sector.

“I am excited about the opportunity to join some of our 400,000-strong hard-working, small businesses in celebrating 2014 Queensland Small Business Week.”

The 2014 Queensland Small Business Week runs from September 1-6 and celebrates the role small business plays in the Queensland economy. It is an initiative of the Queensland Government.

www.business.qld.gov.au/smallbusinessweek

 

ends