August 10, 2005
On Thursday 4th August 2005 the Economic Gardeners Team and Mensheds Team travelled to Rosehill Race Course in Sydney for the Annual Country Week Expo which was held over three days.
They certainly helped to put Grenfell on the map. The Expo attracted ninety exhibitors (60 communities and 30 others associated with regional areas) from across NSW and 10,000 visitors which was about 14% up on last year.
And to top it all off, they won the top prize for the “most novel and interesting stand” of the whole exhibition. What a thrill it was when they were presented with the award, which was obviously a very popular win with all the other exhibitors.
Some of the Team with the Award
Not only did they have a lot of fun, but they demonstrated what can be achieved by working as a team. In all there were sixteen people involved in organising and manning the stand, including the Peter Sergeant, Ron Fox, Roy Powell, Robert James and David Thompson the Economic Gardeners.
Seafood at the Sergeant's for the Team during Country Week
The slogan “Mensheds – Economic Gardening at Work” was obviously seen by many as the cornerstone of economic development in regional communities.
Everyone was overwhelmed by the high level of interest shown in Economic Gardening and Mensheds which will take weeks just to do the initial follow-up. Many of the contacts and ideas exchanged at the Expo will be of great benefit to regional economic development across Australia.
Country Week Expo 2005
August 5, 2005
Economic gardening is a big step toward keeping kids in regional Australia. Regional areas need to retain more of their talented kids as they face growing labour and management shortages with the imminent retirement of the baby boomers.
The exodus of kids from regional areas is an entrenched phenomenon. It is partly wanderlust and partly the perception that there is no future working in regional businesses.
Economic gardening cannot overcome wanderlust, but it can transform local businesses into dynamic businesses with strong growth prospects. There can also be a focus on how to build that growth around young people gaining experience in business and progressing through the management ranks.
Roy Powell, Director of CARE in Armidale and a sponsor of economic gardening commented that “without businesses that are well managed and growing into expanding markets there is no chance that young people will stay in the regions. The solution to the problem has to begin by transforming businesses.”
Peter Sergeant of Economic Gardeners described economic gardening as a “...program to provide access to the management systems and business information that underpins successful businesses and a network for participants to allow the sharing of experiences and mentoring similar to that offered in business schools.”
The age profile of the workforce in regional areas indicates that an employment crisis is emerging. What is now evident in relation to trade skills will spread to include most areas of business operations and management.
The problem has to be addressed at the grassroots by the existence of regional businesses with operating and management opportunities that are comparable to those offered by city businesses. That can only be achieved by providing operating and management support to regional businesses that is comparable to that available to city businesses.
For further information call:
Peter Sergeant
02 9890 8351
August 5, 2005
“Economic Gardening can transform the business landscape in regional Australia” says Peter Sergeant, a Director of Economic Gardener. It is the development catalyst for rural towns and cities.
He added that “Economic gardening puts the focus on local business. In most regional economic development programs, some form of economic gardening is nowhere to be found.”
The basis of economic gardening lies in providing local businesses with access to modern management systems and information comparable to that available to city businesses.
In 2003, Keniry indicated that regional businesses did not have access to programs that would give them the skills and information necessary to run a modern business. Economic gardening fills that gap.
The gap has existed because it was expected that governments would do it. The fact is that governments cannot, as they do not have the experience and skills. They are unable to take the risks associated with the provision of business advice.
Within regions, good ‘community-based’ processes can spark new initiatives in regional areas involving visitor programs and the provision of community services. However, these processes do not address the needs of existing local businesses to be operated better and to find and take growth opportunities.
A well-designed economic development program will:
An economic gardening program should be initiated in your local area by Council, the Economic Development Office, the Chamber of Commerce or a group of business operators who seek to run their businesses better.
Peter Sergeant
02 9890 8351
