May : Mayor’s message to the business community
Welcome to Queensland Small Business Month! In May we celebrate the people who provide local jobs, essential goods and services and wonderful experiences to our community. For Queensland’s first Small Business Friendly Council, it’s a fantastic opportunity to bring our local traders together for bespoke events and training, and to launch new initiatives for support.
Queensland Small Business Month
Queensland’s Small Business Month was opened by the Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development, Hon Di Farmer MP, here in Ipswich at last Saturday at the Brookwater Golf Club. I know Neil and Leila had been working hard to secure the Minister’s attendance.
There are numerous bespoke events are planned for Small Business Month in Ipswich to empower local traders with expanded networks and skills in demand. Attendance is always high at the pop-up stalls organised by the team at the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, held in the middle of Orion Town Centre between 10 and 16 May. Our procurement training sessions will be delivered by an Ipswich businessperson to assist in leveraging Council funds to boost local enterprise. (Please see the attached Flyer for all the events)
My colleague, the newly appointed Deputy Mayor and Chair of Economic and Industry Development Committee, Cr Nicole Jonic, will be championing our small businesses throughout the month. For more information, please reach out to the Business and Investment team at business@ipswich.qld.gov.au.
Our new one-stop portal for information regarding starting, growing and investing in small to medium enterprise is now live at businessipswich.com.au. Business Ipswich dovetails with the State Government’s Business Queensland portal, displaying key data on our city’s economy and infrastructure opportunities, alongside Council’s vision and your success stories. This initiative began with two key questions: how can Council leverage the city’s strengths to benefit local traders? And what does a smooth operating environment look like for our small to medium enterprise?
Major works in Greater Springfield
Construction is moving ahead on the Springfield Greenbank Arterial, Springfield Central Park and Ride and the Brisbane Lions’ arena in May, as our city prepares to welcome 330,000 new residents over the next 20 years.
$46 million is invested for Council’s largest ever road project, with the Springfield Parkway and Springfield Greenbank Arterial set for duplication in the months ahead. Preliminary works including bulk earthworks in preparation for services relocations, retaining wall installation, stormwater and underground conduit installation are currently underway. Traffic restrictions will continue to ensure the safety of workers and motorists ahead of the scheduled delivery date in September this year.
Construction is well underway on the nearby Springfield Central park n ride facility, a $45 million State Government project that will provide more than 1000 new carparks for train commuters. Current disruptions are around the Centenary Highway and around Orion shopping precinct. I would like to thank the State Government for investing in both the Parkway and Arterial upgrades through the Transport Infrastructure Development Scheme, and the Park and Ride to keep Ipswich connected.
It was wonderful to celebrate the Brisbane Lions’ AFLW Premiership in April ahead of the sod-turning for the team’s new home this month. The $70 million arena and complex will include community fields and facilities to complement the other $70 million site nearby on Sportstar Drive, with some of the best AFL, football, league, netball and tennis facilities in South East Queensland on offer. Recent earthworks have seen the main oval scoped out, a creek diverted, more than 100,000 tonnes of vegetation and soil removed, banks and stone walls erected, and the first trees planted. The grandstand and other buildings will be nearly complete by this time next year, and handover will occur at the end of September 2022, in time for the AFLW and AFL pre-seasons.
ANZAC Day at Robelle Domain
It was great to see so many families in Robelle Domain for the ANZAC Day dawn service. Springfield Central has traditionally hosted one of the largest services in Southeast Queensland, with almost 8,000 people attending in 2019. The crowds were back this year after many people remembered our servicemen and women in their driveways in 2020. I would like to thank the Greater Springfield RSL Sub-Branch and all of the organisers across Ipswich for honouring our city’s deep connection to the men and women who have served and continue to serve the nation.
Finally, if you have any questions about Council support for small businesses, please reach out to our Local Business and Investment Team at business@ipswich.qld.gov.au. May is your month, so let’s celebrate all that small to medium enterprise is for our community!