Port Stephens Council and The Business Centre earlier this month kicked off their business development Start House program.

The purpose of the program is to support and encourage businesses to develop great products and visitor experiences that will drive overnight visitation and visitor spend in the region.

Port Stephens Mayor, Ryan Palmer, has welcomed 16 participants to the program.

This will see experienced Business Advisors educate and mentor new business owners over the next few months, as they work on their ideas.

Janelle Gardner, Economic Development and Tourism Co-ordinator of Port Stephens Council and Steve Wait, CEO of the Business Centre, said they are thrilled to be working together on this brilliant initiative.

“Cr Ryan, Ms Gardner and the Port Stephens Council are obviously very involved in the local visitor economy and committed to this invaluable program,” Steve said.

“We have developed and run the Start House program in different regions and ecosystems over the last 2 years and are excited to now be able to work with Port Stephens Council to bring this opportunity to the region.

“Start House Port Stephens will engage the local community, build an innovation ecosystem within the visitor economy and support the transition of new ideas into sustainable businesses.”

The Start House program will be facilitated by Start House Program Manager at the Business Centre, Lena Vestad Hansen, with the support of other Business Advisors who will work with the participants in their particular areas of expertise.

Lena said she was very impressed by the calibre of participants in the program.

“We have some really wonderful applicants approved to be part of the Port Stephens Start House program. They are set to start up some fabulous companies which will be a boon to the Port Stephens’ visitor economy.

Through the program participants will learn how to innovate and test the viability of their idea.

They will be provided with several opportunities to connect to the growing ecosystem and industry experts.

“By the end of the program they should feel increased confidence around the financial viability of their idea and have a clear view of what to do next. They’ll have a good understanding about what support they need, from whom and how to ask for it,” Lena said.

“In light of the COVID-19 situation, Start House will be delivered in a slightly different way to how we have run it in the past.

For instance, earlier this month they delivered the Start House program online across three days, instead of a full day bootcamp as held in the past.

“The program will still provide a wealth of support, guidance, tools and expertise to the 16 successful applicants who started earlier this month – just in a slightly different format in line with COVID-19 restrictions.”

This week the theme of their Start House program was Rural and Regional and next week will be Retail, with many more themes and ideas in the works.

All previous Start House programs can be watched on their YouTube channel after each live event.

IMAGE | Start House Program Manager, Lena Vestad Hansen, at the Port Stephens Discovery Event held earlier this year.