Recovery Resources

Get to know the Economic Development team and their role during business as usual and a crisis.

Economic Development in Indigo Shire(PDF, 1MB)

Economic Development Strategy(PDF, 2MB)

Contact the team on 0437 288 000 or by emailing ecodev@indigoshire.vic.gov.au

Stay up to date with the tourism team by reading the Tourism Toolbox

Destination Game Changer Tourism Strategy 2018-2023(PDF, 3MB)  

Business Support Fund - round three

Grants of $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 are available for eligible businesses depending on their payroll.

This grant is suitable for businesses who:

• Operate in Victoria
• Participate in JobKeeper
• Employ people and are registered for Workcover insurance

Funding can be used for:

• meeting business costs, including utilities, salaries or rent
• seeking financial, legal or other advice to support business continuity planning
• developing the business through marketing and communications activities
• any other supporting activities related to the operation of the business.

For more information or to apply visit Business Victoria

Sole Trader Support Fund

Grants of $3,000 for sole traders who work in an indusry that has been affected by COVID restrictions.

This fund is suitable for:

• Sole traders with no employees
• Operate out of a commercial premises
• Participate in JobKeeper
• Are registered for GST.

For a full list of eligible sectors, more information and to apply please visit Business Victoria.

Outdoor Eating and Entertainment Package

To support businesses to have more outdoor eating space, Victorian Government is offering $5,000 for eiligible hospitality businesses. 

Suitable for businesses who:

• Operate in regional Victoria
• Are registered with Worksafe
• Hold a class 2 or 3 Service Sector Certificate of Registration under the Food Act 1984 (Vic) and/or relevant Liquor License.

This grant can be used for:

• Equipment to enable outdoor dining
• Training owners and staff to adapt to a COVIDSafe operating environment
• Marketing to promote ourdoor dining
• Other costs associated with adapting or expanding outdoor dining.

For more informaiton or to apply, visit Business Victoria.

For more information on expanding outdoor dining in Indigo Shire, please contact Ross Smith via email.

Small Business Bushfire Support Grant

Grants of $10,000 are available for businesses that experienced a downturn in business due to the January 2020 bushfires.

Funding can be used for:

• meeting business costs, including utilities, salaries and rent;
• seeking financial advice to support the recovery of the business;
• developing the business through marketing and communications activities or
• improvements to make the business more resilient to future disasters.

For more information or to apply visit Rural Finance.

JobKeeper

The JobKeeper payment scheme is designed to support employers and their employees who have lost work due to the COVID19 pandemic. It will help to keep more Australians employed and support businesses during this time.
More information on the JobKeeper payment and the latest changes regarding adding employees can be found on the ATO website.

If you are uncertain about your elibilty for any of these funding programs, please contact the Economic Development team via email.

To support our hospitality venues to increase their capacity during COVID restrictions we have engage Ross Smith as a project officer. Ross will act as the key point of contact for hospitality businesses and support them to:

• Increase outdoor dining capacity
• Access available funding
• Minimise permit wait times
• Maximise potential for visitors
• Utilise public outdoor spaces as innovative dining precincts

Ross will be visiting venues to discuss their individual needs however can be contacted by email or phone, Monday to Friday.

Ross Smith
Business Support – Recovery Projects Officer
0492 958 406
ross.smith@indigoshire.vic.gov.au

All businesses in Victoria are required to have a COVIDSafe Plan. Business Victoria have created a template for businesses to complete. It is reccommended that you update your plan routinely particulalry as changes are made to restrictions.

If you require assistance in the development of your COVIDSafe plan, please call Business Victoria on 13 22 15 or the Indigo Bushiness Support Hotline on 02 6028 1157

COVID Safe Plan Template(PDF, 721KB)

Factsheet(PDF, 94KB) - How to create a COVIDSafe plan

Factsheet(PDF, 57KB) - What to do if a worker test positive for COVID19

Industry Restart Guidelines - Accommodation(PDF, 1MB) October 2020

Industry Restart Guidelines - Hospitality(PDF, 1MB) October 2020

Business resilience can be developed a number of ways. The circumstances businesses have had to manage in 2020 we extraordinary and very few were prepared for the impacts. 

In this tab you will find resources on how you can grow your business resilience to crisis and develop your business continuity. 

Business continuity roadmap(DOCX, 19KB)

Attract direct bookings for Accommodation

Avoid paying booking platform fees during a time where every cent counts! We have developed a toolkit of five ways to promote direct bookings to your accommodation.

Toolkit - Direct bookings for accommodation(PDF, 25KB)

Free online business listing for tourism operators

Our four destination websites utilise the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) to generate business listings. You can get a free listing for your business that will appear on;

Either 

• www.explorebeechworth.com.au
• www.explorechiltern.com.au
• www.explorerutherglen.com.au
• www.exploreyackandandah.com.au

And

• www.victoriashighcountry.com.au
• www.visitvictoria.com.au and
• www.australia.com 

To receive your free ATDW listing, please email tourism@indigoshire.vic.gov.au 

Tourism North East - Digital Skill Sessions

Tourism North East offer one-on-one and group digital skill development sessions on a variety of topics to enhance operators understanding of digital applications and their use within a tourism business. 

Developed by Digital Skills Manager, Fiona Morris, the group sessions cover common digital platforms and how they can support your business marketing and operations. 

In 2020 and 2021 the following sessions will be offered:

• ATDW e-toolkit
• Top 5 Digital assets to get dialled
• Social media tune up
• Instagram features explained
• Peer review platforms
• IT Literacy*
• Top 3 Digital Analytics Tools
• Digital mentoring

*denotes external provider facilitated by TNE

All sessions are bookable via Eventbrite or if you have any questions please contact Fiona Morris by email.

Buy From Beechworth 

An all in one e-commerce platform that enables retail businesses to sell online quickly and be part of an online retail campaign.

When choosing to sell online it can be difficult to select the right platform for your business and even more so to gain traction in the busy online retail space.

Buy from Beechworth is part of the Buy from the North East initiative, started in response to the COVID19 pandemic to promote retail options as one campaign, first to locals then to a state wide audience.

Head to Buy from Beechworth to check out other local retailers or sign up your own store.

Interested in seeing the project extend to other Indigo Shire towns? Let us know ecodev@indigoshire.vic.gov.au

Vic Country Market

Developed in partnership with the Victorian Government, Vic Country Market is an online retail platform for makers and producers. Listings are free and the intiative is backed by the state-wide "Click for Vic" campaign.

Visit Vic Country Market to register for your own stall.

This list of organisations can provide confidential support on a number of concernsspecific to business owners and operators.

Small Business Bushfire Finacial Counselling 

1800 413 828
Support for small businesses affected by bushfires and COVID-19 shutdowns is available over the phone. Free financial counselling can advise you on debt management, goverment grants, payment negotiation and more.
www.smallbusinessbushfire.org.au

AgBiz Assist

Are a locally based organisation who work with businesses and people to develop solutions, manage change and prosper. AgBiz Assist provide a series of programs working directlyy with small businesses to provide support during hardship or crisis and to help grow business. 

Contact AgBiz Assist:
02 6057 5777
www.agbizassist.org.au
info@agbizassist.org.au

Rural Financial Counselling Services Victoria - North East (RFCS)

• Provides free, independent and confidential assistance to help eligible farmers and small rural related businesses with current and long-term financial planning.
• Short-term assistance
• Applying for governments and industry programs or grants
• Emergency relief funding
• Negotiating with creditors
• Debt mediation
• Family and business planning
• Support and referrals to other professional services. 

Contact RFCS:
1300 834 775
www.rfcsnetwork.com.au

WorkBetter

A locally based human resources organisation that can support you with recruitment, outplacement, compliance, dispute resolution and business support. 

Contact WorkBetter:
0467 507 316
www.workbetter.net.au
info@workbetter.net.au

WorkSafe Victoria

Aiming to keep all workplaces healthy and safe, WorkSafe Victoria has an abundance of resources available on their website.

StartUp ShakeUp

Is a community for businesses who see themselves as positive change-makers within the community. StartUp ShakeUp provides opportunities for networking and educational events that support your business with a mission to solve local problems and support causes that shape the future.

Small Business Victoria- Upskill My Business

A catalogue of upskilling programs to suit any businesses are available on the Small Business Victoria website. Select your area of interest to find a list of upskilling webinars.

Managing your business through a crisis

This three part webinar series hosted by Jamie Cunningham provides business operators with the tools to communicate with stakeholders, manage your cash flow and consider the opportunities that come from a crisis.
The recordings of the webinars are available on our website.

Quality Tourism Australia has developed a globally recognised accreditation program for businesses to take part in and be recognised as having COVID cleaning practices.

Businesses that display the COVID Clean Practising Business logo provide reassurance to visitors that they have developed and initiated business practices which are specifically aimed to maintain high hygiene standards within their business to stop the spread of coronavirus.

By joining this program, you will be supplied with customised cleaning checklists, a risk register and further resources to support staff training.

Register for the COVID Clean Practising Business program here.