Jane Howlett,Minister for Small Business
Small businesses are the engine room of our economy and with around 97 per cent of all businesses being small businesses, it is paramount that we continue to support them.
As a former small business owner for more than 10 years myself, I am very much looking forward to supporting the 39,000 small businesses across Tasmania.
Today, I can announce that we are delivering on our commitment outlined in our first 100 Day Plan to continue to provide access to specialist financial counselling through our COVID-19 Small Business Financial Counselling Support Program.
We will provide an additional $200,000 in funding to the initiative, taking the program's total funding to $1.2 million.
The program will give small businesses access to professional business advice from the private sector and will be informed by consultation with the Tasmanian Small Business Council, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and regional chambers.
Another priority for me will be developing our promised $2 million Small Business Incubator and Accelerator Pilot program which will support Tasmanians to create sustainable start-ups and small businesses through private sector partnerships, specialist advice, and support.
Work is currently underway to investigate what incubator and accelerator programs are already in existence in Tasmania and following that work, we will move to requests for proposals to find partners for this initiative.
This program will complement existing Government-funded business support services such as the Enterprise Centres Tasmania network and the Digital Ready Program and builds upon the Tasmanian Small Business Support Package which has helped to keep local businesses operating and thousands of Tasmanians in jobs.
For up to date information on support for small businesses please contact Business Tasmania on 1800 440 026 or visit www.business.tas.gov.au
