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UPDATE | Project round up

This week being NAIDOC Week means that Harbinger Consultants’ John Armstrong has been working with the South East Queensland Indigenous Chamber of Commerce (SEQICC) to present the 2009 SEQICC NAIDOC Business Breakfast this morning at the Queensland Government's Parliamentary Annexe. A highlight of the breakfast event was the launch of Neil Willmett's book, How to start a successful Aboriginal business in Australia. SEQICC also had an information booth at the Musgrave Park Family Fun Day, a highlight of the NAIDOC celebrations.

John’s work with Brecknock Consulting is continuing on the Moreton Bay Regional Council Cultural Plan. John has undertaken community consultations throughout the local government area and consulted with a range of stakeholders in interviews and focus groups. The consultation will culminate in a community conference.

John has also brokered a partnership with Foresters Community Finance to develop business and operational plans as part of the establishment of a community hub within an emerging community. Working for a government agency, the plans will be developed on the basis of community asset building and social enterprise, for which Foresters Community Finance has proven expertise.

Harbinger Consultants is also working with Disability Services Queensland to develop public art and cultural engagement initiatives as part of the redevelopment of Wacol, a facility that aims to provide a positive model of support that protects the rights of adults with an intellectual or cognitive disability who exhibit challenging behaviour. The masterplan for the site has been completed and John’s task will be to identify public art opportunities and integrate public art that engages the residents. This project draws on John's experience working in the arts and disability sector particularly in the area of cultural wellbeing.

LAUNCH | Social Traders

John attended the Brisbane launch of Social Traders the other day. Social Traders is an independent company established in 2008 to facilitate, support and advocate for the development of social enterprise in Australia. Set up as a unique collaboration between the Victorian Government and a private Foundation the company is the commissioner for a major research project, Finding Australia’s Social Enterprise Sector (FASES) being conducted through Australian Centre for Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies at QUT. Jo Barraket is heading up a team that will provide the hard data on the social enterprises of Australia.

Social Traders Managing Director, David Brookes also gave some details about an upcoming Social Enterprise World Forum in October 2009 and introduced John Montague who is the CEO of the UK based Trees Group. The Trees Group is a model of social enterprise and consists of four trading companies, Newlife (construction), Thorpete (gas installation and servicing), Highpoint (conference and events) and Ground Control (landscaping maintenance) as well as a range of small community business including a Fish and Chip shop and an opportunity shop. The Group is employing over 110 people from a range of disadvantaged backgrounds and had a turnover of 8.5 million pounds in 2008.

John Montague and his team run the businesses as businesses that have to make a profit and that profit is invested back into the operations and expansion. He insists that the market will not buy from a social enterprise just to feel good about itself but because the product is excellent and the service is exemplary. Realistic approaches to business with social and economic outcomes are providing employees with avenues to start their own businesses or re-enter mainstream employment markets.

REPORT | Living Local Economies

We attended the Local Living Economies seminar with Michael Shuman yesterday and found it to be an inspiring and informative day spent in the company of others who are passionate about their communities. Michael spoke about the relationship between money and place, addressing the notion of a relationship-based economy.

As an economist, Michael was adept at presenting datasets for demonstrating the value and significance of local economies. He made the point that locally owned businesses in Australia represent about 60% of GDP (based on his review of statistical and economic data of the private sector) yet attracted a far less proportion of government spending or support than non-local business. Many of the statistics presented during the seminar seemed to run counter to generally held beliefs (memes) - it is not cheaper to shop at a supermarket, small/local business delivered more jobs more cost efficiently than big business, small/local businesses tend to take root deeper in communities than big businesses. In other words, local businesses contribute more to economic multipliers than non-local business. He also acknowledged home-based business, noting that small and home-based businesses were growing by 7% of GDP while large business was shrinking.

Rather than report on the whole day's proceedings - you might as well buy his books or Google for articles and speeches - it seemed that a useful piece of information to share was Michael's list of 10 ways to localise and save money (in US dollars per annum):

10. Drink locally and stop smoking (saves $800) - opt for locally brewed drinks
9. Localise car services (saves $1,000)
8. Give to local charity (saves $1,200)
7. Cut energy bill in half (saves $1,300)
6. Buy fresh food (saves $1,700)
5. Use local health care (saves $1,900) - in particular, prevention is cost effective and tends to be provided locally
4. Consume local entertainment (saves $2,100)
3. Eat out locally (saves $2,300)
2. Cut car use in half (saves $2,400) - paying for public transport puts money into local economies
1. Own your own home (saves $7,800) - obtain your loan through a community or local bank

WORKSHOP | Building Resilient Businesses and Local Living Economies

We will be attending a workshop, The LOCAL Opportunity: Building Resilient Businesses and Local Living Economies, with Michael Shuman and presented by the Brisbane Transition Hub.

Michael Shuman is a noted economist, attorney, author, entrepreneur and Vice President of the Training & Development Corporation. He is widely recognised for his research into the economic advantages of small-scale businesses in an era of globalisation as well as the often over-looked benefits of building local economies. Michael has authored, co-authored and edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition, and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age.

If you are interested in positive and viable ways to build stronger businesses and communities in the changing economic, environmental and global context, then this workshop is for you. Learn more about:

• The value of small business to sustainable economies
• The importance of local businesses
• Options for investment in local or green businesses and community projects
• Invigorating local economic vitality
• Ways to bring community development and new business creation together
• Building local living economies

The workshop is on 21 June 2009, 09:30 to 16:30, at Souths Leagues Club, West End. More information at the Brisbane Transition Hub website.