Shire of Collie chief executive David Blurton is ‘optimistic’ about Collie’s ability to diversify its economy as the town prepares for life beyond coal-fired power generation.
The shire hosted a Business Connection information session last week to update local businesses on what is being done at state, local government and community level to help prepare the business sector for the future.
“I’ll be blunt about this – I’m really positive and optimistic about Collie’s future,” Mr Blurton said.
“In my 12 years at the shire, I’ve never seen such effort put into economic development, particularly by the shire but also by the state.
“I’m really confident with all the effort put in and the funding available, something fruitful is going to come from this – there is absolutely no doubt.”
Speaking at the event, Mr Blurton said the Reimagining Collie report released last year had found several areas for growth in the Collie economy, including agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, health and aged care, and tourism.
He also said on top of the sectors identified in the report, the shire had received presentations and proposals that provided opportunities to attract other industries to Collie, including food and drink production, data storage, cryptocurrency mining, rail carriage production and waste processing.
Mr Blurton said while it was unlikely that most of the opportunities would come to fruition, even having just one or two of the industries grow in Collie would be a huge benefit.
Mr Blurton also said the shire was working on becoming a Small Business Friendly Local Government through the state government’s Small Business Development Corporation.
He said taking part in the initiative would result in the shire being able to support the local small business sector better through enhanced customer service, reducing red tape and dispute resolution practices.
The packed crowd of business owners at the event also heard presentations from the Collie Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the South West Development Commission, the office of Collie-Preston MLA Mick Murray and Operation Next Gen about what each group was doing to promote business development.
Collie River Valley Marketing’s Julie Hillier also spoke about the group’s upcoming virtual reality tourism project, which will launch later this year.
