The City of Kwinana Small Business Friendly Approval Program Action Plan was developed as a result of the City’s participation in the State Government-funded Small Business Friendly Approvals Program, led by the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC).
The program aims to streamline the process of obtaining business licenses and trading permits from local government authorities as well as accelerate regulatory reform to support economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19.
One of 21 local governments selected to participate in the program, the City went through a two-week intensive workshop program facilitated by the SBDC, which included representatives from among the 1,972 small businesses in Kwinana, to develop its Action Plan.
City of Kwinana Mayor Carol Adams said the action plan identified 50 initiatives that the City will be looking to implement, predominantly over the next year, to help make it easier to start, operate and grow a business in Kwinana.
“Within the City of Kwinana, nearly 97 per cent of the 2,040 businesses are considered to be small businesses employing fewer than 20 people. It is therefore vital to the local economy that we support their success,” she said.
The workshops highlighted five reform area which were focused on to engage holistic change across the organisation. These key reforms included the need for the City to provide better information for small businesses, improve business support services, introduce automated/fast tracked approvals for selected applications be prepared to rethink the rules, and of course streamline the process to improve customer experience.
The Action Plan highlights the City’s economic profile and outlines the City’s top small business industry sector as the Transport, Postal and Warehousing sectors with 432 small businesses, closely followed by the Construction sector which consists of 388 small businesses. The Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sectors consists of 155 small businesses; there are 134 in the Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services sectors and 116 small businesses in the Administrative and Support Services sectors.
Small Business Commissioner David Eaton commended the City’s forward-thinking approach to assisting small business growth and its genuine enthusiasm demonstrated by the Approvals Program working group members to drive transformational change.
“I applaud the City of Kwinana for their commitment to the success of their local businesses. I look forward to continuing the SBDC’s partnership approach with the City and seeing the impact of this regulatory reform on the success and growth of small businesses in the area,” he said.
More information on business in the City of Kwinana view the City’s Small Business Friendly Approval Program Action Plan.