Yarpa Indigenous Business & Employment Hub and The University of Wollongong’s business incubator, iAccelerate, have come together in partnership to strengthen and grow the Indigenous business start-up sector in NSW fire affected regions through the Yarpa Activate program. 

Funded under the Federal and NSW governments’ combined Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund (BLERF), the Yarpa Activate program will be taken to several Local Aboriginal Land Council areas. 

This includes the regions in and around Bega, Batemans Bay, Tamworth and the Tweed Byron area. 

The program will target Indigenous start-up businesses or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are in the ideation phase of their business and would like to benefit from a leading entrepreneurship program. 

Yarpa Activate aims to encourage innovation and ignite a passion for business growth within the NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

The program is set to visit these regions across 2022 and is designed to be delivered flexibly as an interactive online course, through a blend of facilitator led workshops, self-paced online learning, individual mentoring, active learning and peer support, with the added option for face-to-face contact. 

It offers a principled approach to new product development, customer discovery and continuous improvement to ensure a solid foundation to launch a sustainable business.

Yarpa Hub Director, Westley Trist, said this program will be a great opportunity for those that are sitting on an idea but haven’t had the opportunity to take it further. s

“Yarpa Activate is a great opportunity for Indigenous businesses to gain the support, guidance and knowledge they need to start their business on the right foot. Sometimes all that is needed to start a successful business is to take that leap of faith and this program will allow Indigenous businesses to form a solid foundation so that they can do that,” Mr Trist said.

UOW’s Dean of Research Knowledge Exchange and Translation, Dr Paul Di Pietro, said the initiative is a fantastic way to support entrepreneurship in Aboriginal communities in NSW. 

“Our commitment is to support Indigenous entrepreneurs and their communities. We’re proud to work with Yarpa on this to provide a start-up program that not only will set  Indigenous entrepreneurs up for success, but will also integrate unique approaches from Indigenous communities.”

Find out more about the Yarpa Activate program by heading to www.yarpa.com.au/yarpa-active/

MEDIA CONTACT

Breeana Smith, Events and Community Engagement Officer(02) 9689 4421 or 0436 690 769 bsmith@yarpa.com.au