Business Spotlight. Precinct Watch. Brimbank gets a Recharge Page 1. Hand Brake Turn Page 2. Western Health Page 3. Search Engine Optimization Page 4

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1 Issue 22 Spring 2013 Produced by Brimbank City Council LINKEconomic Development Brimbank gets a Recharge Page 1 Hand Brake Turn Page 2 Western Health Page 3 Search Engine Optimization Page 4 Business Spotlight Page 5 Precinct Watch Page 6 Melbourne s West Golf Day Page 7 BRIMBANK BUSINESS LINK - REAL WORKING CONNECTIONS

2 brimbank gets a recharge Good access equals good business; and together they contribute to a great community. Council is helping people with a disability to have greater access to community and shopping facilities, by broadening the operation of the Recharge Program across the municipality. Recharge is a simple effective way of supporting people who use an electric scooter or motorised wheelchair to recharge their battery free of charge. Council has installed 10 points in 9 locations across the municipality, at the Deer Park Library, St Albans Library, Sydenham Library, and Council Offices in Keilor, Westvale Community Centre, Cairnlea Community Hub, West Sunshine Community Centre, Delahey Community Centre and Sunshine Leisure Centre (where 2 points have been installed). Recharge points assist people using motorised wheelchairs and scooters as they can easily hook up to a battery charger at each of the nominated centres and feel secure that they can charge their device when out and about in Brimbank. Recharge is driven by a common desire to facilitate accessibility for people with limited mobility. Increased community awareness around access and inclusion benefits the whole community. For many people their electric scooter or wheelchair is their primary means of transportation and now with Recharge they can venture out for longer periods of time without the fear of their battery running out of charge. The availability of Recharge enables people to feel confident in getting to and from their destination. The implementation of the scheme was made possible by a four way partnership between Council s Facilities Maintenance Group (who installed the points) and Leisure Services, Libraries and a number of Community Centres which provided Recharge points at their centres. 1 Michael Dalli, Chairperson Brimbank Disability Network Group 2013 said Recharge celebrates a plan for a more equitable distribution of social and physical infrastructure which contributes to the: Building and strengthening the community s capacity to provide support to people with disabilities and their families; and Mobilising, supporting and empowering people with disabilities to optimise participation in the life of their local community. If you would like further information contact ecodev@brimbank.vic.gov.au or phone

3 HAND BRAKE TURN Giving young people a HAND to BRAKE their predicament and TURN their lives around. Sunshine based community organisation Hand Brake Turn is changing the lives of local youth at risk. John Manga, Hand Brake Turn Manager said that the program provides hands on training in practical real world skills together with social support. It aims to transform the lives of young people aged 15 to 19 who have had difficulty within the mainstream education system. Hand Brake Turn combines eight weeks of intensive training in the automotive field including basic mechanical operations and panel beating. Participants also receive social skills development and are supported for up to 12 months with job search and personal support. The unique experience based around a Nationally Accredited Qualification in Automotive aims to transform young people s negative life beliefs which in turn opens doors to employment and assists in their engagement with the broader community. During the training, the young people participate in the Community Car Donation project in which a vehicle is restored and made roadworthy, then donated to a local victim of crime or a family in need. A key resourcing challenge facing the training program is the ability to source vehicles for the students to work on. To fill the void, Council decided to provide a one off donation of an abandoned vehicle. This donation could only be made possible with the support of Shift Towing, the contactor employed by Council to collect the abandoned vehicles. Shift will deliver the vehicle to the Sunshine premises at no charge. Shift Manager Shaun Mercuri said his company was only too pleased to support the initiative and I hope the vehicle enables the program to continue. A donation such as the one made by Shift Towing helps give young people like Ashleigh a good start. Ashleigh - commonly known as the Diesel Diva - didn t like school. She would often wag class and when she did turn up, she would argue with her teachers. After moving interstate Ashleigh found herself out of school and unemployed. Ashleigh wanted to work but without an education, her employment opportunities were limited. Ashleigh was referred by a job network agency to the Hand Brake Turn program. As one of only two girls on the course, Ashleigh remembers her first day as she walked into a room full of guys. It was definitely daunting, but the fact we were girls didn t seem to matter to the trainers. They were really decent, and treated us just the same as the guys. Ashleigh completed her work trial with Auto Remount and went on to gain an apprenticeship with the same employer, as a diesel mechanic. A typical day is spent covered in grease, lifting truck tyres and maintaining engines. Ashleigh says the Hand Brake Turn program taught me not only the basics of mechanics, but also gave me confidence to work in an environment as the only female. It s given me the chance to get my apprenticeship in diesel mechanics, and although in the long term I want to drive trucks, it s a step in the right direction. Hand Brake Turn is an arm of Concern Australia which is a Christian mission, advocacy and welfare organisation. The many components of Concern Australia are all inter-related and interdependent. Concern Australia is based on a strong belief that mission and community must go hand in hand. If you want further information or think you can assist Hand Brake Turn go to www. handbraketurn.org.au 2

4 Western Health Western Health was formed fourteen years ago, and today it operates acute public hospitals at Footscray, St Albans and Williamstown, a day hospital at Sunbury and two residential care facilities at Melton and Williamstown. At the Sunshine Hospital a new radiation therapy centre has been established (in partnership with Peter McCallum Cancer Centre) as well as research, teaching and training facilities in the Western Centre for Health Research and Education. Western Health provides 775,000 people who reside in Melbourne s west with a comprehensive and integrated range of emergency medicine, intensive care, medical and surgical services through to sub-acute care and specialist ambulatory clinics. In addition Western Health provides a combination of hospital and community based services to the aged, adult and paediatric patients and new-born babies. These services are provided by a 5000 strong workforce making Western Health the largest employer in Melbourne s west. We often take hospitals for granted but have you ever wondered what goes on in a busy hospital? Well, in a typical day at Western Health: 925 patients are cared for overnight 420 patients see a doctor in the outpatient clinic 332 patients attend one of the emergency departments 316 patients are discharged 100 patients require the services of an interpreter 41 patients are visited at home by the Hospital in the Home Program 300 junior doctors are working 500 nurses are on duty 204 clinician researchers are at work 148 medical research projects are underway 100 graduate doctors, nurses and midwives and over 250 health professionals are attending clinical training programs 150 students are in clinical placement and at least 30 staff are undertaking further study in a higher education program 4 professional development programs are underway supporting 80 staff in their career development 106 volunteers provide a range of services including patient comfort and basic administrative support 12 babies are welcomed into the world at Sunshine 2742 meals are served Government funding cannot fund all Western Health s needs to meet the ever increasing requirements of an expanding and ageing population. Additional funding is needed to purchase new equipment, to fund medical research undertaken by staff and to provide scholarships for staff to broaden their skill base. Enter the Western Health Foundation, set up in 2011 with a mission to raise funds to assist Western Health and the people of Melbourne s west. The Foundation has recently embarked on a project to update the equipment and facilities in the Children s Ward at Sunshine Hospital which on average has about 3000 admissions per year. The Children s Ward in any hospital is full of smiling nurses, wonderful colours and while these elements are free, the most up to date medical equipment comes with a cost. The Foundation has raised or is raising funds for an immunisation fridge, breast pumps, oximeters, sofa beds for parents to sleep on, a refurbishment to brighten up the ward and the purchase of several portable digital diversional therapy tool devices. These devices reduce anxiety by engaging the child in games, stories, movies and information about the procedure they are about to have. You can help by making a donation at or sending it the Western Health Foundation Limited, Locked Bag 1200 Sunshine, Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. DID YOU KNOW? Western Health employs 5,000 people and it is the largest employer in Melbourne 3 This article contains information taken from the Western Health Foundation Brochure

5 Simple ways to improve your GOOGLE ranking Did you know that the business listed at the top of Google s organic search results attracts more than 35% of all the clicks?* That s a click-through rate 14 times greater than the business listed in 10th position. vecci - there to help When you consider these statistics, it s clear that a high Google ranking creates a genuine competitive advantage. A large amount of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) takes place behind the scenes, but there are some simple best practice steps you can take to make sure our website is working harder for your business. Create quality, unique content to attract incoming links from other websites. This is far and away the most effective way to increase your search engine ranking. Focus on creating quality content (a blog, video content, a podcast, whitepapers) that provide value to your customers - and make sure you update your website regularly. If you create value and points of interest for your customers, they ll share your content and your website will naturally attract inbound links from other relevant websites. Use keywords to capture the attention of your audience and Google. When you re creating written content for your website, how, where and why you use keywords throughout your content is one of the simplest and most important factors when it comes to boosting your search engine ranking. Keyword placement is imperative for example, if you d like your website to rank well for the term networking event, then use that term in your headings (H1, H2 tags), at the start of paragraphs and sentences, in image file names, URL s and most importantly, in anchor link titles (like we did). Market your brand, not just your products, to increase your brand metrics. It s easy to focus on your products or services and forget about your brand. But brand level marketing is imperative to building awareness, knowledge and eventually, preference. You want customers to walk into a store and ask for your brand by name. The same goes for search engines and Google pays close attention to the number of people searching for your brand. If you have a physical address, set up a Google Places listing - it will help. Social media is almost as valuable to search engine rankings as it is to social connectivity. Chances are you already know the power of social media as a way to engage in a two-way conversation with your audience. It s also the perfect place to start sharing your new content (from step 1) and actively encourage others to do the same. Google pays attention to the number of social shares, likes, tweets, mentions, comments and votes your content receives, so it s important to keep your own social profiles active while building your social brand advocacy reach. If you are interested in learning more VECCI runs a range of marketing courses covering topics including Advanced Social Media and Winning Marketing Strategies. Contact VECCI on or go to for further information. The article was first published by VECCI. *Studies by Chitika and Optify. save the date Friday 13 December 2013 Brimbank Business Breakfast If you re looking for a great opportunity to network, then participate in a breakfast function with like-minded business people. Be part of the mad minute where you get 60 seconds to spruik your business. For further information contact or ecodev@brimbank.vic.gov.au 4

6 BUSINESS PROFILE O BRIEN ELECTRICAL SERVICES Denis O Brien says it is the objective of the company to be the preferred supplier of electrical services and establish long term relationships with clients. Denis also says that establishing working arrangements based on mutual trust brings benefit to both parties. Allen and O Brien was established in 1976 by Les Allen and Denis O Brien. Now operating as O Brien Electrical Services Pty Ltd, they have a team of fourteen special class, A Grade electricians and three apprentices with a focus on electrical maintenance, installation and emergency breakdown work. O Brien Electrical Services, who operate from 43 Market Rd Sunshine, provide a range of services to industrial and commercial customers in the Melbourne metropolitan area including: Maintenance Installation and Labour hire at competitive rates Denis and his team seek to ensure long-term success by meeting and exceeding their clients best expectations. O Brien s do this by: Building a capable, committed, enthusiastic and safety conscious workforce; Developing customer partnerships so that O Brien Electrical is always the first choice for our clients; Using an excellence in quality approach to constantly satisfy customer needs, and Maintaining a competitive edge through flexibility, service, expertise and complementary technical alliances. Electrical safety is crucial regardless of what business you are in. All levels of management are responsible for the safety of your workplace where risks of electrocution exist. Testing and tagging minimises the risk of electrical shock to protect the lives of your employees and your customers. O Brien Electrical Services can inspect and test electrical equipment regularly and tag them to ensure compliance with occupational health and safety requirements. O Brien s supply other services including emergency and exit lighting, something that is a crucial part of any building s safety plan, as well as providing a full range of data services for all of your information technology needs. Denis firmly believes the success of any project is contingent upon the competence and dedication of the staff and I can guarantee that my clients will get unswerving dedication ensuring efficient, timely and cost effective outcomes. If you require further information you can go to net.au DID YOU KNOW? Testing and Tagging helps prevent accidents from electrical equipment being exposed to moisture, heat, corrosive chemicals and dust. 5

7 PRECINCT WATCH Glengala VILLAGE DID YOU KNOW? Joe Karam makes a very very good latte. Mixed Business - Glengala Rd GLENGALA VILLAGE Glengala Village is one of Brimbank s many local activity Centres. It has a village ambience that blends into its surrounds. Glengala Village is an attractive, inviting and compact neighbourhood shopping centre, providing a basic range of goods, services and facilities for the local community The precinct hosts a range of small businesses including a delicatessen, bakery, medical services, pharmacy, hardware and mixed business. It seems as though once you re established a business in Glengala Village you seem to stay. Joe Karam and his family have owned and operated their mixed business for the past 25 years and Joe says that there is a real sense of community in the precinct People I grew up are now having families and the precinct is servicing second and third generation residents. Another long term shopkeeper are the Palioudis family. Jim, Helen and son Arthur have owned and operated their hardware / garden supplies store for 32 years. In today s business environment where the hardware market is dominated by the larger hardware chains it is refreshing to see an independent business competing in a challenging market and serving the needs of the local community. Helen said we get by, someone always needs nails, paint or a plant or two and we offer both competitive price and local convenience. The Village is also home to the Glengala Hall which is used by a wide range of community groups and the Sunshine Heights Preschool. Visit Glengala Village and enjoy the experience. SMALL BUSINESS ASSIST Got a question about business tax or super then Small Business Assist can help you. Small Business Assist is a new initiative from the Australian Taxation Office that can help you save time and money. Type in a question and Small Business Assist sources information from a range of websites to provide immediate, tailored responses. The information is displayed in an easy to read, accessible format. Topics covered include: Registering for an Australian business number Understanding and registering for GST Employer obligations Lodging activity statements and much more Small Business Assist will be progressively updated to include more tailored information and services including the ability to book a call or have an online chat with the ATO. Try it yourself at 6

8 Melbourne s West Export Network 2013 Inaugural Golf Day Friday 18 October 2013 Sunshine Golf Club 7.30am Registration 8.00am Shotgun start 4 Person Ambrose Refreshments available throughout the day Finish off with a gourmet BBQ, drinks and presentations Great Prizes Up for Grabs!! Hole Sponsorship - $600 or Play only - $80 single or $320 team RSVP: 20 September 2013 Enquiries: ecodev@brimbank.vic.gov.au or phone Register online at Sunshine Golf Club 475 Mt Derrimut Road, Derrimut Supported by: