Enrolments closing soon for new Sustainable Business program

More than 30 enthusiastic people from throughout the shire braved the storms to attend the launch of the Building Sustainable Small Business (BSSB) program at the Centre for Beaudesert Shire Arts and Culture last Wednesday February 6.

Enrolments for the innovative new BSSB program are now being accepted with free workshops starting in Beaudesert on Wednesday February 27. Small business owners, operators and key staff are encouraged to check out this innovative program at the program website: www.bssb.org.au.

The Ethos Foundation is running the program in partnership with Beaudesert Shire Council.

“The strong interest and enthusiasm for this program from a wide cross-section of businesses is very encouraging and indicates that sustainability is an important topic for all small businesses,” said Dr Sally MacKinnon, Executive Director of the Ethos Foundation.

“BSSB links the best small business management skills with practical sustainability knowledge and resources through free workshops; a mentoring, training and leadership program, and the development of the shire’s first sustainable business network and directory,” said Dr MacKinnon.

“It also brings together some of the shire’s best business operators in ways that we believe will transform our region’s small businesses, especially in areas such as tourism, food and farming, and cottage and home-based businesses.”

Each Mentoring, Training and Leadership program participant will be teamed up with a small business mentor. Innes Larkin, Director of Mt Barney Lodge and President of Beaudesert Country Tourism, will be one of the mentors and is a keen supporter of the BSSB program.

“I am thrilled to be part of the Building Sustainable Small Business program as a mentor because I will be working closely with some of our shire’s best tourism businesses as they prepare for ecotourism accreditation as well as develop sustainability plans,” Mr Larkin said.

The Beaudesert free workshop series starts on Wednesday February 27 with the theme “Mid-course correction: Introducing sustainability to small business”. Interested people and businesses need to enrol now to guarantee their place.

Topics covered during the 3 workshops include ingredients of a sustainable business, emerging opportunities and threats for small business, strategies and methods for implementing sustainability and creating your own sustainable business.

The Mentoring, Training and Leadership program is limited to 10 businesses and interested people need to contact the Ethos Foundation before February 20 to secure their place. The program will run over 9-months from late February and is designed to fit in with the busy workload of small business owners and operators. The subsidised program fee is $619 per person.

The Building Sustainable Small Business program is a practical, hands-on program that aims to equip business operators with the information, resources and skills they need to create prosperous and resilient businesses that also take advantage of the rise of clean and green industry in the shire.

The program is aimed at businesses employing up to 20 people and is open to small business owners, operators, managers and key staff.

The unique program is an Australian Government funded initiative under the Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business program and is jointly hosted by the Ethos Foundation and Beaudesert Shire Council.



For more information about the Building Sustainable Small Business program and to enroll in all aspects of the program contact:

Ethos Foundation
Ph: 07 5533 3813
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Download Media Release: BSSB Media Release 110208