Business View Oceania | February 2020

27 28 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2020 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2020 Revitalising regional communities The FCA strongly believes that healthy businesses sustain healthy communities. If businesses struggle, communities struggle. Particularly in our regional towns. Our regions are undergoing major economic structural adjustment. With manufacturing, power stations and large industrial employers changing the way they operate, regional towns need local jobs and investment. That’s the thinking behind the FCA’s regional revitalisation initiative. It’s a way to provide jobs, investment and fill consumer gaps in towns, and grow franchising brands across Australia. The FCA directly targeted 80 regional communities across Australia to engage in the initiative, after a pilot program in Hamilton, Western Victoria. We’ve now had a dozen local FRANCHI SE COUNC I L OF AUSTRAL I A councils come back to us actively seeking to partner with franchise brands. FCA members like Chatime, Boost Juice, Cookies Australia, InXpress, Nandos, Bakers Delight, Poolwerx, Guttervac and First Class Financial Group have reached out to engage with the project. Education and professional development FCA members continue to derive value from the wide range of educational events provided by the FCA and its dedicated state chapter committees. These events are designed to address key business challenges and provide education on topics that are affecting small business and more specifically, franchising. In addition to these regular events, in 2019 a Western Australian State Conference was held and in August the FCA staged its first Multi-Unit Summit to provide multi-unit franchisees and FCA National Franchise Convention 2019 franchisor executives with a unique opportunity to learn new ideas for running successful multi- unit operations. The annual National Franchise Convention (NFC) is the largest and most comprehensive professional development event on the Franchise Council of Australia’s annual calendar. Themed “Evolving in a New Landscape: Innovation and Transformation’’ in 2019, NFC delivered attendees with practical ideas and information to create sustained success in an ever-changing business landscape. The FCA continues to deliver the Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) program, certifying the highest standards of quality training and education, and in 2019 was proud to present the CFE designation to a further 20 candidates who have completed the CFE education program. Recognising the sector’s high achievers In 2019, the MYOB FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards once again showcased dedicated and passionate people who make this sector so great, including franchisees, franchisors and support staff. The outstanding effort by the franchisees who took out the awards in 2019, and their contribution as successful small to medium business operators, shows the positive impact franchising can have on employment, the economy and community. Looking ahead We are innovating and providing partnerships that give you better business support. And we’re resetting the franchise brand in Australia to ensure families see our sector as an employer of choice and an obvious business model to invest in. The FCA is committed to continuing to work with and on behalf of the franchising community to sustain and strengthen franchising in the year ahead.