Australia’s largest small business festival is coming to North East Victoria, providing the region’s small business operators with a range of free and low-cost events to network and support the growth of their businesses.

Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis joined representatives from the North East’s six regional councils today to officially launch the North East Victoria Small Business Festival.

The festival is part of the state-wide Small Business Festival Victoria, which runs annually throughout August and this year has a strong regional focus with half of the program to run across eight regional sites in a festival-first.

Victoria has cemented its role as the small business state, leading the country in small business growth at a rate nearly double the national average. Last year 9,000 new small businesses were set up in Victoria.

Victoria is home to 542,000 small businesses and nearly a third of them are based in regional and rural areas.

Now in its 11^th year, Small Business Festival Victoria is an annual highlight on the small business calendar and an important platform for supporting and driving business performance in Victoria.

The 2016 program is the biggest yet and features more than 450 events across a range of topics including business development, online business and marketing, social media, business management and hiring staff.

For more information on 2016 Small Business Festival Victoria events, visit www.business.vic.gov.au/festival.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis

“It’s fantastic that the North East Festival is now in its fourth year as part of the biggest small business festival in the country.”

”This festival provides Victorian businesses with access to the latest ideas, designs and technological developments to keep them competitive, growing and sustainable.”

“More than a quarter of Victoria’s small businesses are in regional and rural Victoria, with many local economies depending on their success in providing local jobs and growth in the regions.”

Quotes attributable to Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes

“The North East is full of fantastic and innovative small business owners and the Victoria Small Business Festival is a great opportunity for them to connect with each other and acquire the latest industry tools to grow their business and provide more jobs for the local community.”