Last week, the Waalitj Hub team travelled to Bunbury to provide support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people wanting to grow their business.
With the support of the Alcoa Foundation, we host Business Builders across the Peel and Upper South West regions. These events are a platform for Indigenous entrepreneurs to network, meet procurers and explore new business opportunities by providing a direct link to industry and corporate leaders. They are essential in empowering and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to step into business and grow their presence.
As a part of our Business Builder event series, we trialled a new way of connecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Businesses with organisations that have real opportunities. This new format focused on meaningful one-on-one conversations rather than group presentations.
We brought together organisations with current or upcoming projects and businesses with relevant capability for pre‑booked meetings to help facilitate stronger connections, clearer conversations, and more effective outcomes for our businesses.
Businesses were given individual meetings with Alcoa, Genus, Tronox and the City of Bunbury, an opportunity that can otherwise be difficult to secure. These conversations helped businesses explore opportunities, clarify requirements and review tender processes.
Waalitj Hub General Manager, Nicole Grubb, talked on the success of the event and how it represents a powerful shift in how we connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses with real opportunities.
“By moving away from large presentations and creating space for meaningful, personalised conversations, we’re ensuring businesses can speak directly with decision makers, gain clarity on requirements, and position themselves for success,” she said.
“We’re proud to bring organisations like Alcoa, Tronox, Genus and City of Bunbury to the table, and even prouder to see our businesses step into these conversations with confidence and capability.”
The Waalitj Hub supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people wanting to start, grow or sustain their businesses through a combination of in-house business coaching and access to professional support and is supported by the National Indigenous Australians Agency and Corporate partners. Learn more here.
