Project Description

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

To develop a series of workshops and support mechanisms for small businesses in Northern Australia that will allow them to:

• Identify their environmental impact and "eco-footprint"
• Provide a tool to document those impacts
• Identify opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of their activities with a focus on those that provide cost savings
• Understand practical steps which can be implemented in the short, medium and long term which are applicable to smaller businesses and customised to the targeted industries
• Track their energy use, waste generation and disposal, printing, transport water use and other elements within the business
• Look to reduce those elements and valuing that reduction in environmental and dollar terms
• Use a custom-designed software system to measure the impact of measures implemented by the business

As a result of the workshops, participants will:

• Understand why "Going Green" is better for their business's profitability
• Know how to put practices in place which are applicable to small business in tropical conditions typical of Northern Australia
• Understand the impacts in physical and dollar terms of the measures they wish to implement and the methods of evaluating future courses of action 

Outcomes for SMEs

OUTCOMES FOR SME'S

Workshop attendance will provide education and practice in:

• Identification of the environmental impacts
• Quantifying current expenditure on environmental aspects of the business
• Practical and industry relevant solutions to reduce those impacts over time and methodologies to measure and quantify those cost savings

SME's will understand this is a component of an Environmental Management System (ISO 14000) that can be applied to small businesses in a practical manner. The customised templates provided show the eco-savings in terms of:

• Reduced power and water usage
• Better waste management
• Effects on the profitability of their individual business

Post-workshop mentoring will be a key component of this program to ensure the highest take-up rate of environmental best practice possible. Participants will not merely leave a passive workshop with a folder of information to "sit on a shelf". 

 

Targeted Businesses

TARGETED INDUSTRIES/BUSINESSES

The project targets small to medium sized businesses in the following industries:

• Agriculture
• Tourism
• Engineering
• Retail

 

 

The Workshops

About The Going Green - Learn, Do and Save Workshops

• Tourism,
• Agriculture,
• Engineering and
• Retail.

 

Workshop locations and dates:

For Northern Territory Going Green - Learn, Do and Save workshop locations and dates, please click HERE

To add your Expression of Interest for more Queensland Going Green - Learn, Do and Save workshops, please email us at info@goinggreenbiz.com.

Where the project will be conducted

WHERE THE PROJECT WILL BE CONDUCTED

• Darwin
• Alice Springs
• Katherine
• Tennant Creek

About the Going Green Biz Team

The Going Green: Learn, Do and Save team consists of Kleinhardt Business Consultants, The Missing Link – Resource Coordinators, Tropical Energy Solutions and Dolphin Software. Following is some information on each of our specialists.

 

 KLEINHARDT BUSINESS CONSULTANTS   

 

Kleinhardt Business Consultants are a specialist business advisory firm to small and medium-sized business with offices in Cairns and Brisbane. Kleinhardt has been established for over 14 years and has assisted hundreds of businesses across numerous corporate sectors with practical solutions to increase their sustainability and efficiency, especially in regional Australia.

Business Advisory Services

Kleinhardt provides a range of business advisory services to our clients. Whether our clients are small or large, in Australia or around the world, we can suggest improvements in systems and structure which will lift profitability and improve performance.

Each of our consultants has a diverse range of experience and skills, which enhance the overall culture of the organisation. Our management style is very much geared towards a "hands on" approach where we focus on every small detail.

Some of the business advisory services that we provide include strategy development, market research and analysis, business planning, feasibility studies, project management, financing and capital raising, export market development,  organisational structuring and a range of other services.

Regional and Economic Development Services

Kleinhardt has built a reputation for insightful and practical advice for those concerned with regional, community and industry development. The firm brings to this field commercial skills, combined with knowledge of the academic theory and the latest in international thinking.

As with all our work the emphasis is on strategic, analytical and lateral thinking to bring to clients practical solutions. The firm's practitioners include Australian pioneers in the field of regional economic development, which only began to be recognised as a distinct field in the early 1990's.

Combined with this, the firm is part of the international network of practitioners, academics and policy makers through involvement with The Competitiveness Institute. This provides global reach in terms of the latest thought in the field.

Key staff members also have national Australian experience in industry policy development and knowledge of learning theory and social sciences critical to development of the collaborative models now recognised as being at the core of the intuitive learning and innovation driving successful regions and industries.

Business Sales and Acquisitions

Kleinhardt Business Consultants are registered real estate agents with the Real Estate Institute of Queensland specialising in the sale and acquisition of businesses. Kleinhardt offers its clients a range of services in the sale or purchase of a business, developed through years of working in the business advisory field that can add real value to a prospective purchaser or vendor.

Kleinhardt offers a licensed and experienced broker who will act on your behalf in the challenging businesses for sale arena. Our brokers can work with business owners to get a comprehensive valuation from outsourced professionals - based on market assessment and the historic and projected financials. A full marketing plan will be recommended, costed and presented to you for review. All enquiries will come directly to the business brokers who will co-ordinate all aspects of the sale.

This service includes handling all enquiries, obtaining signed confidentiality agreements, qualifying prospective buyers, conducting inspections, negotiating price and dealing with solicitors and accountants relating to contract requirements. Once the purchase details have been agreed the broker will work with our clients solicitor to draw up the final contract for sale.

The bottom line is, Kleinhardt doesn't collect listings - we provide the whole service!

Workshop Facilitation

Workshop facilitation for Kleinhardt management and staff is an integral part of the business improvement process that we provide our clients. The firm has highly developed and proven systems in workshop management, delivery and administration.

                                                 GRAHAM POON - PROJECT MANAGER

                                                                 

Graham Poon has worked in various roles and has successfully delivered a range of similar programmes in Australia and internationally. Below are details of some of those programmes:

• As the Marketing Contractor to the Guam Power Authority (GPA) from 1997-8 in Guam, Graham promoted its Energy-Efficiency Rebate Scheme and the need for lower energy use (Demand-side management) to the business community and public . Graham also delivered numerous workshops on the advantages of the use of energy-efficient equipment and the benefit to the island as a whole of the decreased use of energy and water resources.

• As Trade Commissioner with Austrade in Manila, Philippines, Graham developed, managed and delivered coaching workshops to hundreds of business participants overseas in the specialised area of pursuing opportunities with the Asian Development Bank. The success of these workshops led to an internal nomination for an Austrade award. Graham also delivered numerous workshops nationally around Australia over 4 years.

• As Regional Trade Commissioner, Austrade for the Northern Territory, Graham managed and delivered numerous workshops on international trade, often in conjunction with the AusIndustry Regional Manager, throughout the whole of the Northern Territory.

 

 MISSING LINK - RESOURCE COORDINATORS PTY LTD

                                              KIM FORDE - ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT 

                                                       

Kim Forde is the Director of The Missing Link - Resource Coordinators based in Kuranda, Queensland. Kim has delivered a range of environmental training across Queensland over the past 10 years, focusing on local government and industry – not just at the management level, but at the operational level, with significant success. Some of those programs included the following:

• In 1998, Kim delivered training to 550 Council personnel comprising roads engineers and maintenance crews on the application of the Department of Main Roads' "Code of Practice for Maintenance in the Wet Tropics". The Code, which Kim assisted to write, and the training package, which she produced and delivered to support it, aided local governments to understand the implications of their legal requirements under the Wet Tropics Management Plan 1998. Kim then aided by providing practical advice (and real site examples) of how it should be applied. Kim has recently been contracted by Wet Tropics Management Authority (2006-7) to review its permit requirements and develop and deliver another round of training to local governments across the Far North Queensland region which abuts the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

• In 2000, Kim developed and implemented a similar Code of Practice for the Electricity industry in the Wet Tropics region. This was presented to all staff and contractors working more than 1 week for each of the power generation GOC's in the region. Over a 5 year period this included some 300 participants. As a result of this training the number of significant environmental breaches of Wet Tropics legislation and permits from this industry group fell from an average 8 per year down to less than 2.

• Kim has recently developed a custom-designed mechanism for auditing local tourism businesses to quantify their environmental footprint with the intent of offsetting that footprint through environmental activities like tree planting and supporting other community desired outcomes. The Daintree Discovery Centre (a local tourism facility) was the first local business to apply this audit in May 2007 and have verbally offered their support for our program

 

 TROPICAL ENERGY SOLUTIONS

  

                                        FRANK DALLMEYER              ANDREW CHAPMAN   

                                                                    

Frank Dallmeyer and Andrew Chapman are Electrical Engineers and the Directors of Tropical Energy Solutions and are based in Townsville, Queensland. Both Frank and Andy are well experienced in the delivery of workshops internationally and in Australia. Their program delivery experience includes the following:

• From 2005 to 2007, the development, management and presentation of workshops and conferences for North Queensland markets and community;

• From 1999 to 2004, the development, management and presentation of workshops in Australia & Internationally;

• From 1994 to 1999, the development, management and presentation of workshops and technical training in Europe, the United States and Asia;

• And from 1991 to 1994, the management and delivery of workshops and technical training for clients in Germany.

Most of the above workshops developed or presented by Tropical Energy Solutions were of a technical nature, but their role in Economic Development for the North Queensland region broadened this into many other areas, including tourism marketing, government cooperation, industry engagement as well as several public forums. Tropical Energy Solutions were also responsible for the delivery of several conferences including the North Queensland Energy Forums in 2005 and 2006.

At present Frank Dallmeyer is a lecturer for the International Training Provider IDC Technology (HQ in Perth) and has just completed a 2-day workshop about Analytical Instruments in Sydney.

 

 DOLPHIN SOFTWARE P/L

                                              JUDE ELLEN - DIRECTOR                                                                   

                                             

Dolphin Software is an Intellectual Property software company holding Australian and international patents granted in 1995 to its surveying methodology.

In parallel with its continuing R&D strength, Dolphin Software has steadily created expertise in supplying client services into specific market sectors, establishing a reputation for competent excellence, client focus and for delivery, rapidly creating forms or surveys and reporting to meet clients’ strategic and operational  requirements.

Dolphin Software’s philosophy rests on a collaborative team approach, sourcing expertise widely for fit with client projects.

Dolphin Software’s services include -

• Advice on surveying / data acquisition technology to suit your business
• Align your data gathering and reporting to your strategic goals – and your stakeholders
• Project coordination for success – communicate and pilot,  work from desired results to inputs
• Maximise response rates in data gathering
• Create marketing communications for success (more important than the survey!)
• Maximise qualitative feedback –people’s stories and experience
• Set metrics results reporting to highlight where people should act
• Regular progress monitoring reporting
• Analysis and reporting, statistically and qualitatively, reflecting client KPIs by line management or organisational structure
• Policy analysis – extracting themes from your survey
• Continue conversations leveraging your survey throughout your organisation – create  debriefing guides or kits for your executive and line management staff to give a context for working with staff using survey results in a strategic action framework

• Gather data automatically using customised surveys and forms
• Collate data rapidly and securely
• Web or email technology, or mobile tablet PCs

• Report automatically with high quality customised analysis
• Track progress using KPIs - clients, staff, reviews, events, audits

• systems design and decision support software development;
• information technology strategies;
• systems architecture advice and systems migration;
• electronic forms design and analysis software.

• building capability
• enhancing internal processes and
• nurturing internal and external connections.

• Management process – planning, organising and implementing strategy through best use of resources
• Creating reports as a key management and communication tool
• Designing governance and organization structures that support strategic intent
• Sales and Marketing, and Publishing
• Systems design – CRM systems design and execution, packaging and reservations systems, sales report design, balanced scorecard metrics.

• IBM Lotus Notes mail API and simple and extended MAPI
• collecting data input from USB devices
• implementing a wide range of graphic types (GIF/JPG/PNG) and a system for logging into Dolphin Software’s electronic forms
• encrypting and decrypting data
• creating hosted web solutions from existing binary programs using PHP/Jscript and HTML
• transferring data between programming languages (C/C++ to PHP/HTML/JS)
• developing communication with and between databases
• updating older User Interfaces
• working closely with Dolphin Software’s partners Intel and Motion Computing to bring the PC Tablet C5’s barcode/RFID/camera data capture capabilities into Dolphin Softwares’ electronic forms system.

How the project will be delivered

HOW THE PROJECT WILL BE DELIVERED

Primary delivery method will be a series of 2 hours workshops presentating the issues and real working examples of how to document the environmental impacts of the business (these will be industry specific). From this:

• Businesses will be guided to benchmark and reduce their eco-footprint through a business-friendly template which is customised to their industry
• Mentoring will be provided for 12 months to encourage businesses to leverage off this information to enhance their profitability
• A follow up will be conducted within one month after the workshop to establish if businesses have undertaken, or require assistance implementing "green" business initiatives
• Regular phone and internet based follow up to provide assistance and quantify improvements as a result of the workshop learnings
• In the case that distance, weather or timing interfere with participants attending - video conferencing, teleconferencing and online group chat can be used.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are answers to your Frequently Asked Questions:

 

Q: How do I register for a workshop?

You must create an account and enter your business details to be able to register for a workshop. Create an account HERE and then go to Workshops >> Workshop Bookings to select your locations. Simply follow the links to complete your registration.

 

Q: Why do I have to register through the website?

The website is used as a tool for us to share information with those people who have attended a workshop. Once you have registered and attended a workshop, you will receive access to additional tools through the web - for example, the Eco-Calculator, your ongoing performance reports, and the industry comparative reports at the end of the period.

 

Q: How much more do I have to pay for the 12 months coaching?

Nothing! The only fee you will ever pay is the $27.50 registration fee. This is because this is a government funded program which means that we can deliver it to you without charging you what would normally be around $3,000!

 

Q: I am interested in the workshops, but my business is not in any of the industries. Should I still come?

Yes. The workshop material is approximately 75% general information and 25% specific industry examples. While these examples may not always be relevant to you - by attending our workshop you'll be able to receive ongoing coaching from our facilitators which will be extremely relevant and helpful for your business.

 

Q: If I cannot attend a workshop, can I still be involved in the program?

Yes. We are able to make available the workshop slides and some suggested initiatives which you can introduce into your business. You'll also be able to speak directly with our facilitators and consultants to gain the most from them for your business.