The City of Ballarat has contributed over $38 million to the local economy through its Ballarat Industry Participation Program (BIPP).
A report presented to Council at its Ordinary Meeting last night (13/04) stated that $38,890,909 worth of Council contracts in the 2009 financial year had been awarded locally creating 340 jobs.
Introduced in April 2009, the BIPP is a policy that applies to the City of Ballarat’s procurement and aims to develop and encourage a focus on local industry, including creating local jobs and strengthening local businesses.
Ballarat Mayor Councillor Craig Fletcher said Council was committed to continuing the program which is designed to maximise the impact of major Council expenditure in Ballarat and the surrounding community.
“This is a great result for the Ballarat economy. We have deliberately set out to ensure that Ballarat businesses maximise their opportunities to secure Council spending and that we keep those funds in the local economy.
“Council’s Economic Strategy identified that a significant amount of Council expenditure was not being captured by Ballarat industries. The BIPP program assists Council to ensure we get the best value for our investment and we can maximise our opportunities to support local businesses.
“Council conducts a range of large scale and innovative projects and it is a credit to local businesses that they are successful in securing projects through our competitive tender process.
“Council enjoys working with local businesses to deliver best value projects for our community and we look forward to continuing these partnerships in the future.”
Enhancing and promoting the BIPP is a means of promoting industry capability and an integral part of the Business Development and Innovation component of the Economic Strategy.
The report also recommended that the Economic Development Unit consult with local business on the possible extension of the Ballarat Industry Participation Program that currently applies to tenders over $250,000 to tenders and purchasing between $10,000 and $250,000.
The City of Ballarat also supports the Regional Industry Link (RIL) website, developed by the Industry Capability Network (Victoria) and the Victorian State Government. RIL is a resource for matching business capabilities with opportunities. Ballarat City Council was the first Council in Australia to ensure all tender and procurement opportunities were loaded into RIL. Council also supported Ballarat businesses to upload their details to the RIL website.
Council has also developed its TenderWrite Program to better educate local businesses on preparing tender submissions for Council projects. The program provides a range of comprehensive training sessions covering all aspects of procurement and tendering.