In June, the Hunter JO was pleased to support Business Hunter’s Powering Business 2050: Emerging Industries and the Future of Work Summit.

This summit featured regional and national experts and leaders in business, training and government who are working to address the great workforce challenges and highlighted how the Hunter is meeting its potential for business growth in our region’s emerging industries, embracing the future of work for generations to come.

The Hunter JO’s Regional Policy and Programs Manager, Tim Askew, spoke at the summit about methods of building new industry workforces through the circular economy with reference to our Hunter Central Coast Circular Procurement project. He was joined by Katherine O’Regan (Circular Economy Living Lab), Josh Jeffries (Design Anthology), and Trent Bagnell from the Melt.

Our Member Councils have identified ‘jobs and a growing economy’ as a key strategic priority for the region. The Hunter JO has been a key advocate in this space through our work around the Hunter 2050 program, which was formed as a regional response to economic resilience and aims to support and influence the State and Federal Government to ensure that investment is directed to initiatives that will have an enduring benefit in transforming the Hunter’s economy.

Government, at all levels, has a role in setting the groundwork for economic development, and local government has a significant role in setting policy parameters, influencing land use planning and demonstrating leadership to make the Hunter an attractive place to do business and ensuring solutions are tailored to the place, its people, its geography, and its connections.

Sessions from the summit will be available on Business Hunter’s YouTube channel soon!