Meeting for rural business minds

INDIGENOUS Business Australia (IBA) welcomes Indigenous business women from remote, regional and metropolitan Australia to apply to attend the Strong Women, Strong Business conference.

The Strong Women, Strong

Business Conference will be held at the Stamford Grand, Glenelg, Adelaide from May 1-3.

This event will bring together more than 120 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women from across Australia looking to start, improve, or expand their business.

IBA Board member Kerrynne Liddle said this was a unique event, which will enable Indigenous business women who are passionate about being in business but who can feel isolated, to connect and develop relationships and draw inspirations from peers.

“To date, Indigenous business women make up 34% of IBA’s customer base in the Business Solutions program,” she said.

“The rapid entry of women into the workforce has added more to GDP than the technology sector, with fortune 500 companies known to perform better when women are represented on boards and in senior management.”

In 2009 Dionne Connolly established an engineering business servicing the Cloncurry area of Western Queensland.

Ms Connolly is one of about 20 Indigenous business women speaking at the conference.

“I am really excited to be involved with the Strong Women, Strong Business

Conference because I know that commercial enterprise has the potential to change lives and shape communities,” she said.

“People, communities and business are things I am really passionate about so as an Indigenous business owner I am truly grateful for the opportunity to share my story.”