Ring of confidence
A NEW collaboration involving some of Geelong’s major business networks is set to help businesses develop circular economy initiatives.
The newly incorporated Regional Innovation for a Circular Economy (RICE) has announced one of its first initiatives will be to subsidise up to 20 businesses in the Barwon southwest region to participate in a new “Circular Economy Business Growth Program” at Geelong business accelerator Runway.
Born out of a 2019 circular economy conference at Deakin,
RICE has recently incorporated as a not-for-profit with Geelong Chamber of Commerce, Committee for Geelong, Geelong Sustainability, Barwon South West Waste and Resource Recovery Group, Circular Economy Victoria and AusIndustry as founding members.
RICE president Philippa Bakes said the organisation’s aim was to lead the transition to a thriving circular economy in the region “by being a catalyst for innovation and a concierge to available support and connections”.
“By using circular economy principles to design out wasteful production and business processes, people can boost their bottom line, create entirely new products and services, retain and attract new customers and avoid sending waste to landfill,” Ms Bakes said.
Ms Bakes said Runway’s Circular Economy Business Growth Program would help validate and develop initiatives that would have a positive impact on the community and environment as well as the business.
RICE also plans to run a “circular living” community challenge, while a team in the current Leaders for Geelong program is connecting RICE with other circular economy networks around Australia and overseas.
Working with Runway, a not-forprofit that builds the capability of entrepreneurs to be successful, RICE will subsidise up to 20 businesses to participate in Runway’s Circular Economy Business Growth Program, part funded by a grant to RICE from Cleantech Innovations Geelong, which runs from May 31 to August 15.
Runway head of partnership
David Spear said the program would help businesses to find new circular economy growth opportunities, overcome barriers to growth, test their emerging growth plans and get set to take their best ideas to market.
“The program is implemented in three key stages that build on each other to reduce risk and steadily accelerate businesses towards their business growth goals,” he said.
The stages are:
GET READY: Evaluating the gap between the business and external environment, and identifying a new circular economy opportunity;
GET SET: Validating, testing and refining the new circular economy growth opportunity and building it into the business model ready to activate; and,
GROW: Executing the validated business model to activate circular economy growth plans, with support from industry experts and Runway’s wider global networks.
RICE is now calling for applications from businesses in the Barwon southwest region wanting to participate, with up to 20 subsidised places available in the first stage.
The top 10 resulting circular economy business growth plans will then be invited to participate in the second stage, which starts on August 2.
For more information and program details, contact David Huggan at Runway on david@runwayhq.co.