Council & Politics
25 July, 2024
New data ranks Grampians as top business area in Victoria
Grampians named best area for business in state by Creditorwatch.
New data has highlighted the Grampians as one of the best areas in Victoria in which to operate a business.
The news comes as Creditorwatch identified areas where business closures are more prevalent in regional Australia.
The Wimmera-Grampians, Glenelg-Southern Grampians, Swan Hill, Warrnambool, and Wangaratta were Victoria's best-performing areas, while Bacchus Marsh and Wallan were identified as some of the worst areas to operate a regional business in the state.
The Greater Ararat Business Network president Tom Clark said Ararat, and in turn the Grampians, was perfectly positioned for local and interstate travellers.
"Ararat is a good sort of stop off point between Adelaide and Melbourne," he said.
"We've got a really good hotel and motel presence which helps the sector. We've also got a good variety of eateries... and wineries.
"We're reinforced by the natural beauty of the area."
Mr Clark said the business community was the cornerstone of confidence, which has seen economic investment at several levels.
"There's just seems to be a real vibe and energy in new businesses opening up," he said.
"We've got Mountains Of Chocolate opening up, the natural gas plant coming in, the reclaimed plastics project. We also have great established businesses like Aradale.
"One of the things that really underpins everything is the support and relationship that the Chamber of Commerce (the Greater Ararat Business Network) has was our council. I put down to Dr Tim Harrison and his amazing staff.
"Ararat Rural City Council is such a proactive council when it comes to economic development, supporting businesses making really good robust decisions."
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism chief executive Marc Sleeman reiterated that Ararat is perfectly poised to capitalise on the region's steady economic foundation.
"Ararat is the gateway to the Grampians. It is only two hours from metropolitan Melbourne and you have Pomonal, Moyston and Mt Langi at your doorstep.
"The Grampians is Victoria's number one destination for nature tourism.
"Businesses have embraced tourism and we're seeing significant investment in accomodation.
"Visitors can get a great coffee and a meal any day of the week now."
According to the June data, the best-performing regions continue to be those with a higher proportion of older businesses and residents, who typically have lower rates of personal insolvency than younger people.
The index runs from zero to 100, with zero for the riskiest area and 100 for the safest.
The Grampians scored 98.5, while the Glenelg-Southern Grampians scored 97.6.
CreditorWatch chief economist Anneke Thompson told ACM while it was a "challenging time", regional Australia was faring better than the metropolitan areas.
"One of the reasons is agriculture and healthcare still have low business failure rates," she said.
"In regional areas those two are big industries."
"If an area has a lot of agriculture and healthcare it tends to flow into other areas, expenditure is pretty solid in the community and that flows through to all the businesses in the community."
Ms Thompson said the company plugged various variables into its algorithm to produce a "geographic risk index" for 332 regions across Australia.
"Then based on that index number the model predicts what percentage of businesses in that area are likely to default over the next 12 months," she said.
The chief economist said regional areas also tend to have lower debt levels because of lower house prices and an older population.
"The older a median age of a population the more likely they have paid off their mortgage, the less mortgage the better businesses are doing," she said.
The business outlook for the hospitality industry remains stark, with one in 11 hospitality businesses set to fail within the following year.
Mr Sleeman said following troubling times during the COVID-19 pandemic, he has seen high levels of participation by businesses with Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism.
"Businesses see the value in tourism; we're very thankful for their support," he said.
"We've seen some great leadership from the Ararat Rural City Council; they are great ambassadors.
"We all know Dr Tim Harrison 'only backs winners' and he's right behind us."