It's been a triple whammy for businesses across regional NSW this year as the drought, bushfires and now coronavirus ravage the economy, but businesses are still remarkably optimistic heading into the back half of the year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Western NSW Business Chamber regional manager Vicki Seccombe said confidence of a rebound in the Central West was high as the state slowly transitions out of lockdown.
Orange's accommodation was completely booked out over the long weekend and domestic tourism is set to help drive growth in the back half of the year.
Ms Seccombe said her discussions across the region showed the community was "really positive" - something she wasn't expecting considering the triple-whammy regional Australia has been hit by in 2020.
"Personally I was surprised because we've been through so much, especially in the Central West, but some of the businesses owners are very resilient people, that's the type of people business owners are," Ms Seccombe said.
"We're still not out of the drought yet either, the rain coming through is helping but we're not out of it."
A Tele Town Hall involving NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet late last month including more than 3000 businesses across the state indicated only five per cent of businesses were likely to close due to the pandemic, and Ms Seccombe said while it was still very early, she didn't think that figure would be any higher in the bush.
If anything, she said regional areas were in a stronger position than the "harder-hit" metropolitan regions, which are also far more reliant on JobKeeper.
"It does give us an opportunity to bounce back," she said.
She said the "manic-ness" of the early months of 2020 has subsided.
"That manic-ness as we were trying to understand what was going on has stopped, we kind of know what to expect now," she said.
Despite the lesser reliance on JobKeeper in the Central West, the program's eventual, inevitable axing could still cause pain.
"Businesses are confident across the region, although when JobKeeper does eventually finish up it could be an issue," Ms Seccombe said.
How hard the hit would be remains to be seen, but until then regional tourism, people buying locally and more business confidence was putting the region in a good stead for the rest of the year.
HAVE YOUR SAY
- Send us a letter to the editor using the form below ...
Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
