Traders event outlines how social enterprises can support regional communities

By Simon Ruppert

Apr 3, 2023

Forum: Social Traders and SENVIC hosted an event highlighting social enterprises and the ways they support local communities at Benalla's Lakeside Community Centre on Thursday, March 30. Photo by Simon Ruppert

The Social Enterprise Network of Australia and Social Traders Ltd hosted an event for regional social enterprises at the Benalla Lakeside Community Centre on Thursday, March 30.

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It was designed to showcase local enterprises and included keynote speeches from Social Traders and SENVIC.

That was followed up by a lively panel discussion around social enterprises and the ways they support local communities.

Social Traders Social Procurement Lead Victoria and Tasmania Miranda Campbell said the event went really well.

“This was part of our regional showcase and we were thrilled with the outcome,” Ms Campbell said.

“Social Traders is the nation’s trailblazer of social procurement, we are the national certifier of social enterprises.

“We work with business and government to deeply embed social enterprises into their supply chains to deliver social and environmental value on top of the goods and services they’re already procuring.”

Ms Campbell said Social Traders’ vision was a more equitable and inclusive Australia.

“We believe harnessing the power of social enterprisers and social procurement is the way to do that,” she said.

“So it’s our aim to unlock $5.5 billion in demand for social enterprises by the year 2030.”

And part of the way it is doing that is with events like this.

“Regional and rural enterprises are really critical players in achieving that figure,” she said.

“We have a lot of council procurement and social enterprises activating metropolitan Melbourne, largely driven by the big build … and the social procurement targets and mandates by government.

“We don’t see that much activity in the regions.

“So Social Traders is committed to building opportunities for those social procurement opportunities in regional Victoria.

“These events are a great way to interact with the sector and local government, for example, who could be engaging in social procurement and enterprises.”