All’s Well at new co-working space

THE Shire’s first co-working space, the Smythesdale Digital Hub, has opened at The Well.

Run by the municipality, the facility has undergone $97,000 worth upgrades to offer desktop computers, and monitors for laptop connectivity, National Broadband Network internet, and a meeting area.

The space has been fully funded by the State Government.

Golden Plains Shire mayor Cr Helena Kirby said the Digital Hub is a way of supporting local enterprises.

“Under our COVID-19 financial hardship policy, it will be free to businesses and residents for the first 12 months of operation,” she said.

“There is office space, individual desks, group meeting space and a sound-proof booth for online meetings and phone calls.

“The Digital Hub is a wonderful co-working space and we look forward to it being a popular place for people to work in the Golden Plains Shire.”

Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas officially opened the “warm, welcoming and friendly” facility alongside the mayor last week.

“This really is a story about the community. We all know that COVID has meant we’ve had to work in ways that we perhaps never imagined we would,” she said.

“Working from home is something… some of us continue to do, but from time-to-time we need to get out of our homes for privacy, to separate from the kids, or to access better connectivity.

“That’s why this project is so important at Smythesdale, and it’s the first of its kind across Victoria, funded under our $3.5 million Regional Digital Fund. This will have many benefits that flow on to local businesses, emergency services, our agriculture sector, and so on.”

Terri Pryse-Smith and Alan Smith operate their business Minitube Australia from Smythesdale, supplying assisted animal reproduction equipment to the world.

As their office has grown, so has their need for an additional meeting area when hosting interstate staff and visiting overseas distributors.

“We plan to have business meetings or training sessions at the Digital Hub,” Ms Pryse-Smith said.

“It will be more peaceful to come up here and have a meeting. It’s marvellous, and if it can draw more people out, we’ll probably get some community-cross pollination going on, a meeting of minds and ideas-swapping.”

In a location close to Minitube Australia’s base, Mr Smith said the co-working and meeting space is very convenient.

“We can get food from over the road brought up. It’s a fantastic facility that’s clean and professional,” he said.

“Sometimes visiting suppliers and people we’re trying to impress might think, ‘what are you doing in a little town like Smythesdale?’

“But when they come here they feel a sense of community, there’s convenience and it sells the benefits of the small town.”

Western Victoria upper house MP and Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford said the Digital Hub is a “great step forward” for the rural area.

“Having access to reliable digital technologies helps communities stay connected and businesses adapt to new ways of doing things,” she said.

The Smythesdale Digital Hub will be open five days a week.