General News
31 May, 2024
Inglewood spotlight in new video
STORIES of Inglewood businesses adapting and overcoming connectivity challenges have been made into a short film. Welcome to Inglewood was launched last week after the idea emerged from a long weekend visit to the town by a staff member of...
STORIES of Inglewood businesses adapting and overcoming connectivity challenges have been made into a short film.
Welcome to Inglewood was launched last week after the idea emerged from a long weekend visit to the town by a staff member of a Melbourne-based fintech “re-imagining business banking”.
“The motivation, grit, and determination that each of the business owners in Inglewood demonstrated inspired us to dive further into their stories, leading us to produce this short film to promote the regional town of Inglewood, and the stories of each of these business owners,” said director of growth with Zeller, Joshua McNicol, after last week’s launch in Melbourne.
Among businesses featured is The Fat Butcher.
Owner Deb Hancock says: “You have to be able to change and adapt your business… it’s the only way to survive.”
Welcome to Inglewood shares the story of when Deb and husband Daryl’s pork farming business was threatened by drought and the search for ways of driving revenue:
“We bought a refrigeration truck and just started travelling Victoria, knocking on local butcher shop doors,” Deb explains,
“That’s how we saved our farm… by marketing our own pigs.”
When the butcher shop in Inglewood came up for sale, Deb saw this as another opportunity to diversify the business and maintain a steadier income, selling their own produce – pork, as well as lamb and beef – in a ‘paddock to plate’ model.
She also shares frustrations with connectivity that had hampered the butcher business and its growth and solutions for eCommerce.
Mr McNicol said Australia’s rural towns played a vital role in the nation’s economy, contributing about 40 per cent of the total economic output and serving as a stabilising force.
“Inglewood, once a major hub during the mid-19th century gold rush, is among the many rural towns where business owners are adapting their business model to thrive in a more challenging economic environment,”
Also featured in the short film are Loddon Shire’s Inglewood Ward councillor Wendy Murpphy, Eucalyptus Museum manager Nicole Upton and antique shop owner Catherine Norman.
The launch coincided with Zeller’s announcement of a regional small businesses grant program with “the goal of equipping them with technology, resources, and funding needed to succeed in a changing economic landscape”.