Alpine Nurseries Business Matters Seminar August 2008

The Business Matters Seminar was the second in a series of three educational events that we are hosting this year.  Over 70 people listened to 3 talks from respected and knowledgeable speakers on a range of topics related to business.

The three topics covered were:

• “Economic Snapshot – how might the landscape industry be impacted”.  Dr Don Stammer, an experienced economist, outlined how the current economic environment, in particular interest rates and fuel prices might impact your business and what we can expect in the coming months;

• “Controlling your costs – tendering for positive cashflow and profits” by David McKinley (Marsupial Landscape Management).  David continued and expanded on his talk given at the first Alpine Seminar earlier in the year.  David’s talks are insightful and provide techniques and ideas to improve the success of any business; and

• “HR Strategies – finding and retaining staff, creating career paths” by John Patrick (Momentum Consulting Group Pty Ltd).  Finding and retaining quality staff in the current tight labour market takes forethought and planning and John provided numerous ideas on how to go about this.

We’d like to thank the speakers for their informative talks and hope that those that attended the seminar were able to leave with new ideas on how to manage and improve their business.

Once again the food was outstanding and the informal lunch provided an opportunity for the attendees to mingle and meet people in the industry including Alpine staff.

The next Alpine Nurseries seminar will be held towards the end of the year and will focus on topics relevant to Councils. Invitations will be sent closer to the date, in the meantime you can express your interest and ensure we have up to date contact details by registering with Karen Reardon (02) 9651 0900 or karenreardon@alpinenurseries.com.au.