Here to make Gladstone a better place to live and work

08 Apr Here to make Gladstone a better place to live and work

Posted at 06:00h in Business, Industry, Local, More Articles, News, Top Stories by Stefani Seumanu 0 Comments

Here for Gladstone represents the community contributions of Rio Tinto Yarwun, Boyne Smelters Limited and Queensland Alumina Limited into Gladstone.

Established in 2002, our objective is to build a strong, sustainable future for Gladstone through impact-driven investment, led by the community, for the community.

Together, we are the largest employer and economic contributor to the region, directly employing more than 2,600 Gladstone residents full time and engaging more than 1,100 contractors each year. Last year, the sites collectively employed 137 local apprentices and trainees. We recognise our business’s success is so much more than commercial; a significant part is our involvement in the community.

We take a multi-faceted approach in serving our community through Here for Gladstone.

We back our employees with the community work they are passionate about. Whether it’s flexible hours to participate in volunteering or the more formal fundraising and participation programs, each site recognises our people want to contribute to the region outside the gate.

For suppliers, we buy locally where we can. Last year, a third of what we spent on goods and services in Australia was spent here in the Gladstone region. Our formal partnership programs under Here for Gladstone—MindCare, Here for Business and Innov8ors—reflect our evidence-based research into community need. We also sponsor a range of initiatives that make Gladstone great, either individually as one site, such as Yarwun Valley Rally, or collectively, such as our multi-site sponsorship of the Boyne Tannum Hookup.

Here for Gladstone works under a social impact investment framework, ensuring our community investments make a positive difference in the Gladstone region. We have spent more than $840,000 on community investment programs and sponsorships last year alone (excluding our COVID-19 Recovery contributions).

COVID-19 Recovery

On top of our planned investment, we made additional contributions during 2020 to help our communities recover from COVID-19.

We made a $1.25 million commitment over five years to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) to improve emergency and remotely delivered health care services across regional Queensland. The partnership funds the maintenance of the patient transfer facility in Gladstone and contributed to the construction of a world-class Aeromedical Retrieval Simulation Hub in Bundaberg.

We contributed $80,000 to Gladstone’s Not-For-Profit House (NFP House) to launch a program to help local charities and other NFP organisations recover from the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions.

We also donated $24,000 to help seven local schools transition students back to school after learning from home and hosted business continuity workshops to coach businesses to get back on their feet.

Here for Gladstone’s flagship programs

Governed by an advisory board of community leaders and industry experts, our formal community programs are designed around evidence-based community need.

Innov8or

Launched in August 2020, Innov8or is a 24-week training, mentoring and development program designed to accelerate innovations from concept to commercialisation. Here for Gladstone provided the founding funding of $80,000 a year to see Startup Gladstone develop the program, with all three operating sites providing mentors in niche fields such as robotics, drone technology, digital development and artificial intelligence. Building on this, Startup Gladstone has just launched the Youth Innov8ors program through Gladstone State High School, opening up new possibilities in tech-entrepreneurship to the next generation.

MindCare

MindCare is Gladstone’s first dedicated hub to help people with mental health and alcohol and other drug issues. Located at 147 Goondoon Street, Gladstone Mindcare offers a community space for locals to seek expert advice and up-to-date information, learn more, and connect with each other.

It is also a space of collaboration for service providers who provide mental health and wellbeing support to the Gladstone community.
MindCare is a new joint project delivered by Here for Gladstone and Gladstone Foundation.

The project started with Here for Gladstone in 2014, and through years of planning, collaboration and research finally came to life in 2021.

Here for Business

Our business “boot camp”, Here for Business, provides coaching and no-interest loans for new and established businesses in Gladstone. The program helps business owners from a range of industries learn the fundamentals of business success, including developing business plans, exploring marketing strategies, financial management discipline and risk assessments. Since the program was established in late 2017, 23 businesses have gone through the 12-month mentoring program, and we have invested more than $670,000 in microloans.

These businesses have created more than 74 new local jobs. Some local favourite businesses that have been through the Here for Business program are Deli Plate, PK’s Automotive, Milestones Physiotherapy and Gladstone Community Linking Agency (to name a few).

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