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2024 is the first time the Uptown Accelerator program has been made available to the Central Coast.
Central Coast arts and cultural institutions, entertainment and hospitality venues and business associations interested in joining forces to harness the best of their precincts to attract locals and visitors alike, are being called upon to take part in the 2024 Uptown Accelerator Program.
The Uptown District Acceleration Program, by the Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner, fast-tracks the formation of ‘districts’ or local business communities and empowers business owners within a ‘district’ to collaborate to form engaging, safe and dynamic going-out precincts.
Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch MP encourages Central Coast businesses to make an application to join the program before Wednesday, 22 May.
“Here on the Central Coast we have so many truly outstanding arts and cultural institutions, entertainment and hospitality venues and among them are the visionaries with the skill and the passion to create the Central Coast’s vibrant, dynamic districts of the future.
“It’s wonderful to see the Uptown Accelerator Program being made available to our Central Coast businesses for the first time to help bring fantastic ideas for our 24-hour economy to life.
“Our community deserves safe, vibrant, dynamic districts in which to go out and it’s fantastic to see the Uptown Accelerator Program presenting a fantastic opportunity for collaboration-minded businesses to share their business acumen to unlock the collective potential of our Central Coast streets, or blocks of streets.
“When groups of businesses work cohesively to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, this is when truly inspiring futures come to life. Ideas that help make real exciting concepts for blocks of streets, or high streets with unique identities and diverse cultural and entertainment options across multiple venues within a short walking distance.
“There is so much to be gained by working collaboratively – from unlocking new revenue streams to unearthing new audiences. There is real potential for ideas like this to take shape right here on the Central Coast, and this program provides an outstanding platform from which the magic happens.”
“I encourage businesses that might simply have a vision they have yet to put down on paper – or even a seed of an idea in their minds about developing a district identity – to be brave; by going on an accelerator journey with like-minded local businesses and developing that vision.”
The Accelerator Program provides valuable and practical skills that can immediately be put into action, such as grant writing, sponsorships, branding, governance and pitch fundamentals. At the conclusion of the program teams pull together everything they’ve learned and present their vision to potential corporate and government partners.
“There are plenty of fantastic examples in places like Eastwood, Brookvale and in Sydney’s CBD of collectives that have completed the Accelerator Program to secure skills to help them achieve at scale – even as they operate as successful independent businesses day-to-day.
“I encourage Central Coast businesses to look up some of the teams that have come through the program… names such as Eastwood’s KoreaTown, Brookvale Arts District (BAD), The Rainbow Precinct and YCK Laneways (a multi-block precinct on York, Clarence and Kent Streets in the Sydney CBD).
“Take a look and see what incredible ideas are brought to life when business collectives work together to harness everything that’s great about their district, develop their district’s identity and put their district on the map.”
2024 marks the first time the Uptown Accelerator program has been made available to the Central Coast, Wollongong, Newcastle and surrounds across 43 local government areas, including those in greater Sydney.More about the Uptown Accelerator and a copy of the Uptown Accelerator Admission Guidelines can be found here.
