More small businesses get a ‘go-ahead’ from the Commonwealth Government with a little bit of help from Kangan Batman TAFE
17 June 2003
77 graduates are looking forward to starting their own individual small business after completing Kangan Batman TAFE’s Business Enterprise Centre’s New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) program.
On 11 June 2002, more than two hundred small business owners and guests gathered at the Moonee Valley Racecourse for the twice yearly Business Expo and Networking Evening organised by the Business Enterprise Centre (BEC) at Kangan Batman TAFE.
These evenings are organised to boost local business networking and development and are especially organised for the new graduates who have recentlycompleted their business management training at the centre’s Essendoncampus.
The New Enterprise Incentive Scheme is funded by the Commonwealth Government to assist eligible jobseekers to start their own business. The scheme includes training in small business planning and management (offered by providers such as the Kangan Batman TAFE BEC), and income support for the first year of business.
The Business Expo and Networking Evening held on 11 June, included opportunities to sample the wares of around 20 fledgling small businesses, which displayed their products and services.
One of the businesses on display was Mimas Perogi & Pasta. Mimas Perogi & Pasta has been coming to the expo since it opened for business close to five years ago.
Michael Gembarovski, one of three partners running Mimas Perogi & Pasta says that one of the main reasons for coming every year is to provide support and advice to new graduates of the NEIS program and to network with other business owners.
“My partners and I started the perogi and pasta-making business with help from the Commonwealth-funded New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS). I had been thinking about starting a perogi and pasta-making business for around seven years, but never had the guts, or the time and energy to do it until I left my job as general manager of a confectionary company and enrolled in the NEIS program at Kangan Batman TAFE,” Michael said.
Mimas Perogi & Pasta is Australia’s only commercial manufacturer of perogi. Perogi are large semi-circle pasta shells, stuffed with fillings such as sauerkraut, pork, kransky, or cheese and potato. They originated in the Ukraine, but are popular in Eastern Europe, Russia, the USA and especially in Canada, where their popularity reportedly rivals Australia’s fondness for the dim sim.
Although an experienced businessman, Michael found the business management course at Kangan Batman TAFE to be invaluable in preparation for starting his own business.
“The course gave us a good understanding of our market. Because of the learnt ability to research the market, we have been able to change with the market.”
“At the moment we are experiencing considerable growth. We have stuck with our mainstream business and distribute through two factory outlets and a shop in Keilor Road. We service approximately 50 independent supermarkets in Victoria and South Australia. We also provide pasta and perogi to many restaurants and hotel chains. Much of our growth is due to the fact that we have thoroughly researched the market,” says Michael.
The Kangan Batman TAFE Business Enterprise Centre has been delivering the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme for nine years and is part of a consortium of Business Enterprise Centres which provides the service across Melbourne and Gippsland. Kangan Batman TAFE is Melbourne’s largest provider and assists about 300 new businesses each year. The Kangan Batman TAFE Business Enterprise Centre has helped establish in excess of 1500 businesses in the last ten years.
For further information on the NEIS scheme or other small business training, please contact Tim Cremean, BEC Manager, on (03) 9254 3008.
