Penrith. Delegation to Asia

The Penrith Business Alliance has brought together a group of leading businesspeople and senior academics from both the University of Western Sydney and University of Sydney to accompany the Penrith City Council delegation to China and Korea. Health and the environment are issues on the agenda. Mayor, Kevin Crameri, said he would be pushing the city’s appeal as a tourism hub

Parramatta. Sydney Water wins four awards

Sydney Water won four awards at the 2010 Australian HR Compass Awards in the categories: Employer of Choice (more than 1000 employees), Best HR Strategy Plan, Best Talent Management Strategy, and Best Employer Branding Strategy. Sydney Water, based in Parramatta, also received a highly commended for its recruitment and retention programs.

Sydney Olympic Park. $20 million project

Minister for Western Sydney, David Borger, has announced FDC Construction and Fitout will build a $20 million, six-storey commercial and retail development at Sydney Olympic Park. He said the project will provide for 100 jobs during construction and accommodate 350 workers when complete in late 2012. The building will contain over 7000 square metres of office space and ground floor retail development space, and 54 car spaces in two levels of underground parking. Mr Borger said the precinct had an office vacancy rate of less than 2 per cent. Sydney Olympic Park has a daily working population of 10,000 at 125 organisations based there.

Blacktown. Call for helipad

Russ Dickens, a councillor on Blacktown City Council, has requested a council report on the feasibility of constructing a helipad. He believes the initiative is critical to ensuring Blacktown becomes a regional city and economic hub.

Parramatta. First in Australia

Parramatta City Council is the only local government authority in Australia with a dedicated social enterprise department. It opened in 2007. "Social enterprise is emerging in Australia as an area of work in its own right. An academic project [at Queensland University of Technology] estimates there are about 20,000 social enterprises in Australia." said co-ordinator, Joanne McNeil

Penrith. Incentive to take on UWS students

The Penrith Business Alliance is providing a $500 incentive for 10 businesses which take on a UWS internship during the summer holidays. Businesses must be Penrith-based, and the student must be a Penrith resident. UWS students, who are keen to work with local organisations during the summer break, come from a range of disciplines and can work full-time or part-time at a modest cost.