Businesses in Corrimal have a battle on their hands trying to draw attention away from the Wollongong CBD.
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Corrimal Chamber of Commerce president Paul Boultwood said the suburb had great businesses but so often focus seemed to be on the mall, including the new GPT development.
"We've got to deal with the mall - everything's always in Wollongong," Mr Boultwood said.
"Corrimal has been left to its own devices for the last 15-20 years. We're not waiting for council any more. We've been waiting 20-odd years for the council to do something for the northern suburbs, we're not waiting any more, we're doing it ourselves."
What that means is Energise Corrimal Week, where small businesses can receive a share of $15,000 worth of advice, mentoring and training from Enterprise and Training Company (ETC) through the NSW government's Small Biz Connect program.
ETC will occupy a shopfront in Corrimal Park Mall where businesses can get more information on the range of workshops and services available.
Annelies Voorthuis, Illawarra co-ordinator for ETC, said the idea behind the week was to help small business get a little bit bigger by improving their performance, profitability and productivity. " During Energise Corrimal Week, our team of experienced business consultants will be delivering workshops, offering free business health checks and raising awareness generally about the business support services available to small businesses in the Illawarra," she said.