For a small businessperson, decisions on whether to hire another staff member or invest in more equipment are even harder amid the fury of an election campaign.

In the stunned aftermath, I was asked whether it is concerning that the Illawarra doesn't have any elected representatives within the federal government, and I said no.

Sure, if the result had have gone the other way we would now have $50 million each to get started on both the Picton Road upgrade and the South West Illawarra Rail Link.

But now more than ever we must marshal facts and evidence in support of our causes so that we make business sense, if not political sense.

We need a business case for the Illawarra's economic future, one that will attract investment, grow stable, well-paying jobs and support our existing and growing community.

And importantly, one that will drive state and federal government investment in the transformative infrastructure we need to support these objectives.

So it is timely that Wollongong City Council is seeking our views on its draft Economic Development Strategy; a document that may do just that.

I remain sceptical of glossy plans and strategies released by government agencies, so long as they fail to honestly explain what problem they are seeking to address, and lack iron clad commitments to deliver solutions.

But in this document, Council outlines a practical plan to deliver on its vision, and lifts the hood on the Wollongong economy with some compelling insights. And it is not all rosy.

The Wollongong economy is coming off 6000 manufacturing job losses since 2007, resulting in slow employment growth of 0.5 percent over the last decade, compared against 2.1 percent in Sydney.

However over the last three years, jobs growth in Wollongong sped up to 2.1 percent per year, which has seen our unemployment rate fall to record lows; something which has been celebrated by the business chamber and others.

Wollongong has a growing jobs deficit, where there are 6233 fewer local jobs than there are employed residents, and they must join the 23,000 of us who leave the Illawarra for work in Sydney every day.

And the 'brain drain' begins early, with half of the University of Wollongong's graduates leaving the region due to a lack of local employment opportunities.

Without a change of approach, Council predicts our jobs deficit will grow to 9000 jobs by 2028, even with our continued, modest forecast level of organic jobs growth.

In its research, Council came across another unfortunate truth.

Jobs growth in Wollongong has seen high-paying jobs in manufacturing and mining almost entirely replaced by lower-paying, more casualised positions in sectors like retail, hospitality and social assistance.

The debate about whether our future lies either as a distinct regional economy or a satellite of Sydney is better left for another time.

But with our road and rail connections leaving us 90 minutes away, an expanding local jobs market will at the very least keep more of us closer to home and our families.

Councils play a key role in economic development, and so I applaud the interventionist approach taken by Wollongong City Council in setting a jobs target of 10,500 new jobs within ten years - double that seen over the previous decade, requiring 1.1 percent growth per year.

More importantly, Council has set a bold roadmap for achieving this through pursuing industries that will bring high-paying jobs to our region, leveraging the significant opportunity at the Western Sydney Airport Aerotropolis and increasing the availability of high-quality office space in the city centre.

Council also intends to facilitate the continued growth and diversification of Port Kembla, the development of underutilised industrial and commercial land and to focus on major events and tourism infrastructure.

Importantly, Council is identifying regeneration projects across the city, and actively encouraging investment through a 'concierge' approach to planning.

Just as the limitations of our roads and rail lines make life hard for those who work in Greater Sydney, they also limit our economic expansion.

Council have backed the business chamber's priority infrastructure projects that will connect us to this key market, and let us play a greater role in the national freight network.

The South West Illawarra Rail Link and the upgrade of Picton Road to motorway standard are the rail and road solutions to our future economic growth.

We need to get behind Council's vision for our region, and support an ambitious, evidence-based approach to our economic development that will attract public and private sector investment on merit.

Adam Zarth is the Executive Director of the Illawarra Business Chamber and Illawarra First

You can learn more about the chamber at www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au/illawarra

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