Greater Shepparton City Council has received funding from the Victorian Government to employ four COVID Business Support Officers to assist local business owners.
The funding, received from the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, is part of the Business Concierge and Hospitality Support Program. This funding will allow Council to employ the officers until the end of November.
Council’s Director Sustainable Development, Geraldine Christou said the new positions were extremely important in assisting businesses to manage the continually evolving pandemic situation.
“These officers will play an important role in supporting a diverse range of businesses within our municipality,” she said.
“They will work to support business owners with COVIDSafe settings for their individual sectors and support customers in understanding the importance of checking in, contact tracing, face masks, cleaning and sanitising.
“These officers will be visiting local businesses over the next five months to ensure they are well equipped to manage the COVIDSafe practices.”
The positions aim to support local businesses within the region and engage with employers to ensure COVIDSafe practices are maintained and managed during the pandemic.
The officers will also work to provide local data and intelligence to the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions for use in COVID-19 response planning.