Hinterland Finance & Sustainability Expo

Creating a healthier and wealthier community

Once again Maleny will hold an event that is a first of its kind on the Sunshine Coast. The Hinterland Finance and Sustainability Expo will be a free one day event held at the Maleny Showground on July 23 from 9.00am – 3.00pm.

The event brings together a number of financial and environmental experts who will come together to share their knowledge and inspire visitors to take action to improve their personal, family and business situations and contribute to making a more sustainable community.

Many of us know how important it is to start financial planning and investing in our future.

Nowadays there is also a growing awareness of taking a more ethical approach to financial investments, but many just don’t know where to start.

For some, just working out the basics, such as how to manage a budget and understanding how finance works, is puzzling and confusing enough.

This can be a challenging task to do on our own, even just getting started with working out what professionals you might go and see and how to fit in making appointments to get the ball rolling can be difficult.

The President of the Maleny Commerce Spencer Shaw said that over the past few years the Chamber could see that there is a gap in the financial understanding of our community between the desire to make things happen and having the skills and knowledge to achieve it.

“We also know that Maleny sets a great example to the rest of the Sunshine Coast; to show them how it is done, that people power is truly important and by connecting with others and bringing people together, we can achieve much more,” said Mr Shaw.

“Fortunately the Maleny Credit Union and the Sunshine Coast Council were keen to join forces and assist us to create a free event – the Hinterland Finance and Sustainability Expo – which hopes to bridge the gap.

“Ultimately we wanted to bring a unique blend of experts together and could act as a catalyst for change by giving people the knowledge and understanding that they need for their stage of life and experience.

“The event’s organising committee have put together a program that combines a group of motivated business people / exhibitors as well as two inspiring speakers and a number of panel discussions where attendees to either contribute to the discussion or quietly sit back and take it all in.”

The two guest speakers will be Dale Symons from ASIC MoneySmart who is travelling from Canberra to attend, and will talk about understanding finance, along with inspirational and award winning local business operator Bob Cameron from Rockcoate who has happily given up his time to share his learnings with other business people.

There will also be three panel discussions topics – ‘Growing Business for Sustainable Communities’, ‘Financial Literacy’ and ‘Ethical Investments’.

The event also features 36 businesses who represent either financial or sustainability services and products.

“We believe that the event will be a great opportunity for locals and visitors to the area to learn more for themselves personally and in turn will benefit the sustainability of the area,” Mr Shaw said.

To find out more about the events program head along to the website http://www.malenycommerce.org.au/events/finance-and-sustainability-expo/ or head to the facebook page Hinterland Finance & Sustainability Expo