How 5000 businesses and $3b GDP can leverage off Gympie Bypass

Civic leaders and the business community have been told in no uncertain terms what they need to do to overcome the challenges faced since the opening of the Bruce Highway Bypass of Gympie.

Neil Glentworth and Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig discussed the challenges and opportunities of Gympie business post-bypass at the July Business Breakfast.

Challenges, opportunities, assets — all words commonly heard in meetings, but Gympie’s business breakfast on July 9 was all about turning talk into action.

More than 150 people — business owners, lawyers, public servants and council members alike — gathered at the RSL first thing Wednesday morning for Gympie Chamber of Commerce’s July Business Breakfast with keynote speaker Neil Glentworth.

Mr Glentworth dived into the world of opportunity at the region’s fingertips, and the new realities businesses are facing since the completion of the Bruce Highway Bypass of Gympie in October.

Despite the challenge of drawing visitors after the Bypass opened “since my first talk here in 2019, we’ve come a long, long way,” Mr Glentworth said.

Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig and guest speaker Neil Glentworth at the Chamber of Commerce meeting where the challenges of the Gympie Bypass was high on the agenda.

He said Gympie region’s gross domestic product was about $3 billion, an increase of more than $500 million since 2019, and the region was home to more than 5000 businesses, and growing.

“You have some of the most phenomenal assets on your doorstep,” Mr Glentworth said.

But he said more effort was needed to reel visitors into town, especially post-Bypass.

Instead of relying on the public sector for funds and support, he stressed being proactive in promoting the region.

Mr Glentworth used the regional Victorian town of Bendigo as an example of a community that reinvented itself from a struggling region, to experiencing a 13 per cent economic growth over the past five years.

Bendigo achieved this by sharing its unique assets through social media channels, and making itself “a destination”.

Gympie can do the same, Mr Glentworth said.

Gympie Region Mayor Glen Hartwig joined keynote speaker Neil Glentworth to discuss the opportunities and challenges for Gympie heading into the future.

The Gympie region’s risk of being “bypassed” on the highway can be overcome by promoting its “superpowers” and flipping challenges into success.

Renowned agricultural production, beautiful surrounds, a solid business base, successful creative industries, and proximity to Brisbane were among Gympie’s ‘superpowers’, Mr Glentworth said.

The biggest challenge: competition.

Bendigo has become a “romantic weekend getaway” for Melburnians just over an hour’s drive away who are privy to a countryside escape.

Gympie could offer that to Brisbane locals, Mr Glentworth said.

“How can we stop people turning right into Tin Can Bay or the Sunshine Coast, and start turning left into Gympie?”

The answer was drummed in time and again: “sell your superpowers”.