By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
The house was well and truly packed at the opening of the Casey Cardinia Telstra Business Centre last week.
A host of people, including small business owners from throughout the region and local councillors, turned out to celebrate the unveiling of the Fountain Gate centre – the largest in Australia.
Guests were given tours of the facility prior to the formal presentation which included a video message from Tesltra CEO David Thodey and a keynote speech from Chairman of Yellow Brick Road and TV personality Mark Bouris.
The centre’s licensee Ash Rady said the introduction of the business centre in the Casey Cardinia region would benefit everyone.
“It’s going to deliver the resources and support what local businesses need,” he said.
“The concept of a business centre is more than just a show room, we want the facilities to be used and for them to benefit the community.”
Mr Rady also said a key aim of the centre was to help those customers who had difficulty troubleshooting problems in the past and needed hands-on advice.
“We want customers that may have had negative experiences in the past to come see us,” he said.
“We’ve looked into how we can communicate in different ways, using the centre as a hub.”
Area general manager Vicky Allen emceed the formal presentation with Mr Rady kicking off proceedings by speaking of his history in small business, leading up to his current position with Telstra.
Telstra Executive Director, Small Business Sales and Service John Boniciolli also spoke glowingly of the influence the Casey Cardinia Business Centre will have on the region.
“It’s an area that’s growing fast, I’ve read it’s one of the top three growing areas nationally in terms of all the typical measures of growth.
“That growth in and of itself should bring opportunities and has brought opportunities for local business,” he said.
“We think, I think, many of those local businesses are looking for trusted, local telecommunications and technology support to help those businesses meet their ambitions.
“Whether those ambitions are to improve productivity, or whether those ambitions are to improve the quality service that they provide to their customers.”
The presentation was followed by a formal ribbon cutting for which Mr Rady and Ms Allen were joined by Casey Mayor Amanda Stapledon and Cardinia councillor Colin Ross.
