YOUR local
YOUR GOOD-NEWS PAPER
www.yourlocalwaggaweekly.com.au
ISSUE 002 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017
Be an owner of a media company by pennie scott
ONCE upon a time, and not so long ago, Wagga had a high proportion of locally owned businesses run by, and employing generations of families. Back in the 1970’s you could count on a few fingers the number of out-of-townbased brands. In 2017, the proportion of national brands compared to locally owned and independent companies in Wagga has reversed. Some call this progress as, allegedly, customers have greater choice of products. The promises of new export markets as the outcome of Free Trade Agreements have a flip-side too. The reciprocal is Australia has mega-tonnes of imports flooding into the shoppersphere. With the cost of labour significantly lower than Australia in many countries, the outcome is the closure of many traditional manufacturing enterprises. A healthy landscape ecology is made up of a huge and diverse range of species; plants, fungi, animals and all the variations of each. Individuals, populations and communities of each are identified, counted and analysed by their inter- and intra-relationships. A healthy business ecology is exactly the same; a wide diversity of types, sizes, tastes, owners, locations, connections, sovereignty, provenance and terroir. Some of these words used to be familiar when describing food, hand-made goods, types of services, districts and communities. But, with the homogenisation through mass-production of ‘stuff’ from far away, not even labelling provides a clue to its origin, the materials from which it is made, or who actually had a hand, or machine, in the making of it. Very clever social engineering has created members of a society which generally are ignorant about the effects of globalisation on their own lives and the long-term effects on their families. Knight’s Meats is a family-owned business employing 52 people and increasing that number to 55 during the busy Christmas rush. “In our delicatessen section alone, we carry produce from 120 individual artisan
producers with 50 per cent of them from within the Riverina”, explained owner, Deaane McNaughton. “A high proportion of our costs is due to the necessity of staff unpacking, recording and showcasing these goods. The great news is that these artisans have a retail outlet in a dedicated foodie location and that is how our local economy works,” she said. “For a small food retailer in a town with 12 supermarkets, Knight’s Meats annual turnover appears impressive. We have a higher wages-to-sales ratio than the (supermarket) industry benchmark, but we do that so each customer has the undivided attention of our staff. When customers come in, they experience all the characteristics of the food and shared knowledge and passion from people who know the origins and
actually eat it, too. “Employing so many local people is part of our philosophy and we are the opposite to supermarkets continually trying to lower their operating costs with the insertion of customer-operated check-outs now. That means fewer staff, not more,” Ms McNaughton added. Media quality and democracy also thrives when the ownership is diversified. Industrial media have been the major carriers of information; namely newspapers, television and radio. In the 1970’s in even the smallest towns, the newspaper was locally owned and independent. The understanding was that if you spent money in your town, those dollars would flow on and around at least seven times. In Wagga, The Leader was established
Geoff Pettitt, Wes Fang and Greg Conkey cut the ribbon to open Your Local Wagga Weekly.
by Greg Conkey as a small start-up media company eventually employing 13 staff covering every aspect of creation and production. The Leader was focused purely on the many communities making up the characters, flavours and personalities of Wagga with people living here finding, collecting and sharing the diversity of stories through the seasons of each year. In 2017, Wagga has numerous television and radio outlets with most owned by national corporations in capital cities. Waggawagga.tv and Triple A community radio capture the nuances and idiosyncrasies of the people who work, live and love being here. Wagga Weekly is the latest independent media company to complete the media trifecta of television, radio and print to provide an unfettered and independent voice, and to highlight the gratitude of living in a safe, clean and beautiful place on the planet. The opportunity to own a piece of your own newspaper and media company is usually confined to just a few. Wagga Weekly is different and celebrates its shareholders from this town and offers the chance for more people to become share-holders. “When you buy from a small business, you are not helping a CEO buy a third investment property. You are helping a daughter have dance lessons, a son to go on the football team’s away games, a mum to put food on the table, a father to pay a mortgage or a student pay their university fees.” Anon To maintain a healthy business ecology in Wagga, you are invited to become a shareholder in this independent media company. Shape your future or someone else will. Be part of this old-new world of local futures. Keep the money in our town and assist in the creation of meaningful careers for everyone irrespective of age, creed or gender. Prosperity is a wonderful word and as it increases, the benefits keep flowing around. For more information, contact Janet Ashcroft at janet@waggaweekly.com.au.
• 16 page Real Estate liftout • Horse Racing Guide - page 8 • Destination Riverina Murray - page 18 • Living Well - page 20
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