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Belmont Celebrates Innovation

Small Business Centre Belmont (SBC), Belmont BEC, Textile Clothing Footwear Resource Centre of Western Australia Inc. (TCFWA) and designedge fashion incubator (DFI) plan to celebrate the 2006 WA and Australian Innovation Festival by coordinating a vast array of exciting and practical events staged to assist innovators, inventors and fashion designers from across the state. The theme for this year’s Festival “Innovation and You” is about encouraging creative practical solutions and taking innovative approaches to everyday problems and will focus on the “4Cs – Creativity, Connections, Collaboration and Commercialisation”

Belmont Designedge Innovation Festival will be an action packed fortnight of over 25 events that include Fashion Parades, New Invention Displays, Business Workshops and Networking events that will provide opportunities for many hundreds to share ideas, meet inventors, designers and gain a valuable insight into future innovations, inventions and WA’s fashion design talents. The Belmont Designedge Innovation Festival was awarded an official Associate Festival status by the national Australian Innovation Festival and was featured extensively in major national media coverage from the success of its 2005 Belmont Designedge Innovation Festival.

Carol Hanlon, Manager of SBC Belmont, TCFWA and designedge fashion incubator is a long time supporter of designers, inventors and innovation in business as Carol herself was a fashion designer and small business owner for over 20 years and understands only too well the many pitfalls and hurdles that one needs to overcome entering design and innovation industries.

The Belmont Designedge Innovation Festival kicks off with an action packed night with the Official Belmont Designedge Innovation Festival Launch 6pm April 26th and highlights wil include a Parade of Innovations with wool and new technology in textiles, clothing and accessories. A visual window display of Innovation with Wool at the designedge fashion incubator, Belmont Forum will further showcase how intelligent textiles, smart fibres and wearable computers are being developed and new seamless technology and digital textile printing are moving manufacturing into a new era.

Networking is a very important component for small business to find other like minded people in the business supply chain, SBC Belmont, TCFWA and designedge will host events during the Belmont Designedge Innovation Festival to provide the opportunity for future manufacturers, business specialists and investors and to meet and listen to new emerging inventors and designers.

The Belmont based WA Inventors Association will be the major exhibitors at a visual display being staged at Belmont Forum Shopping Centre, May 1-6, Joe Iovine, President of WA Inventors will be present with members of the Inventors Association displaying and speaking on their new inventions and how they are progressing in bringing them to the marketplace, some of which have already been featured on the prestigeous ABC Inventors Program.

SBC Belmont will also be hosting an huge array of workshops that cover topics from Intellectual Property; How to Start a New Business; How to Grow your Business; Starting a Fashion Label; Pricing & Costing your product; Cash Flow; Marketing; Importing; Exporting; Media & PR Skills teamed with Innovative workshops that will help firms to think outside the square with their product development; new TCF technologies; International Fashion Marketing; New Directions in Fashion Design; Sourcing Off shore and workshops on What Agents and Retailers are looking for!

SBC Belmont / Belmont BEC is the first industry specific Small Business Centre in WA that assists fashion designers from across the state to start a new fashion label and to expand their current fashion label and/or develop new and innovative products. For further information on the Belmont Designedge Innovation Festival contact Libby Wyles 9479 3777 email events@sbcbelmont.com or view www.sbcbelmont.com or www.tcfwa.com

Media Contact

Carol Hanlon 08 94793777 Mobile 0417 963 231 carol.hanlon@sbcbelmont.com