Emily Piesse

Western Australian businesses remain optimistic about the state’s economic environment, despite rising input costs and labour shortages, according to the June quarter 2007 Commonwealth Bank – CCI Survey of Business Expectations.

Cell therapy technology company OrthoCell Pty Ltd has built a $1.2 million laboratory facility at its Murdoch University base to service both its own research needs and those of other biotherapeutic companies in Western Australia.

Curtin University of Technology has named Department for Planning and Infrastructure director general, Greg Martin, as chair of its Planning and Transport Studies discipline.

The pressure on industry to reduce its water usage could not have come at a better time for Clearguard Pty Ltd, which has developed a product to substantially reduce water consumption and improve safety at alumina refineries, pulp mills and other process

Western Australia, once a national leader in educating foreign students, is struggling to retain its share of the international student pool.

Western Australia’s tight employment market, and an increased demand for counselling services, have created a staffing crisis in the state’s not-for-profit alcohol and other drug agencies, according to the sector’s peak body.

Despite some initial setbacks, Nobel Prize winner and medical research scientist Professor Barry Marshall is making inroads after some early setbacks with his spin-off company, Ondek Pty Ltd, which plans to licence an oral vaccine delivery system develope

Two Western Australian not-for-profit groups have achieved a target of $1 million in their respective fundraising campaigns during the past few months.

Achieving a successful outcome for Australia in the World Trade Organisation’s Doha round is the nation’s top trade policy priority, according to Trade Minister Warren Truss.

Two Western Australian companies – educational software developer ReadOn Pty Ltd and noise filtering technology company Sensear Pty Ltd – have been recognised at this year’s Australian Information Industry Association iAwards for innovations in the ICT se

Strong business investment and increased household spending have contributed to the fastest growth in Australia’s gross domestic product in more than three years.

Australian exporters will be able to take advantage of a free international business networking program during next year’s Beijing Olympic Games.

Nedlands-based Visiomed Group Ltd has signed an agrement worth around $3 million with UK medical distributor Clinisupplies Ltd to supply its Funhaler paediatric asthma spacer to major pharmacy chains Boots and Lloyds, among other outlets.

Not-for-profit organisations in Western Australia may be required to reassess their organisational status if a new policy, developed by national accounting body CPA Australia, is adopted.

Two Western Australian companies – Perth-based scooter company Vmoto Ltd and South Perth-based flooring products company Style Ltd – have bought manufacturing facilities in China in the past two weeks as part of their international expansion strategies.

Western Australia’s public universities appear to be facing the same pressures as the rest of the economy, with steep employment costs eroding rises in grants and student income.

Three of the state’s biggest associations – HBF, RAC and St John of God Health Care – and lawyers Jackson McDonald have expressed concern about proposed legislation governing associations in Western Australia.

The state government’s proposed South West integrated furniture precinct is close to being realised, with a feasibility study into the project due to be released this month.

The key performance indicators used by public universities in Western Australia reflect each institution’s strategic plan and mission, but are not necessarily relevant across the board, according to a number of the state’s vice-chancellors.

Western Australia’s mining and resources companies will have two new recruitment providers available to them from next month, following the re-establishment of an engineering specialist agency in WA and the emergence of a new player in the market.

Western Australian not-for-profit organisations are increasingly using the internet to communicate with their supporters and clients, particularly with regard to e-philanthropy and online giving.

Two Western Australian-based technology companies were recognised last month at the national Consensus software awards for Australian software developers.

The arrival of Web 2.0 – the ‘new phase’ in the internet that encompasses social networking sites, podcasts and blogging – was for some users the most significant event in cyberspace since the dot.com boom.

Changes to income tax thresholds over the past five years have influenced salary packaging behaviour, with more employees realising the benefits and high-income earners adjusting their usage.

National export credit agency, the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, has expanded its mandate to provide financial and insurance services to more small to medium-sized exporters.

While securing venture capital remains a challenge for many in the state’s online business sector, local and international investors continue to see opportunities in the Western Australian market.

WA businesses are spending more on their websites and using new internet applications in order to stay competitive and lift profits.

With Western Australian workers commanding the highest salaries in the nation and the state’s unemployment rate at just 2.7 per cent, the not-for-profit sector is struggling to compete with other industries as it faces an acute shortage of staff.

More small business exporters will be entitled to a reimbursement of their overseas marketing costs from July 1 this year, following legislative changes to the export market development grants program.

As the mining boom puts further upwards pressure on wages in Western Australia, the state’s workers are enjoying the highest remuneration in the country, according to two surveys released this month.

A recent Australian initiative – the APEC business travel card – could make business travel far easier for those within the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, by allowing cardholders to be fast-tracked through the airports of member countries.

Finding the right person for the job is becoming increasingly difficult in Western Australia’s current employment market.