Matt Hewson
Ngarrimili, a not-for-profit charity that provides support to aspiring or established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, creatives and entrepreneurs, will open its business and retail hub in the centre of Geelong in December.
Ngarrimili was founded in 2018 by current chief executive and Yorta Yorta man Cormach Evans.
Since then the charity has had a positive impact on over 2000 First Nations businesses through its personally tailored support, workshops and co-working spaces.
Ngarrimili deputy executive officer and Wakaya woman Bek Lasky said the new hub, Murran, will provide the organisation with even more opportunities to help aspiring First Nations businesspeople.
“Murran means eucalyptus in Wadawurrung language, and it’s right on Malop Street,” Ms Lasky said.
“It will consist of a retail store, a gallery, a cafe and a co-working space with hotdesking options, meeting rooms and conference rooms as well.
“Murran is the first of its kind across Australia, and it will provide lots of employment opportunities in terms of running the space as well as business pathways through Ngarrimili’s mission to provide support to entrepreneurs.”
One such entrepreneur Ngarrimili has supported in the past is Kaley Nicholson, who, along with her mother Joanne, co-founded camping experience and product company Yilam in 2021.
“Prior to starting this business, I’ve never been a business person; my background is policy development and legislation reform,” Ms Nicholson said.
“When you’re a business owner it’s a totally different mindset, a totally different way of working. If we weren’t able to access the support from Ngarrimili we wouldn’t have been able to be anywhere near as far along this journey as we are.
“They’ve been amazing. We were really clear on our idea and vision for Yilam, so with Ngarrimili it was really about tapping into practical, hands-on advice and support.”
Ms Nicholson said Ngarrimili’s support hadn’t just been help with one-off tasks, but had allowed Yilam to grow and mature.
“Ngarrimili’s provided really great quality assistance, but also really empowering assistance,” she said.
“For example, when we worked with the guys to build our website, they don’t just do it for you, they talk you through doing it yourself.
“So if we need something updated or changed we don’t go back to them every time. They set you up with the skills to be able to do it yourself.”
