Business confidence is on the rise in the Riverina, according to peak body Business NSW, and Wagga businesses agree that things are looking good compared to the start of the year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The latest quarterly Business Conditions Survey has found that confidence is high across the state as we continue to learn to work around COVID-19, and nowhere in NSW is doing better than the Murray-Riverina area.
"While confidence is still classified as being in negative territory, there has been a huge uplift this quarter, with the threat of lockdowns behind us."
Texas Jane boutique clothing store co-owner Belle Gooden agrees that confidence is running high in the area, something she puts down to the tourism and local buzz that comes with the many events Wagga puts on.
Mrs Gooden opened the store with her business partner Eloise Harris in 2019 and they have seen record trade this year.
"We have come off the back of absolute record months and we've been having record months after record months, which is pretty unbelievable," she said.
Mrs Gooden said that while her business has faced similar issues to the wider business community, such as supply chain problems and rising costs, these have been largely offset by the community's willingness to spend.
"I think there's a really promising future ahead ... we're really lucky to have a strong business community in our local area ... it means we can tap into 'how have you been going? What are your challenges? What are your wins?' and we can all share information.
"[Wagga is] a growing place, there's some really different cool industries happening and thriving in the area. And that's really promising in terms of overall growth for the local economy."
Wagga Cycle Centre owner Andrew Treloar said he hasn't seen a Wagga economy so robust in his 30 years of business.
"There seems to be a fair bit of confidence across the board," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen a period in the time I've been in business here where so many things are going in the right direction for Wagga."
He has had strong sales over the past two years as people turned to cycling in lockdown, and he sees his business as a "litmus test" for how the local economy is doing.
"If people have income to spare ... if people are confident and our industry is doing well, that tends to be an example of how the broader community is going," he said.