EDITOR'S MESSAGE

BRING it on.

That's the positive attitude the Gold Coast’s resilient business community will adopt as it forges ahead in 2010.

While economists are predicting a sluggish recovery, it’s a recovery nonetheless.

2010 is already shaping up as one of anticipated optimism, but what does it really mean for the Coast, Australia’s sixth largest city and the arguably the SME capital of the nation? The real question is whether 2010 will really deliver the swing in the economy that so many business owners are banking on.

We talk to a panel of industry heavyweights to raise their concerns, predictions and hopes with the general consensus that we’re not entirely out of the woods just yet.

But try slowing down Guvera Limited, the $100 million Gold Coast company on the cusp of revolutionising the music industry. With a concept set to rock iTunes, Guvera is a unique model for music distribution that matches the audience with the advertiser. In short, music paid for by brands.

Music labels like it too. In the US the company has signed deals with Universal Music and EMI. CEO Claes Loberg tells Gold Coast Business News about the concept and why he’s confident it can become the next big thing to combat illegal file sharing.

In Opinion this month, we talk to IR expert and head of Australian Business Lawyers partner Tim Capelin. Capelin sheds some light on the Federal Government’s second phase IR restructure.

And as the Gold Coast City Council prepares to host the first round of economic development meetings for 2010, 47-year-old CEO Dale Dickson is buckling up for a rollercoaster year ahead.

In an exclusive interview, Dickson discusses the challenges that wait during another four years under the gaze of public scrutiny with 3300 full-time staff under his care.

Business News Publications – the publisher of Gold Coast Business News, Brisbane Business News, Brisbane Legal and Profit also has some positive news of its own.

We flicked the switch on a new website (www.goldcoastbusinessnews.com.au) and in addition to a cosmetic overhaul, we have teamed up with Australia’s largest corporate webcaster Boardroom Radio, to stream minute-by-minute information from around the nation including economic updates, market reports and AGM addresses.

Business News Publications has also signed a distribution deal with Fairfax that will see our growing stable of magazines delivered alongside BRW, Australian Financial Review and Smart Investor.
This will increase our presence in key markets and allow us to explore a new world of opportunity.

Jason Oxenbridge