The plans formulated as part of the Ulladulla Regional Excellence Initiative include many facets to boost tourism, increase spending and create employment to give the Milton Ulladulla economy a real shot in the arm.

The plans have a strong focus on education, starting with business leaders working with local year nine students to teach them how to go about getting a job, starting with how to write an application letter, how to prepare a resume, what to wear to a job interview, and what skills make a person more employable.

Job skills are the focus of a year 10 work placement program, having some students spend one day a week working in local businesses.

But rather than spend the entire year in the same business, a student might spend 16 weeks in a coffee lounge to gain qualifications as a barista, 16 weeks a restaurant to obtain qualifications in food preparation, and a final 16 weeks in an office earning a Certificate II in administration.

The project’s launch last week heard much of the training would help young people obtain jobs with local businesses, keeping them in the area rather than leaving to find work.

But the focus on education did not stop there.

The project identified an urgent need for more people with training in health and aged care, and included bridging programs to help people get into university to study those courses, regardless of whether or not they had the required HSC marks.

The plan also included putting together a list of all the skills and expertise within the local community, focusing on what people were prepared to share in what was dubbed a “human library”.

Project coordinator Sarah Watterson said a human library would work on a pay-it-forward basis, for example if someone put a draft marketing plan into the network, someone utilising the plan would repay by running cooking lessons or putting educational tools into the system.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking out for a while, because there are so many amazing people here,” Ms Watterson said.

She added the idea had cross-generational benefits, as older people would often work with youngsters to catalogue skills, particularly the diminishing crafts and home skills.

“It’s a beautiful concept recognising people in our community, and more importantly capturing skills in danger of being lost,” Ms Watterson said.

The initiative grew out of a look at improving service levels within local businesses, and service excellence is a key part of the overall project.

Ms Watterson said Melbourne’s Federation Square had put in place a system training all businesses and all their staff to the same exceptional service level, so anyone visiting the area would be assured of consistently high service, and she hoped something similar could happen in Milton Ulladulla.

Former Shoalhaven Business Chamber vice-president Darryl Bozicevic agreed, “There’s one thing we need to focus on and that’s service. We need to be excellent at it and we need to be excellent as a community.”

In addition the overall plan included developing an app detailing all the region’s attractions and events, to which visitors to the region could be referred, and creating the tools to effectively and efficiently run events.

The regional excellence initiative grabbed the headlines a few weeks ago when it produced a photo of a giant sausage at Ulladulla’s entrance, and Ms Watterson said the idea of having “a big thing” to draw tourists to the region was “a running joke”.

However Shoalhaven City Council has engaged a consultant to look at branding the area.

Cr Allan Baptist said he was impressed by the plan produced by people involved with the regional excellence initiative, who met just one night a week for 12 weeks.

“This is brilliant,” he enthused.

“This could end up in Milton Ulladulla being seen as the friendliest, most capable, most skill-rich area.”

Funding for the project’s next stage, including employing a full-time coordinator, has been discussed, but has been put on hold during the federal election campaign.

However the project has been seen as a test case that could be rolled out to other areas if it is successful in boosting the local economy and creating new opportunities.