About NiO
Northern Illawarra Online, otherwise known as NiO (pronounced "neo") was launched by Scott James Smith in June 2003 as an online community and business directory, initially for Helensburgh, but aimed at the combined 2508 and 2515 postcode areas which together comprise the "Coastal Villages" region of the Northern Illawarra.
Scott had moved to Helensburgh in 2000 and quickly recognised the need for more local media infrastructure to help support local business and community through improved networks and communications. Scott joned the Northern Illawarra Chamber of Commerce (NICC) to help unite local businesses in this cause and quickly graduated to an executive level - by developing the online directory at NiO in parallel to the collaboration with NICC, there was little delay in promoting the "Northern Illawarra" brand.
Late in 2003, the coast road joining Stanwell Park to Austinmer and Thirroul was severed, which for the most part was a negative influence on the development of NiO and NICC, but what did emerge during that three year period, was a much greater sense of cohesion between the Helensburgh and Stanwell Park business communities who rallied together to survive.
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Illawarra Mercury, March 2004
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This had the effect off spreading NiO down into Stanwell Park, and the emerging online technologies provided through the NiO website was most effective in retaining a connection with the Austinmer and Thirroul businesses, who were now effectively closer to Wollongong, than their northern neighbours who remained a stone's throw across the gap where the Sea Cliff Bridge was being built.
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Wollongong Advertiser, January 2006
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Helensburgh was making great strides during this period with the development of the "Helensburgh Beautification Project" which effectively bound together the strengths of established community groups such as Helensburgh Lions Club and Helensburgh Landcare, to help improve the street scape which not only fostered a great sense of town pride for the community, but also generated confidence for the local businesses.
The transformation of the town centre took many hours of hard labour from a handful of volunteers, but successfully turned a sad and neglected public space into a thriving community hub with a sustainable / ongoing beautification solution.
During this time, NiO started publishing a printed version of its online directory, produced as a wallhanger providing a visual resource of local business contacts. This continued to be published every 6 months, reaching a broader audience with each issue.
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Wollongong Advertiser, May 2006
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In 2007, "Historic Helensburgh" was taking shape with the extensive landscaping in the town centre, and provision of bus shelter advertising for sports clubs and community and community groups, but there were a couple of significant projects coming to a head, with the completion of the Lions Club Community Sign which had taken several years to complete. Community interaction took the form of sponsorships which provided many local sports, arts and community groups with free web design, hosting and development.
In 2008, the final stages of planning were finally being completed on the "Helensburgh Coalminer" - a large bronze sculpture in the town centre as a tribute to the coalmining heritage of the region.
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Wollongong Advertiser, May 2008
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Based upon the growth and success of the Northern Illawarra Directory for the region between Thirroul and Helensburgh, the Bulli/Woonona Directory was launched in October 2009, reaching every home and office in that region.
By the end of 2009 a raft of new services had been added to the website including news, traffic reports, maps and a comprehensive gig guide. The advent of social media such as Facebook and Twitter have allowed NiO to continue to increase its reach and relevance in the Northern Illawarra.
View all the versions of the NiO website since 2003
Find out more about the Northern Illawarra
