Telstra boss Andy Penn has praised The Exchange - Clock Tower at Dubbo as an "innovation centre" for the future.
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The CEO of the company that sold the heritage building to Jillian Kilby 13 months ago was one of the first to take a tour of the completely restored property on Wednesday.
Mr Penn then addressed about 70 people at the Dubbo Chamber of Commerce lunch event held at The Exchange - Clock Tower.
Mr Penn was also in Dubbo to launch six 5G Telstra towers to bring the city faster internet speeds.
He said there were similarities between his announcement and Ms Kilby's vision to make The Exchange - Clock Tower a co-working space available for lease to people starting and scaling businesses.
"I think the points are all connected because in the modern world, everybody is competing on a global basis, because the internet has made everything accessible," he said.
"And so that means that regional communities and businesses in regional communities have to be just as tech-savvy as businesses in big cities, and small businesses need to be as tech savvy as big businesses.
"So therefore the idea of having an innovation centre here in Dubbo, at the same time we're launching the next generation of mobile telecommunications technology, 5G in Dubbo I think is a lovely juxtaposition of two initiatives, which I think are going to be really instrumental and very much a beacon for what Australia can achieve in terms of taking into the next decade."
The Telstra CEO said he had been familiar with the building, which started life as the city's post office, for "a good number of years" before its sale. He was impressed with the results of the restoration project, which was led by Ms Kilby, an engineer.
"I think it's a tremendously exciting place, I think Jillian has done a fantastic job," Mr Penn said.
Obviously the architecture is very beautiful but I think more importantly, her vision is to really have this as an innovation hub for start-ups and for creatives.
- Telstra CEO Andy Penn
"Obviously the architecture is very beautiful but I think more importantly, her vision is to really have this as an innovation hub for start-ups and for creatives.
"I think she's created exactly the right vibe to maximise that creativity."