Coal & Allied managing director Bill Champion, who announced the partnership at a Hunter Valley Research Foundation function, said it would build on a pilot program already established by HunterNet.

"We recognise that supply chains can be extremely complex for small to medium businesses, and like us, they need to seek both good short term opportunities as well as ensure their businesses are sustainable," Champion said.

"We are pleased that our Coal & Allied Community Development Fund is partnering with HunterNet over the next three years to extend HunterNet's existing supply chain pilot program.

"This program aims to help local small to medium businesses learn about a diverse range of supply chains within local industries.”

The program aimed to provide a model that would help businesses identify and target the best fit in a supply chain for their products and services as well as understand the potential to broaden or strengthen their business' capabilities so they could benefit from any future opportunities, he said.

"Our partnership with HunterNet is an extension of our approach to help build a more robust and diverse regional economy that can be sustained through good times, challenging times and indeed beyond mining," Champion said.

In 2011 Coal & Allied operations employed more than 2500 employees and over 1500 contractors, and spent more than $1.7 billion with close to 1300 businesses across NSW.

To date its community development funds have invested more than $13 million in the Hunter Valley and have recommitted a further $4.5 million over three years commencing in 2012.

HunterNet chief executive officer John Coyle said his not-for-profit member organisation was made up of a network of more than 190 small and medium-sized manufacturing, engineering and consulting companies located in the Hunter region.

"While a range of business support mechanisms currently exist in the Hunter, they deliver relatively broad and generic guidance for small to medium businesses on how to successfully participate in supply chains," Coyle said.

"Our pilot program aims to provide industry-specific and customised support to these businesses.

Up until now, the program has concentrated on small to medium business participation in the Hunter coal supply chain but the aim is to extend this to other local industry supply chains.

"We have developed an action plan and have begun implementing it by introducing panel sessions, a series of seminars on key capability topics and targeting a major project to pilot additional strategies, such as the mapping of local capability against the specific project supply requirements.

"Our partnership with Coal & Allied will build upon the success of this pilot, address any key gaps, but most importantly strengthen the most successful elements into a clear, coherent model that can be applied by small to medium businesses in a range of supply chains and across local industries."