Regional Queensland Small Business Grant now available 

Are you a small to medium enterprise (SME) currently operating in or considering growth into regional Queensland?  

The Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment, The Honourable Cameron Dick announced last Tuesday that applications are now open for SMEs looking to expand into regional Queensland. 

The Queensland Government fund is encouraging SMEs who are operating or expanding into rural Queensland to apply for the grant for 2024. There is $50 million available for the Backing Business in the Bush Fund for SMEs who are focusing on expanding, enhancing or diversifying their business operations.

Eligibility for the Regional Queensland Small Business Grant

SMEs eligible for the grant must:

• Employ between 5 – 199 employees.
• Have a turnover of at least $1 million per annum over the last two years.
• Operate in a ‘traditional’ industry (agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining, equipment, and services (METS), transport and logistics, or manufacturing related to agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, processing minerals, transport and defence).

Activities that are eligible for the grant include those that focus on growing productivity and efficiency, employment and upskilling, and long-term sustainability and competitiveness.

The Queensland Small Business Outlook Report predicts that the efficiency of employees will be more important than ever beyond 2023, due to wage pressures caused by inflation.    Investing in your workforce through strategic planning and advisory can drive productivity and promote long-term business growth.

Director of Workforce Advisory, Loretta McGeachin, said that for SMEs planning to expand in 2024, its important to remember that your workforce is your number one asset.

“Enriching your business operations could mean engaging with our team to implement a strategic workforce plan, which can enhance efficiencies and maximise cross-skilling opportunities across the business,” said McGeachin.

Should your grant application be successful, our Workforce Advisory team offer tailored solutions to help you to design and strengthen your workforce.

Our Workforce Advisory services include:

• Change Management
• Leadership Optimisation
• Strategic Workforce Planning
• Succession Planning
• Workforce Diversity & Inclusion

Grant applications close 14 January 2024. We encourage you to view the Queensland Government resources to view the full eligibility criteria.

Grant writing resources

For assistance with preparing your grant, we encourage you to view the Queensland Government resources available here.

Grant applications close 14 January 2024. Click here to view the full eligibility criteria.

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