TEQ grant – tourism
Businesses in the tourism industry have access to grants through Tourism and Events Queensland, with the program designed to assist businesses outside of the Brisbane City Council area.
The grants help businesses in regional Queensland have the capacity to develop and grow in terms of audience, spectator and participant numbers.
There are some requirements, including that events need to have been held at least once, or have advanced to the point where there is demonstrated council support. And events need to take place in the time frame relevant to the applicant round.
But the grants themselves can be pretty broad. As Adrian Spencer says, “we’ve seen sugar cane farms and other similar businesses open themselves for tourism purposes”.
More information is available here.
First Start Loans
First Start Loans give finance of up to $650,000 for setting up a “primary production enterprise”, or becoming a full-time primary producer.
Whether you’re buying a farm, becoming a partner or achieving enterprise viability, the loans can provide some much-required assistance. The loan term can be up to 20 years, with low interest rates fixed for one, three or five years.
There are some requirements – you need to have resided in Queensland for six months, and show equity of 50% in relation to the purchase.
More information is available here.
Regional Events Scheme
The regional events scheme is administered by Tourism WA every year, and is designed to assist in developing tourist attractions anywhere in regional Western Australia.
The scheme usually targets projects that are able to add tourism income, and attract media coverage which can improve the profile of the region. If you extend the length of traditional tourist seasons, that’s a plus too.
The 2013-14 scheme provided up to $750,000 in funding for 55 events. Applications are already open for 2014-15, with the funding pool remaining exactly the same.
More information is available here.
City of Perth Small Business Grants
Similar to the Melbourne grants, these provide up to $2000 to small businesses within the Perth area to assist with start-up, expansion or any other creative business-related projects.
Applications are open for the 2013-14 round, and more information is available here. However, money is handed out on a first-come first-serve basis.
Bio SA
This next grant is a little specific, but it’s a great one for any businesses in the bioscience industry.
The South Australian government provides up to $250,000 for activities such as business planning, and “proof of commercial concept” experiments – but as the name of the grant suggests, the business in question needs to be in the bioscience industry.
Applications are open all throughout the year – more information can be accessed at the BioSA site here.
Innovation Voucher Program
Similar to the New South Wales scheme, the South Australian government has introduced a voucher program to help foster more innovation in the manufacturing industry.
The vouchers are valued between $10,000 and $20,000 and are awarded on a competitive basis and need to enhance the productivity, or diversification of small and medium businesses.
The vouchers can be used for all sorts of projects, including technical problems and developing new commercially viable products.
More information about the vouchers is available here.
Business Growth: Business Solutions Program
Funding of up to $3000 is available for businesses in the Northern Territory, to be used for advice, tools and resources which can help grow the business.
There are several requirements, including that businesses must be in a “sound financial position”, and also must have been operating in the state for a year.
The businesses also need to “genuinely seek” to enhance business performance. More information about the grants is available here.
Innovation Connect
The ACT provides grants of between $5000 to $50,000 through the Innovation Connect program, which is designed to help businesses develop “innovative products or services”.
The grants are specifically for helping businesses in the early stages of preparing products or services for commercialisation.
The grants are competitive, and eligible businesses need to have turnover less than $2 million and be based in Canberra. More information is available here.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
