RED Grants help regions to grow and diversify
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Regional Economic Development (RED) Grants program is supporting regional communities to capitalise on opportunities to drive economic growth, create jobs, grow industries, and support small businesses.
RED Grants will inject $28.8 million over the five years to 2022/23 into projects that will directly benefit regional communities.
Applications for round two of the RED grants program are now open, and the nine Regional Development Commissions are working closely with their communities to identify further opportunities to grow and diversify with the support provided through the program.
Round one of the RED Grants program, announced earlier this year, invested $6.38 million in 70 community-led projects focused on enabling industry diversification and expansion, skills development and training opportunities, and boosting tourism.
Avon Valley Beef received $190 000 to install a new automated lamb supply chain at its Northam abattoir to triple lamb processing, and enable sheep and cattle to be processed simultaneously.
The enterprise’s improvements enable Wheatbelt producers the opportunity to significantly increase sheep and lamb supply to the abattoir from 600 head per day to a maximum of 3,600 per day, resulting in more locally processed sheep meat products available to the market.
In the South West, Ocean Grown Abalone received a RED Grant of $85 000 to contribute to the construction of Augusta Boat Harbour Seafood Processing Facility. The new infrastructure is set to double the company’s greenlip abalone production by 2021, and open up potential markets in China and South East Asia.
Each Regional Development Commission manages the RED Grants process for its region, and is able provide advice to applicants during the process.
Eligible applicants can apply for RED Grant funding of up to $250 000 for individual projects that promote sustainable jobs, partnerships, productivity, skills, and capability, and stimulate new investment in industry diversification.
More information on the RED Grants program, including links to Regional Development Commission websites, for application information and program guidelines, is available at drd.wa.gov.au
Applications for round two close 13 September 2019.