More Toowoomba-made farm equipment and jobs thanks to RED Grant
Brendan McCormack
21 September 2023
A Toowoomba farm equipment supplier will re-shore components and create up to five full-time jobs thanks to a new robotic welding system funded by a Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant.
McCormack Industries managing director Brendan McCormack said the business was developing a robotic welding system to increase production and reduce lead times, ensuring the enterprise can meet consumer demand.
“We are using the robotic welding system to build in-house more components that we import from overseas, ensuring we provide more Australian-made products," he said.
“The new tech should also increase efficiency and therefore decrease costs."
The robotic welding system will be in use from mid-next year, and will create up to five local full-time jobs.
“There will be a wide range of jobs created from the robotic welding system from engineers and boiler makers to painters and assemblers," he said.
“Without the Rural Economic Development Grant, we wouldn’t have been able to develop the robotic welding system.”
McCormack Industries is one of 24 businesses approved for the fifth round of the competitive RED grants program with a total funding of $3.9 million. Overall, the fifth round of the RED Grants program is expected to create up to 215 direct, long-term jobs.
Grants are available for up to $200,000 with a 50 per cent cash contribution requirement from applicants to fund projects which generate economic and employment opportunities related to primary production value chains across rural and remote Queensland.
Over five years, the Palaszczuk Government’s RED Grants program has provided a total of $13.3 million in funding to support 59 successful regional agribusiness projects, worth more than $52.4 million and estimated to create over 2,500 new direct and indirect jobs.
A sixth round of RED Grants, supporting Indigenous-owned agribusinesses and projects aimed at low-emissions agriculture, has been allocated for the 2023-24 financial year, with applications to open later this year.
For more information about the RED Grant scheme, visit the RED Grant scheme page.
The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administers the RED Grant scheme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
