RED Grant gives Hervey Bay wholesale nursery room to grow good jobs
14 October 2022
A nursery wholesaler in Hervey Bay will have room to grow their business – and good jobs - with the help of a Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant of up to $200,000.
Hervey Bay Nurseries, which specialises in producing indoor houseplants and patio plants, was one of 16 businesses to receive the RED Grant in Round 4 of the program.
Member for Hervey Bay Adrian Tantari says the grant will help the business stay competitive in their industry while boosting local employment opportunities.
“As technology advances, so do competitors Hervey Bay Nurseries has identified a project that will help them stay relevant in their industry and keep their competitive edge,” Mr Tantari said.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner MP said: “The project to expand the nursery business is expected to create six new full-time good job opportunities while creating a sustainable future for the existing employees of the business.”
Director of Archer Operations Alison Archer says the funding will be used to construct a multi-span growing shed.
“The project will involve building a larger multi-span type of growing shed. This type of structure provides an enhanced growing area with the ability to modify and influence growing conditions, which in turn, increases the quantity and quality of output.”
Ms Archer says the expansion will allow the business to diversify their range of product offerings.
“We have recently expanded our access to include unique plant varieties from around the world. Our ability to work with these suppliers to obtain exclusive varieties will be achievable with the new shed as we can create the ideal growing environment for them,” she said.
Hervey Bay Nurseries is one of 16 businesses approved in the fourth round of the RED Grants program with total funding of just over $3 million. Overall, these 16 projects are expected to create more than 217 direct long-term jobs across regional Queensland.
The initial three rounds of the RED Grants program have seen funding of $10 million over three years to support more than 30 projects which have created 1,800 good jobs across regional Queensland.
The Palaszczuk Government has continued its investment with a further $6.6 million to be delivered in two rounds over the next two years to generate even more jobs, expand agricultural supply chains and provide significant economic benefit to rural areas.
The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administer the RED Grant scheme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
