This got posted as a comment on one of our articles earlier today, I thought it was worth posting here as well.
The City of Melbourne’s Business Development has announced Small Business Grants to support economic and business development in the municipality.
The Small Business Grant applicant must have a valid ABN and be located or commit to locate within the City of Melbourne municipality.
The Small Business Grant Categories are;
* Start-up
* Business Expansion
* Export Entry
* Business Support Services
The closing dates for applications is 2 March 2009
What can be claimed for Small Business Grants
Start-up and Business Expansion
The Start-up and Business Expansion grants support the following categories of expenditure directly related to establishing a business or as part of a business expansion process.
* Capital improvement - the costs associated with improving the façade and fit-out of a business premise
* Website development - the costs associated with the development or enhancement of a business website
* IT equipment - the costs associated with purchasing IT equipment for the operation of the new business or as part of the business expansion activity
* Specialised equipment and software - the costs associated with purchasing specialised equipment and software that is directly related to the operation of the new business or as part of the business expansion activity
* Other - expenditure items which are not listed above but can be demonstrated as significantly crucial for the start-up or expansion of a specialised business
General operational expenses including rent, utilities, training, marketing, networking and staff remuneration will not be considered.
Export Entry
The Export Entry grants support the following categories of export related
activities:
* Overseas representation and marketing consultants - the cost associated with engaging an overseas representative acting on the business’
behalf to market/promote its product/service. The cost associated with engaging an overseas representative or consultant for business matching activities Market research the cost of engaging a consultant to undertake targeted export market research
* Marketing visits - the cost of economy airfares, on ground travel and accommodation
* Free sample - the cost of providing free sample to non-resident
* Communications - the cost of communications directly associated with the export project
* Promotional literature - the production cost of internationally branded promotional materials including brochures, videos/CDs/DVD presentation, advertising, translation
* Trade fairs and exhibitions - the cost of participating in an international trade fair, seminar and exhibition
* Outbound missions - the cost of participating in a City of Melbourne business/trade mission
* Export product development and protection the costs of modifying a product/service or its packaging to tailor it to the export requirements of an overseas market the costs associated with product/service protection including intellectual property rights, patents and trademarks
Expenditure not directly related to export-related activities will not be considered.
Business Support Services
* Business Support Services grants will only assist with expenditure related to:
* Training and development initiatives - the costs associated with the delivery of training and development related initiatives designed to improve the performance of small businesses in the municipality
The Business Support Service grants will not support expenditure items relating to marketing and social or networking activities.
What are they looking for Small Business Grants?
Start-up
* small businesses that are able to demonstrate ‘business readiness’
* a business that does not duplicate an existing activity/service currently available within the city
* a business which can demonstrate measurable economic contributions to be made on the achievement of the program’s objectives (ie intended business investment, jobs creation and gross turnover)
* businesses in the City of Melbourne’s key target industry sectors
Business Expansion
* small businesses that have a demonstrated level of business success
* businesses which can demonstrate measurable economic contributions to be made on the program’s objectives (ie intended business investment, jobs creation and gross turnover)
* projects that will be introducing a new, innovative product/service/ activity/business collaboration businesses in the City of Melbourne’s key target industry sectors.
Export Entry
* small businesses with majority of their business activities conducted within the Melbourne municipality
* projects which can demonstrate a direct export outcome
* projects targeting the City of Melbourne’s priority international markets; and
* businesses in the City of Melbourne’s key target sectors.
The City of Melbourne’s key target industry sectors are advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, finance and business services, environment services, creative industries, higher education, information and communication technologies and retail. The City of Melbourne’s priority international markets are Tianjin, Guangzhou, Mumbai, New Delhi, Milan, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. This list of cities will be reviewed annually.
Business Support Services
* business support services that can demonstrate delivering significant tangible outcomes to small businesses located in the municipality; and
* a proposed initiative which can demonstrate measurable economic contributions to be made on the achievement of the program objectives such as new business and employment creation; and nature/extend of anticipated business development outcomes
On average, applicants will be notified of the assessment outcome eight to 10 weeks from the closing date of the application.
Applications for Small Business Grants close 2 March 2009
More info is available
here.
Small business grants available in Melbourne
