North America Edition
Lockyer Valley vegetable operation Jackwitz Farms is expanding onto the Darling Downs and creating up to 20 jobs thanks to a Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant.
Jackwitz Farms director Andrew Jackwitz said the fourth-generation family enterprise is building a temperature-controlled packing facility at its new Clifton site to help expand the output of its broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and wombok to both domestic and export markets.
“The new Clifton facility will mean we can maintain a yearly supply of vegetables and our employees will also have full-time work all-year round,” he said.
The project is expected to be completed by mid-next year and will create up to 20 local, full-time jobs.
“Majority of those jobs will be in the packing shed with some farm hands too,” Andrew said. “We appreciate what the Queensland Government has done for us. The Rural Economic Development Grant has helped us enormously.”
Jackwitz Farms 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.
For more information: qrida.qld.gov.au
