Just in case you did not know – the Queensland Government has in place a program call Jobs Assist. It is designed to help businesses be “resilient”, thereby protecting jobs creation and economic growth.
If you qualify, you can have an approved Consultant (like me) complete Stage 1 ($3,000) and Stage 2 (up to $5,000).
Here is the extract of each Stage:
Stage 1 will provide up to $3,000 to engage a consultant to conduct a complete business assessment of the Customer’s business and develop an Action Plan to address all strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business including addressing deficiencies in the working capital, and effectiveness of the business’s reporting process. The Action Plan will also include strategies and actions to support and improve the business.
Stage 2 provides up to $5,000 to guide and support the customer to implement the activities identified as immediate priority tasks in your Action Plan that can include:
- funding for the engagement of a specialist selected from the consultant database to mentor and support the customer as they implement the priority tasks identified in the your business action plan
- funding for all or a contribution to a State and/or Federal support program or provider training program costs that have been identified as an immediate priority task in the customer’s business action plan
- funding for other support services identified as immediate priority tasks in the customer’s action plan. This can occur through the engagement of business experts who can design/develop strategies or processes required by the customer’s business and provide support necessary during the implementation process for the task. Business specialist who can provide these support services are chosen from the Department’s Consultant Database.
There are some rules and eligibility criteria:
Customer Eligibility
The eligibility criteria under this activity are that the business must:
(1) be one of the following:
- be located within a Priority Employment Area under the Federal Government’s Keep Australia Working strategy (refer Priority Employment Areas)
- fall within key industries and be considered of critical or strategic importance to the State, region, industry or in a significant sectoral supply chain
(2) be experiencing one of the following:
- the variation in working capital is negative and has declined by more than 25% between the two points in time i.e. 30 June 2009 and the most recent reporting period, or
- the business begins the two point period with negative working capital and remains in that position at the end of the two point period.
(3) employ 10 or more FTE’s
(4) have an established operating base in Queensland
(5) have an ABN (registered in QLD) and be registered for GST
Item (2) above has only recently been introduced – and to me seems like a good idea to ensure that the Program reaches those who need it. The balance on this is that often many businesses simply do not measure their working capital – or even know how to. If that describes you – then simply ask for help on the calculations – either the DEEDI or your accountant will be able to help you fill in the forms.
For any further information please contact your local Regional Centre of the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation on 1300 363 711.