Six SMEs are sharing in $1.2 million of federal grants to boost exporting capability

Six local small businesses have been named as recipients of the Defence Global Competitiveness grants program, sharing in more than $1.2 million worth of funding to boost their export capability.

The recipients of the latest funding round include Repetition Engineering ($240,000), Electro Cad Australia ($240,000), JTM Gaskets ($211,260), Trakka Corp ($193,192), Gaardtech ($166,000) and the Orbital Corporation ($195,624). 

Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the funding aimed to support growth and export opportunities for Australia’s defence sector. 

“Small businesses that develop some of the most innovative and world-leading defence capabilities are the backbone of Australia’s industrial base,” Price said in a statement.

“From acquiring new specialist components, to manufacturing engines for unmanned aerial vehicles, or making new static targets for international customers, these six small businesses are expanding into global markets, generating local jobs and strengthening the sovereign industrial base on which Defence relies.”

Victorian-based business Trakka Corp will use its grant to improve its quality assurance process, by acquiring specialist equipment to perform in-house stress screening for the components that they produce.

Another local business, Electro Cad Australia, which is based in South Australia, will put its grant money towards installing a clean room, new manufacturing equipment of complex defence components. It will also work towards building its export orders with international defence companies. 

“The increasing overseas demand these Australian small businesses are experiencing is a testament to their world-leading ingenuity and capability,” Price said.

“By supporting these companies to invest in new equipment or to increase their manufacturing capabilities, it is enabling them to increase their production capabilities and offer more competitive priced equipment internationally.”

The Australian government is calling for applicants to make a submission to the Defence Global Competitive Grant program online. 

This article was first published by The Mandarin.