More than 100 North Queensland businesses will be better prepared to face the next flood with more than $1 million in Small Business Disaster Recovery Grants to build resilience.
The program is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Queensland governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, in response to the monsoon in late January through to early February.
Minister for Natural Disaster and Emergency Management David Littleproud said $1,096,545 had been allocated to 102 small businesses that had been hit by the monsoon.
"This will help both flood-proof businesses and repair flood damage," Minister Littleproud said.
"The grants help hard-hit small businesses access experts to rebuild and increase their resilience.
"Businesses can apply for up to $10,000 to improve their business plans, retrain staff, for business mentoring, financial counselling and improving sustainability."
"This supports the recovery in the here and now and reduces the impact of future natural disasters.
"Getting back to business quickly after a disaster makes the whole community more resilient."
Minister for Employment and Small Business Shannon Fentiman said the Small Business Disaster Recovery Grants were available to businesses in 14 local government areas.
"It's great to see more local businesses are getting back up and running thanks to the assistance of the grants and valuable support and mentoring at the Small Business Recovery Centre," Ms Fentiman said.
"There have been 127 grants approved so far with businesses using the funding to repair damage caused by the flooding as well as build resilience for the future."
"The Queensland Government will continue to work closely with the Commonwealth and local governments to support Queenslanders with their business recovery.''
The grants program opened on June 10 this year and will remain open for up to two years.
