The City of Fremantle today launched its 2026 Small Business Grants Program, which will provide support to small businesses during the period of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge closure from early 2026 as a new bridge is constructed across the Swan River.
The City of Fremantle funded program, which is also supported by the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce, will provide grants to small businesses for the purposes of marketing themselves during the bridge closure, and will form part of a broader coordinated campaign to remind greater Perth that Fremantle is still open for business during the closure.
Small businesses will be able to apply for grants of up to $2,000 each which can be used for the purpose of creating marketing content and delivering paid campaign activity over their existing digital marketing channels.
Businesses who receive the grant will also receive one-on-one guidance and direction from a professional marketing agency to ensure the business achieves the greatest return possible from the $2,000 grant.
The provision of the grants will be coordinated as part of a City-led campaign which aims to generate a critical mass of marketing activity by Fremantle businesses at one time, so that potential visitors are consistently served content relating to Fremantle during the period of the bridge closure.
Director of City Business Matt Hammond said the intention of the program is to 'flood the market' with content directly from Fremantle businesses during the closure so there is no doubt that Fremantle is still open for business.
"The involvement of a professional agency will both build capacity by transferring some lasting skills to the businesses, as well as enable strategic customer targeting and segmentation so that there is a 'mass takeover' by Fremantle businesses across digital platforms.
"There will be no mention of the bridge closure as part of the campaign, as the focus will be on the incredible retail, tourism and hospitality offerings that make Fremantle the top tourism town in Australia," said Mr Hammond.
Fremantle Chamber of Commerce CEO Chrissie Maus said the Chamber is delighted to be partnering with the City on this initiative.
"It will be a critical time for small businesses so it is important there are avenues of support for those that may be impacted if we experience lower footfall and visitation during the closure.
"Providing businesses with lasting skills, or the ability to top-up their own existing marketing activities will be helpful however it will be the power of businesses promoting Fremantle collectively all at the same that will move the needle during what could be a challenging time," said Ms Maus.
The program will be open to small retail, hospitality & tourism related businesses that are located within the local government area of the City of Fremantle. Small businesses are defined as businesses with 20 employees or less, and an annual turnover of $10 million or less.
Applications for the first round will open on 1 December 2025, with the first part of the campaign to commence in March 2026. The City will be holding a business community update session on Friday 7 November 2025 at the Walyalup Civic Centre.
