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Govt to announce $16m in manufacturing grants today

Industry minister Greg Hunt will announce grants for 13 Victorian manufacturing businesses today, which according to the government will help stimulate $104.5 million in private investment and create 500 jobs.

The Herald Sun reports that grant recipients will include Seablite, which will be awarded $1.8 million and invest $10 million of its own money, and Xlam, which will receive $2 million and invest $18 million of their own money in a cross-laminated timber factory in Wodonga.

“These grants will support businesses to invest in their future by developing innovative new processes and cutting-edge equipment,” Hunt told The Herald Sun. Hunt will make the announcement in Geelong.

The $16 million in total of Commonwealth funding will be provided under the $90 million Next Generation Manufacturing Programme. To be considered, businesses had to be based in South Australia or Victoria, invest in capital projects “to establish or expand high value manufacturing operations”, and be willing to invest their own money in at least two-thirds of the project nominated.

The NGMP is part of the $155 million Growth Fund, announced in 2014 by the then-Tony Abbott federal government in response to the collapse of the Australian passenger car industry.

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