The Queensland government will be opening Round 2 of the Small Business COVID-19 Adaption Grant Program on 1 July 2020. This program comes as Stage 2 of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Strategy and will allow small regional businesses located in South East Queensland and Regional Queensland the opportunity to apply for a minimum of $2,000 and a maximum of $10,000 of the $100 million made available for this second round of grants.

Program aim

The aim of this program is to support small businesses who have been impacted by COVID-19 and the shutdown restrictions announced by the Queensland Government since 23 March 2020:

• Allowing small businesses to safely resume trading during the COVID-19 recovery
• Continuing to meet operating costs
• Accessing digital technologies to rebuild and transition to a new way of doing business
• Upskilling and reskilling business owners and staff
• Embracing diversification to adapt and sustain operations
• Creating and retaining employment and maintaining potential for longer-term growth

While there is no set deadline for the application, we recommend applications be submitted as quickly as possible, as Round 1 was closed within a week due allocated funding being quickly exhausted.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the grant, your business must:

• Have been subject to closure or otherwise highly impacted by shutdown restrictions that began with the announcement by Queensland’s Chief Health Officer on 23 March 2020.
• Include financial statements to demonstrate a decline in revenue of 30% or more since 23 March 2020 over a minimum one-month period (e.g. BAS Statement or accountant letter), annual turnover and payroll evidence.
• Employ staff and have fewer than 20 employees at the time of application (on payroll and not including business owners)
• Have a valid Australian Business Number (ABN) active as at 23 March 2020
• Be registered for GST (please note this grant will not refund any GST paid and this will need to be claimed in your normal BAS)
• Be Queensland headquartered
• Have an annual turnover over $75,000 for the 2018-19 or 2019-20 financial year or proof that this will be met for recently started businesses
• Have a payroll of less than $1.3 million
• Not be insolvent or have owners or directors that are an undischarged bankrupt
• Not have successfully received funding during Round 1 of the program

In addition to meeting the eligibility criteria, applications will be assessed against the following:

• Funding availability (applications will be assessed on a first come, first served basis)
• Submission of a complete application form with all requested supporting documentation included
• Value for money, as determined by the Queensland Government

What is funded?

Due to the significant impacts of COVID-19 on small businesses, the grant can be used for any of the below activities occurring from 23 March 2020:

• Financial, legal or other professional advice to support sustainability and diversification
• Operational costs (including utilities, council rates, rent, telecommunications, insurance fees, licensing, and franchise fees)
• Strategic planning, financial counselling or business coaching aligned to business development and diversification
• Marketing and communications content development that will build the business (e.g. website pages, mobile apps, visual and audio media etc.)
• Digital/technological strategy development
• Digital training or re-training and upskilling employees to adapt to new business models
• Capital costs associated with meeting COVID-19 safety requirements
• Specialised digital equipment or business specific software to move business operations online (e.g. logistics program for online ordering)

If successful, you will have 6 months to complete your project/spend the agreed funds, following which you have one month to submit an acquittal form with all your receipts and an outline of the outcomes of the project/activities, before reimbursement is provided.

To discuss your eligibility and/or obtain a quote to assist you in delivering projects under this grant, please contact us here.