"Give Us 3 Minutes And We'll Show You How To Get The Retooling for Climate Change Grant ...Without Any Risk!"
We get you the Grant or pay you don't pay us ... that's our Guarantee!
Dear Manufacturer,
If you're considering upgrading equipment to save water or energy, then the government is willing to give you up to $500K for your project.
Yes, it's a highly competitive program (and most people who apply will be rejected).. but we're confident of getting you the money. In fact, you don't have to pay us a single cent until the money is safely within your bank account.
There are NO upfront fees, NO retainers, NOTHING to
pay until you get the grant.
"NO RESULT, NO FEE"... It's that simple.
If we end up
taking you as a client, we'll guarantee your success or you don't pay us. That's right, we're willing to take on all the risk
associated with applying for the grant. Only when you get the grant, will we get our success fee.
Sounds FAIR doesn't it? We think so and so do our satisfied clients.
Ross Turetsky MBA, BCom, BInfoSys
Managing Director, Grant Solutions
Program Overview
Re-tooling for Climate Change supports small and medium-sized businesses undertaking manufacturing activities in Australia. The program aims to help Australian manufacturers reduce their environmental footprint, through projects that improve the energy and/or water efficiency of their production processes.
The program provides individual grants of up to $500,000 to cover 50% of the project cost.
Examples of eligible projects could include:
Investing in small-scale cogeneration plants that capture waste energy and use it to produce electricity on site
Stormwater capture and improving water recycling for re-use in the manufacturing process
Improving insulation and recovering waste heat to improve manufacturing process efficiency
Process re-engineering involving the adoption of energy efficient manufacturing tools, that reduce substantially the energy used in the production process.
Eligibility Criteria
An eligible applicant for Re-tooling for Climate Change Grant must:
Be a non-tax exempt manufacturing company incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001
Have, or is part of a group, that have an annual turnover of less than $100 million in each of the three financial years before the year of application lodgement
Be able to fund the costs of the project not met by the grant (at least two thirds of the cost of the project)
Eligible projects must be directed towards improvement of energy and/or water efficiency of manufacturing processes.
Merit Criteria
The program is very competitive, with eligible applications to be assessed against the following criteria:
Potential for reduction of the environmental footprint. This may include the projected improvements in energy and/or water efficiency, or reductions in carbon emissions to be achieved. It may also take into account outcomes such as conversion to a renewable or co-generated energy source.
Scope and impact of process improvement. This would include the extent to which the project is more than routine production or investment activity. Other factors affecting merit could be whether the project will have a long term, sustainable impact on the ability of the company and/or industry to respond to climate change, and if it offers demonstration potential or the application of innovative, transferable technology.
Organisational capacity/capability to undertake the project. This would include access to relevant expertise and experience through the company or its contractors, and a well articulated project plan outlining key methods, milestones and timeframes.
Assessment Considerations
In assessing applications, Innovation Australia will consider the indicators of merit outlined in the application guide such as:
The quality of supporting data provided to verify the rationale for the project
The projected impact on energy and/or water efficiency, and/or carbon emissions.
$500K Grant - A Free Lunch For Manufacturers?
It’s not often that the Government “gives freely” to manufacturers… especially money. However in 2008 they announced the Clean Business Initiative - a $240 million package which included $75 million for manufacturers to reduce impact on the environment. Retooling for Climate Change provides up to $500K (in matching funding) towards replacing existing manufacturing equipment (to make the manufacturing process more energy and water efficient)
Initially Retooling for Climate Change had only 3 funding rounds and the maximum a manufacturer could get was 33% of eligible project expenses. This was significantly smaller when compared to the Green Building Fund (another component of Clean Business Initiative aimed at commercial office building owners - which provided a 50% contribution and had a $90 million grant pool).
Given the above and the complex application process, many manufacturers decided to opt-out of the program because:
33% contribution was too small (manufacturers had to fund the other 67%)
3 month application turnaround was too long (creating uncertainty of funding)
Only 3 funding rounds were available (most would miss first 2 rounds anyway)
After the first 2 rounds, which had minimal uptake (while other Clean Business initiatives such as Green Building and Climate Ready were heavily oversubscribed), the Government increased the grant contribution to 50%. This brought Retooling for Climate Change in line with Green Building Fund and Climate ready. In late 2009, after minimal interest in the program, the government introduced further changes still. Funding rounds were abolished, instead calling for continuous assessment (while reducing the application turnaround time from 3 months to 2).
While it’s true that Retooling for Climate Change program has changed significantly (and for the better) since it was introduced in 2008, manufacturers still face the heavy burden of filling out the paperwork. Some manufactures cringe at the sight of Retooling for Climate Change forms (Fact sheets, Funding Agreements, Application Forms, Customer Information Guides, Grant Management Guidelines) … that’s over 200 pages of reading and 30 pages that potential applicants need to fill!
All of this is just too much for busy decision makers who don’t want to waste time reading, investigating and filling out mountains of paperwork… only to be rejected 2 months later. One solution to this dilemma is to outsource application submission to consultants who are experts in applying for government grants.
Most consultants though charge thousands of dollars in upfront fees– regardless of the application outcome. This means that the manufacturer is the one “left holding the bag” because not only can they be declined for funding, but they have just spent thousands for a consultant to get the application in. Is it any wonder that most manufactures give grants a miss… choosing instead to concentrate on doing what they’re good at – manufacturing.
There is however a limited number of consultants who are willing to work on a Success Fee only basis, meaning they only get paid if the grant application goes through. In this case, the consultant takes on all the risk because they’re doing all the work upfront and only get paid if the manufacturer gets the money.
Regardless of which option you choose (doing it yourself or outsourcing it to a consultant), manufacturers should apply for Retooling for Climate Change grant. It could be the difference between funding everything yourself or getting $500K from the government. While Retooling for Climate no longer has closing dates, applying earlier is still better because there is more money available.
If you would like to get results rather than excuses on your next grant application please Contact Us
for a free consultation regarding manifacturing project.
