Everything you need to know about the Value Add Investment Grant (VAIG) Fund
Many of our clients in the agriculture, food and beverage space have exciting projects on the drawing board and are keen for funding to support them. The Value Add Investment Grant is a great opportunity for any business in this sector looking to invest in capital equipment or needing help to explore the feasibility of an opportunity.
As one of our team’s lead grant writers and advisors, we’ve pulled together this quick guide to help you understand more about the fund and whether it might be a good fit for your business.
What is the purpose of the Value Add Investment Grant Fund?
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Value Add Investment Grant (VAIG) is designed to support the growth of food and beverage manufacturing in WA. Funding is available for projects focused on capturing more value from what we produce. Essentially, value-adding is all about transforming raw primary production products into something even better.
The VAIG fund is all about post-farm processing. Funding will only be available for new investment or bringing forward planned investment projects in existing businesses, and activities must involve value-adding. If your project relates to agriculture, food and beverage value-adding or seeks to expand in or relocate to WA, it may eligible for support.
The VAIG offers two different streams. The first stream is the Capital Investment stream. This is for projects that are investment-ready. The second stream is the Feasibility stream which is suitable for capital projects still in the conceptual stage and need more planning support.
About the Capital Investment Stream
This stream of funding supports investments in new manufacturing capability or processing facilities, new technology or plant modernisation which result in reducing WA’s reliance on imported products, support business growth, foster innovation and create jobs.
About the Feasibility Stream
This is a single stage application process that funds the planning stages of a value-adding project. Maybe you’ve got a capital project in mind but, to move things forward, you need some detailed project planning, a business case or a feasibility study.
What do you need to do to be ready to apply?
- Carefully read the VAIG guidelines and make sure you are eligible.
- Check that your project aligns with the grant’s objectives.
- Gather evidence to show that you’ve undertaken detailed planning for your project
- Have sufficient financial and human resources
- Evidence that your plan and timeframes are achievable
- Supplier quotes to support costings
- Solid understanding of your regulatory obligations.
Who to talk to about your eligibility
More information on Value Add Investment Grants, including guidelines can be found on the DPIRD website, by ringing 08 9368 3853 or emailing aftprograms@dpird.wa.gov.au. Before proceeding with making an application to the VAIG, we highly recommend that applicants run their proposed project past the DPIRD team to confirm it aligns with the type of proposal they would encourage an applicant to submit.
How we can help a VAIG project
We would love to partner with you to create a strong VAIG submission. Not only do we offer grant writing services, our team is highly qualified and experienced in writing feasibility studies, business plans, business cases, and project planning.
If you are looking at the feasibility stream and need a professional, experienced team to assist you with the viability investigation, we’re here to help. Add to that, we’re the grant writers of choice of many Western Australian agri-sector organisations and businesses.
Grant writing is very time consuming. Common sense would say, your time is better spent keeping your business running while you leave the writing to us. Hiring a grant writer:
- Saves you time
- Takes the headache and stress out of meeting the deadline
- Frees up your time to focus on running your business
- Brings a fresh perspective by offering a third-party review
- Gives you a greater chance of success – we know what pitfalls to avoid and how to structure an application in a way that aligns with the grant objectives
- Ensures a high quality, competitive submission
We work with a wide range of agrifood and beverage businesses and we’re listed on DPIRD’s Food and Beverage Professional Services Provider directory. If you’re keen for our help with grant writing, or looking for help with a feasibility study, contact us, we’re always here to help.
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A version of this blog post first appeared on Anna Dixon Consulting’s website, our previous brand.
