Tuesday, 14 March, 2017

A Maffra-based company will create new jobs, expand its facility and improve its export capability, thanks to a Victorian Government grant.

Visiting Dicky Bill Farming Pty Ltd today, Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing announced funding support for the company’s $600,000 investment project to expand its vegetable processing facility and create 15 new full time jobs.

Dicky Bill Farming secured funding through the Victorian Government’s $10 million Latrobe Valley Economic Facilitation Fund, which is creating new jobs and diversifying the Latrobe Valley economy by growing existing businesses and attracting investment.

As part of its investment, the company will purchase and install specialised vegetable washing, drying and packaging equipment to supply food service and retail ready products to export to customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Dubai.

Food and fibre is one of Victoria’s growth sectors, contributing around 4.9 per cent to gross domestic product and employing more than 190,000 people. Food and fibre in Gippsland contributes $6 billion per year to the regional gross domestic product and employs more than 16,000 people.

For more information about the Latrobe Valley Economic Facilitation Fund visit www.rdv.vic.gov.au/programs-and-grants/latrobe-valley-economic-facilitation-fund or contact Regional Development Victoria, Gippsland.

The Latrobe Valley Economic Facilitation Fund is in addition to the Labor Government’s $266 million package for the Latrobe Valley, which includes the $50 million Economic Growth Zone to support business growth and the establishment of the Latrobe Valley Authority (LVA).

Quotes attributable to the Member for Eastern Victoria, Harriet Shing.

“The Andrews Labor Government is getting on with the job of supporting the Latrobe Valley economy to diversify and become more resilient through its unprecedented investments.”

“We are helping companies such as Dicky Bill Farming to invest in their operations and create economic uplift in Gippsland.”