A vertical garden company and a counselling service are among seven local small businesses to share in over $110,000 worth of small business grants from the City of Melbourne.

The City of Melbourne’s Small Business Grants Program has been running since 1996 and has provided almost $6 million in funding to more than 260 small businesses in the city.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the City of Melbourne was proud to have given so many small businesses their start, or helped them to expand or export.

“This unique program fosters creativity and innovation. Tonight we will bring together 100 grant recipients at Craft Victoria from the past 15 years to celebrate their success in business,” the Lord Mayor said.

Early recipients in the program included rock candy store Suga in 1997, contemporary jeweller E.G. Etal in 1998,  and community television station Channel 31 in 2003 – businesses that have come to symbolise Melbourne.

In more recent years, small businesses such as spice retailer Gewurzhaus, reusable coffee cup manufacturer Keepcup and magazine retailer Mag Nation have also benefited from a City of Melbourne Small Business Grant.

“Small businesses make up 83 per cent of all businesses in the City of Melbourne. Not only do they contribute strongly to our local economy, they offer a diverse mix of innovative products and services that make living in or visiting Melbourne a unique experience,” the Lord Mayor said.

The Small Business Grants program Recipient Directory 2010 which highlights grant recipients will also be launched tonight.

Future Melbourne (Economic Development and Knowledge City) Committee Chair, Councillor Carl Jetter said other initiatives like the City of Melbourne’s Enterprise Melbourne website also assisted in the setting up and running of small businesses.

“Enterprise Melbourne has entered its second year with a more comprehensive website of information and services for a wide range of industries,” Cr Jetter said.

The next round of Small Business Grants will open in March 2011. Visit www.enterprisemelbourne.com.au for more information.

Round two Small Business Grant recipients 2010 (awarded November 2010):

• Lushe: Start-up grant of $20,000 to assist with commercialisation of its vertical garden products
• Craft Victoria: Business support services grant of $7,300 for the development of a new craft business portal
• CounselLink: Start-up grant of $27,000 to provide accessible video counselling services
• Melbourne Business Network: Business support services grant of $10,000 for the creation of a new website
• Go West Tours: Expansion grant of $30,000 for the development of the ‘Melbourne Segway Park’
• Halogenics: Expansion grant of $27,988 for the migration of its animal tracking product to a new web-based platform
• Pharmaceutical Packaging Professionals: Expansion grant of $30,000 for the creation of a facility for the manufacture, warehousing and distribution of clinical trial supplies