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The Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Small Business Program provides government grants to improve the business enterprise culture of Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small businesses. The program is specifically aimed at Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small businesses unable to receive assistance under the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) (SIP) Scheme or the TCF Post-2005 (SIP) Scheme. It is competitive and merit-based with a maximum grant of $50,000 provided to each successful project. Funding of $2.5 million is available per year over a ten year period, commencing in 2006/07.

Who is eligible to apply?
The program is a competitive, merit-based grants program. It is open to any eligible Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small business or to a consortium that includes an eligible Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small business.
A Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small business has fewer than 20 employees, and undertakes eligible Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) activities as defined by the TCF Post-2005 (SIP) Scheme.

For example, a Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) business that manufactures, or designs for manufacture in Australia, is eligible to apply for funding under the program. However, a business that solely imports products made overseas, or only undertakes retail activities, is not eligible.

What is the program objective?
The objective of the program is to improve the business enterprise culture of established Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small businesses that are unable to receive assistance under the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) (SIP) or TCF Post-2005 (SIP) Schemes.

What is ‘business enterprise culture’?
Business enterprise culture refers to the nature and style of decision making and production processes of a business.
It describes to what extent the values, attitudes and norms within a business are entrepreneurial.
Entrepreneurial behaviour can be reflected in any or all of a business’s management, communication, decision-making, production (including design) and financial processes. A business with a strong enterprise culture typically:

• emphasises initiative, self-reliance and creativity
• focuses on maximising commercial returns on products and services
• is skilled at securing and maintaining a competitive market edge
• generates and manages change largely from within, and
• has goals of financial growth and expansion (emphasises growth).

What are the eligibility criteria?

To be eligible for a Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) government grant, the project must meet the following eligibility criteria.

1. The project must meet the needs of a Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small business that:

• has not received funding from either the TCF (SIP) Scheme or the TCF Post-2005 (SIP) Scheme
• is not likely to receive such funding for the financial year in which the application is made, and
• is not likely to receive such funding for the financial year in which the project is undertaken.

2. The project must be aimed at improving the business enterprise culture of the TCF small business.

3. The applicant must make a cash contribution to the project for which funding is sought. This contribution should not have come from a Commonwealth, State or Territory Government subsidy.

Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be assessed against the merit criteria.

What are the merit criteria?
Applications that meet the eligibility criteria will compete on merit against all other applications, for that round, from across Australia. The merit criteria are:
1.  Whether the project’s outcome will meet program objectives, assessed by how the project will:

• contribute to the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small business’s willingness and ability to take risks
• contribute to the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small business becoming more creative
• improve the flexibility or adaptability of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF)small business, and
• contribute to the growth strategy of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) small business.

2. The level of commitment to the project demonstrated by the applicant, including the level of time and resources that the applicant will contribute to the project.
3. Whether the project can be started and completed within a single financial year.

What grants are available?
A maximum of $50,000 is available for a particular project. The maximum applies to any project, regardless of its size or the cash contribution made by the applicant.
Government grants are only to be used for approved expenditure incurred during, not before, the project period. Routine business expenses, such as salaries of ongoing employees, advertising, or routine accounting are not eligible for grant support.

Round 5 of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) closes on Friday 26 February 2010 at 5.00pm.

These include a miniature camera providing clearer eyes for remotely controlled vehicles and a chemical-free water purifying process

Innovative companies awarded COMET grants include:

• Deepvision 3D, of Western Australia, has developed a 3D camera for remotely operated vehicles in hazardous environments such as underwater vehicles but can be applied to other tele-operated vehicles, like those in the mining and agricultural sectors. Deepvision’s design and manufacture overcome common problems like flickering images in similar cameras. [Contact: Rohan McDougall 08 9266 3370]
• Viva Blu, of New South Wales, has developed a chemical-free water treatment system which consumes half the power of standard systems significantly reducing costs.
  Science laboratories have used the technology for some time and Viva Blu’s innovative and cost-effective process makes it available for large scale applications. [Contact: Ian Maxwell 02 8090 1760]
• TM Organics, of South Australia, has developed an online tool to help farmers and producers meet organic compliance standards for certification at both the start-up stage and managing annual certification by guiding the producer through compliance requirements. [Contact: Doug Adamson 0418 959 699].

For a list of COMET click here.

With the commencement of Commercialisation Australia, the COMET program will be closed to new applications from 1 January 2010. It will continue to be available to customers who lodge completed applications prior to closure and customers with ongoing COMET grants.

To discuss your Commercialisation Australia project, feel free to contact us