The program, first introduced in August 2018, aims to support South Australian businesses with a minimum annual turnover of $ 75,000 and up to 200 FTEs take their first step towards exporting or l expansion of their international footprint.

Administered by the Department of Trade and Investment, the SAEA provides grants for activities such as marketing and promotion, freight and logistics, export training, and market access support.

The previous round of grants offered 1: 1 funding of up to $ 5,000, $ 15,000 or $ 30,000 for companies at different stages of export maturity, with just under $ 500,000 in total funding administered. Last year.

Trade and Investment Minister Stephen Patterson said the program has since been under review, with funding categories revised in a bid to allow more small and medium-sized businesses access grants.

“Exporters face new challenges due to trade tensions and disruption related to COVID-19,” he said.

“As a result, we have introduced new activities into the finance streams to facilitate market access, including intellectual property advice, product testing and export accreditation to support exporters looking to enter new markets. “

The new PSAB funding categories are:

• an export acceleration component (between $ 5,000 and $ 30,000) to support new exporters;
• a new market entry component (between $ 5,000 and $ 15,000) to support entry into a new export market; and,
• a Consortium component (between $ 50,000 and $ 200,000) to help a minimum of three companies to undertake a collaborative export business.

Grant applications for the new program are open today. The ministry says businesses that submit an application before Oct. 1 will receive an assessment notice by Nov. 12.

“I encourage all businesses in South Australia to review the new PSAB guidelines to verify if they are eligible to apply for funding in one of the three streams,” Patterson said.

“The criteria have changed and companies that were unable to apply may find that they can now access financing due to changes in the supply chains.”

A total of $ 832,000 is budgeted for the relaunched version of the program, according to the ministry.

To be eligible, applying companies must belong to one of the nine ‘priority sectors of the growth state’, which are:

1. Creative industries
2. Defense industries
3. Energy and mining
4. Food, wine and agro-industry
5. Health and medical sectors
6. High technology
7. International education
8. Space industries
9. Tourism.

Patterson also said the revised PSAB curriculum emphasizes training for companies looking overseas for the first time, with a new program of workshops for first-time exporters.

“In reviewing the TLSS program, we found that the majority of our companies that are new to exporting, or have not exported regularly, needed a more tailored support approach,” he said.

“These companies will have the opportunity to undertake the Export Fundamentals program which will help them in their export preparation and prepare them to potentially apply for PSAB funding in the future.”

Among the companies to access the latest round of funding include Edwardstown aquaculture systems producer SEAPA, which received a $ 30,000 grant to update its website and produce marketing content on its oyster products. .

Elsewhere, Adelaide’s digital intelligence firm Fivecast received PSAB funding last year.

The grant allowed the company to identify and target the United States as a key growth market, according to Fivecast CEO Dr. Brenton Cooper.

“We needed financial help to execute our export strategy faster,” Cooper said.

“Since then, we have also been able to leverage the expertise of the state government Department of Trade and Investment team to export from South Australia to new markets.