By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
FEDERAL Minister for Industry and Science, Ian Macfarlane, and La Trobe MP, Jason Wood, last week visited Mountain Harvest Foods in Gembrook to discuss two vital manufacturing programs.
Both the Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Programme and the Manufacturing Transition Programme are designed to aid local manufacturing farming businesses to increase growth.
Mr Wood said, in a written statement, the programs had been beneficial for local communities.
“It’s great to see family businesses like Mountain Harvest Foods not only growing their company capability and capacity, but also increasing local employment,” he said.
The Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Programme is a $60 million competitive grants program to support businesses in South Australia and Victoria.
The Manufacturing Transition Programme also supplies grants to help manufacturing businesses become more competitive and sustainable.
Thanks to the support of these government initiatives, Mountain Harvest Foods hopes to double the employment of local people in the next 18 months and triple within the next five years.
Food manufacturing in the area has also helped rejuvenate farming in La Trobe as well.
