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Work with us, Export Support Programme and Workforce PlanningA weekly update on news, events, activities and opportunities across the Food & Fibre sector in Gippsland. By Portal Admin - 21st July 2019 - Back to News If you are a small to medium food and food fibre enterprise in Gippsland and want to fast track your plans to export your product, we want to hear from you! An exciting new program called Gippsland Connect will be run by Food & Fibre Gippsland and there is capacity to take on up to 20 businesses who are export ready, or near export ready. To find out more and submit your expression of interest to be part of it, click here.
The Food & Fibre Gippsland is growing, with two opportunities to join our operational team, as the industry led collaborative force works to lead capacity building, innovation and knowledge sharing, for the greater good of the sector right across the whole of Gippsland. Click here to find out more
The Gippsland Regional Agrifood Employment Programme (GRAEP) has reached a significant two-year milestone of 88 people now in continuous employment. Since April 2017, GRAEP Manager Julie Tuhi (pictured above on right with Participant Liasion Officer - Nicki Keddie) has been an integral part of that success, supporting job seekers and potential employers through a combination of training and mentoring support, along with industry experiences and placements. Click here to read more
There is an opportunity for Dairy farmers in Maffra to be involved in a trial that is part of the Victorian Government’s $45 million Connecting Victoria initiative to improve digital technology and infrastructure across regional Victoria. Expressions of Interest are now open for round one of Victoria’s On-Farm Internet of Things (IoT) Trial. Farmers can submit their Expression of Interest until 2 August 2019.
For more information click here
If you're struggling to find the time to plan, source and manage your workforce and this is affecting your productivity and profitability, then our Workforce Planning Masterclass at the end of this month is the course for you! Not only will it support participating individuals and businesses project and plan for their workforce needs into the future, it will assist with building a regional forecast of people and skill requirements for the sector into the future. The content has been specifically designed for the Food & Fibre sector, and over two days covers a range of topics including strategies for combating common sourcing challenges across a number of industries. Registrations now open- click here to read more.
Food focussed start ups - you've got until the 19th of July to apply for a spot in the Seeds of Change Accelerator Program. Powered by Mars in partnership with FIAL, this innovative program is designed to support the next generation of food businesses transforming the way we eat. With grants of up to $40,000 available and the opportunity to be mentored in a four month program, it's a great opportunity for emerging entrepreneurial food startups to be guided through their deepest individual challenges- click here to find out more.
The 2019 Upskill and Invest-Young Farmers Scholarships is open for applications. To ensure young people continue to develop the skills needed to build successful careers in agriculture, the Victorian Government is investing $500k in this program over the next four years. Scholarships are available to young farmers aged 35 & under with at least two years’ experience on-farm. Click here for more details.
As part of the Regional Innovation Challenge 2019, the search is on for Gippslanders who'd like to be part of the BrainSTEM Industry Mentor program. As a BrainSTEM mentor, you'll be working with a small group of students across 12 weeks, helping to provide leadership and mentoring as the individuals and the group work towards a solution to a Food & Fibre industry challenge. This is a great opportunity to inspire the next generation workforce in the sector, as well as see problems from a different perspective as you engage with local students. Find out more and register your interest, click here.
As a proud returning sponsor, we encourage all East Gippsland Food & Fibre businesses, be they large, small and any size in between, to enter in the 2019 East Gippsland Business Awards. Entry is open now and it's an easy online process. For more details, click here.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: support@gippsland.com

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