Toowoomba ag manufacturer opens modern facility thanks to RED Grant

23 July 2024

Third-generation family business Kotzur has opened its new storage and handling equipment manufacturing facility at Charlton after receiving a round five Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant. 

The new facility includes a state-of-the-art spray booth so Kotzur can offer new products with a paint finish, as well as a modern open plan office and factory space.

Kotzur Chief Technical Officer Ben Kotzur said the manufacturing business needed to build a larger facility after outgrowing its previous site.

"The new facility will allow us to continue growth and expansion of our handling equipment capacity and range, and now we will be able to make transportable silos here in Queensland, making them much more affordable for our customers," Ben said.

“We are eager to start using some of the new equipment that has been installed.” 

Kotzur Managing Director Andrew Kotzur said the expansion marked a significant milestone in the family-owned and operated business, which has been making Australian-made grain and bulk solid storage and associated handling equipment for more than 70 years. 

"We are very proud of our humble beginnings on the family farm near Walla Walla in the Riverina, New South Wales. It was there that my father first started manufacturing farming equipment," Andrew said.

“From there, Dad moved the business into Walla Walla and began manufacturing transportable silos from coils of galvanised steel in the 1960s.”

Kotzur is one of 24 businesses approved for the fifth round of the competitive RED grants program with a total funding of $3.9 million.

Overall, the fifth round of the RED Grants program is expected to create up to 215 direct, long-term jobs.

Grants are available for up to $200,000 with a 50 per cent cash contribution requirement from applicants to fund projects which generate economic and employment opportunities related to primary production value chains across rural and remote Queensland.

Over five years, the Queensland Government’s RED Grants program has provided a total of $13.3 million in funding to support 59 successful regional agribusiness projects, worth more than $52.4 million and estimated to create over 2,500 new direct and indirect jobs.

For more information about the RED Grant scheme, visit the RED Grant scheme page.

The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administers the RED Grant scheme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.