The Palaszczuk Government’s strategy to create jobs by investing in innovative Queensland businesses to create more jobs in more industries is working wonders with new data revealing Advance Queensland has created 17,800 jobs across the state.
Innovation Minister Kate Jones said that was an increase of more than 1400 jobs since July this year and more than 5000 jobs since July last year.
“We’re investing in more industries to create jobs in Queensland,” she said.
“Today’s results show our strategy is working.”
Today’s announcement comes after the government recently released the ‘Building Our Innovation Economy’ report – a blueprint to create jobs for Queensland.
“We’ve got an even stronger focus on regional Queensland and a commitment to build on our strengths,” she said.
“Industries like agriculture, mining and manufacturing – we’re capitalising on our successes in these industries to create even more jobs in Queensland.”
Ms Jones said the government’s $755 million Advance Queensland initiative was also helping to leverage private sector investment in the state.
The latest data shows, more than $700 million has also been committed by program partners.
“Together we have invested more than $1 billion to make Queensland’s economy stronger.”
Ms Jones said Advance Queensland was having an impact in regional Queensland with new data showing 61 per cent of recipients were located in regional Queensland.
Nerang-based sports innovation start-up Sportcor is a good example of what Advance Queensland can bring to an innovative business, keen to scale up.
Sportcor received $100,000 Advance Queensland funding in 2018 to help them refine and test their technology.
Sportcor, formerly called Jetson Industries, grew out of founder and inventor Ben Tattersfield’s home garage in Labrador in 2017.
Mr Tattersfield said as a result of the generous Advance Queensland funding, the company was able to kick-start key innovation activities towards growth, including the appointment of several Gold Coast-based staff.
Sportcor provides sporting goods manufacturers with the innovative capability to transform their products into smart sporting goods.
“We integrate electronics within traditional sports equipment to deliver AI-driven performance data directly to a mobile device,” Mr Tattersfield said.
“Sportcor collaborated with Kookaburra Sports to provide the electronics for the development of the Kookaburra SmartBall, recently showcased at Lords in London.”
The embedded chip collects data in real-time and measures the speed and revolution of the ball at different stages of its journey from the hand of the bowler.
“These types of insights are of considerable value to coaches, players and officials during a game,” Mr Tattersfield said.
“The great thing about Sportcor technology is the opportunity for wider application across many kinds of sporting equipment and sports, and the company is pursuing and evaluating opportunities across rugby, baseball, hockey and boxing.
“The early support of Advance Queensland enabled us to springboard a concept and to create employment opportunities for Queensland talent, which was imperative to our development at the time,” Mr Tattersfield said.
Cairns-based travel itinerary branding specialists Didgigo received $100,000 in Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas funding to further invest in technology and help grow new markets nationally and internationally.
Didgigo CEO Matt McKinley said that through support from the Palaszczuk Government, Didgigo had gone on to develop significant partnerships with global travel operators such as Helloworld, TUI and FTI.
“These new partnerships and ongoing business development has allowed us to create seven new jobs in the field of IT development, customer services, design and marketing,” said Mr McKinley.
“We now see 100,000 individual travel documents through the system each year, which has doubled since last year.
“Ignite Ideas was a significant stepping stone for us to accelerate in the marketplace and allowed us to embark on rapid business growth plans in the United States and Europe.”
