£4m Green Shoots fund creates 300 jobs
Nearly 300 jobs have been created thanks to £4 million worth of grants handed out to businesses as part of a pioneering Express & Star scheme.
The Green Shoots Plus initiative has given the green light to £3,908,539 in grants to more than 50 companies in the Black Country, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire which has generated a huge £9.2m in private sector investment.
A total of 278 jobs have been created and 110 jobs protected, smashing the targets of the scheme set one year ago.
The funding is provided by the Government's Regional Growth Fund and distributed through the Express & Star, the University of Wolverhampton and a panel of business experts.
South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson said: "I think the Express & Star and the University of Wolverhampton's Green Shoots Plus scheme is a wonderful example of the public sector and the private sector working hand in hand to make a difference to the communities they serve.
"It is amazing what has been achieved in such a small space of time and the results are incredible.
"It is a scheme that has given businesses the ability to invest, grow, win new contracts, and take on new staff.
"The boost to the economy in not just the Black Country and Staffordshire, but Shropshire and Herefordshire too will be very welcome."
The grants, which cover up to 30 per cent of an overall project cost.
Applicants can seek a grant worth between £10,000 and £150,000 to cover up to 30 per cent of the costs of their plans for job creation and expansion.
One of the companies to benefit was Vivid 57.
The Wolverhampton marketing firm was founded in 2013 and was awarded a £50,000 grant as part of a £170,000 project.
The business works mainly in the flooring industry and wanted to buy new machines to be more efficient and increase production, particularly in manufacturing carpet catalogue for carpet makers.
The project will lead to the creation of up to eight new jobs.
Another company to benefit was the Real Coffee Bag company, based in Kenley in Shropshire.
The firm makes coffee bags – like the tradition tea bad.
The company was awarded nearly £27,000 to help towards the purchase of a new bagging machine which would help the business grow and take on four new workers.
Another one of those to benefit is engineering firm Link Business in Brownhills. The firm has been given a £59,000 grant towards its £335,000 expansion.
It has helped the company move from four sites around Great Wyrley to a customised single factory at the Coppice Side Industrial Estate in Brownhills to deal with increasing demand for their services.
Green Shoots Plus has already smashed through the 224 new job target set when it was started.
The fund is aimed at businesses working in advanced manufacturing, building technologies, transport technologies, including aerospace, environmental technologies or business to business services, such as accountancy, design and print, electrical, advertising or marketing. Applicants need to have been turned down by their banks for the required funding and not to have had more than £175,000 in public funding in the past three years.
Green Shoots Plus is a bigger and wider-ranging successor to the pioneering Green Shoots Fund, which has distributed more than £1m in grants to 35 businesses across the Black Country. The original fund created 129 jobs and safeguarded a further 74.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron previously said: "I'm proud that the efforts of Black Country manufacturing businesses are being supported and furthered by the work of the Green Shoots Fund being delivered by the Express & Star and University of Wolverhampton.
"Supporting programmes like this, as well as sticking to our plan of backing small business and enterprise with better infrastructure and lower jobs taxes, will allow us to go on creating more jobs for people in the Black Country, giving more people the security of a regular pay cheque."
To apply visit www.wolverhamptonbsc.com/greenshoots
