Norco, Sunshine Sugar, Williams, North Coast Petroleum, Multitask and Social Futures funded in Anchor Business program

Norco, Sunshine Sugar, Williams, North Coast Petroleum, Multitask and Social Futures will be backed by the Anchor Business program - shoring up hundreds of local jobs post-flood.

Six of the region’s largest employers have been successful in their applications for the Commonwealth and NSW governments’ Anchor Business Support Grant Program.

The funding will support nearly 1400 local full-time jobs in the Northern Rivers.

Funding for the $59.3 million program will be shared between the Commonwealth and NSW governments and be administered by the State under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

A spokesman for Norco welcomed the funding package for the region but expressed disappointment authorities hadn’t supported any of the three project options the dairy co-operative submitted as part of its Anchor Business Support Grant application.

Norco puts the total cost of the flood to its operations at $141.8 million.

Norco CEO Michael Hampson.

“This includes restoring our facilities to how they were pre-floods, the cost of clean-up and damage, inventory and workforce costs, as well as further flood mitigation works,” the spokesman said.

When Norco announced it might not be able to retain its 240 staff without substantial financial assistance in June, many started looking for other work.

South Lismore resident Graeme Sawtell had worked for Norco for almost 40 years when the floods hit in February.

His son and daughter-in-law also worked at the South Lismore ice-cream factory.

The family had decided to stay on in the area and is working on its flood impacted home, digging into their super to buy building materials.

Mr Sawtell said that after the June announcement that staff would lose their jobs at the ice-cream factory his family started looking for work elsewhere.

“I’m doing pretty well,” Mr Sawtell said, “I’m just about to start a new job at the feed mill.

“My son got himself a job with the council and his father is starting at the feed mill with me.

“I know they (Norco) aren’t getting any more money for wages, Friday week that all stopped.”

Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said the Anchor program is in addition to support already provided to small and medium-sized businesses in the region.

“The program will support clean up, repairs, rebuilding work, and help employers become more resilient when faced with future flood events,” Mr Watt said.

Chief executive officer of Sunshine Sugar, Chris Connors, at the Broadwater mill.

Sunshine Sugar CEO Chris Connors thanked the governments for the grants, saying they are “going to be critical” to their ongoing viability and cash flow.

Sunshine Sugar expects the total cost of the floods to the company to be around $44 million.

“The insurer has covered $30 million which has included the work carried out by numerous major contractors,” Mr Connors said.

“This grant will contribute to the shortfall.”

Sunshine Sugar has suffered significant hits - a loss of business through the flood period; raw sugar needing to be brought in from Bundaberg to ensure employment at the refinery, and service delivery.

“We have also had to transfer cane between mills to have our growers’ cane crushed,” Mr Connors said.

The major employer hires around 385 people locally with a further 1200 people employed indirectly.

“All of our people have been able to keep their jobs,” Mr Connors said.

“There were no operational jobs created but all jobs were maintained at a significant cost.

“We did that without any government support, and it has placed pressure on the business.”

However, significant employment has been created throughout the flood recovery period, with an additional 150 full time workers for five months.

“A great little story that has emerged is that one of our Broadwater staff who is a local Broadwater resident, realised that the fleet of Mercedes trucks that haul the sugarcane during the season (worth over $300k each) were in danger of being flooded in their normal storage location,” Mr Connors said.

“After some quick thinking and quite a few phone calls, the keys were accessed, and all of the trucks were moved to higher ground belonging to the RMS.

“With permission from the RMS, the padlock was cut to allow all trucks to enter and park up safely.”

Deputy Premier Paul Toole said the funding would help keep jobs in the region and underpin the local economy for years to come.

“These businesses genuinely are anchors of the region’s economy and combined employ nearly 1400 locals directly,” Mr Toole said.

The Department of Regional NSW led the merit-based assessment of all applications against the published guidelines and assessment criteria.

North Coast Petroleum project manager Phil Mallon said this was a big win for the businesses.

“Securing funding through the Anchor Business Support Program will ensure our continued growth is focused on the Northern Rivers,” Mr Mallon said.

“That will benefit the people that work in our business along with all the people and businesses in our community.”

Social Futures CEO Tony Davies said they lost four offices in the Lismore floods, displacing 120 staff who provide vital services across the region.

“Since then, they have been in makeshift arrangements that limit our ability to provide face-to-face support,” Mr Davies said.

“This grant means that we can get back to work in an accessible location to ramp up our support for Lismore.”