A Darling Downs agtech company specialising in livestock water supplements is moving into new Queensland opportunities while supporting more than 20 regional jobs with a COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said DIT Technologies at Toowoomba specialised in selling and renting agtech equipment, livestock supplements and remote data monitoring to customers locally and nationally.
Mr Furner said a COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan allowed more than 20 Queensland employees to continue developing technology and infrastructure during COVID-19, when interstate business was put on hold.
“Like other economies around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Queensland businesses hard,” Mr Furner said.
“We are continuing to manage the health response well and that means we can continue to deliver Queensland’s plan for economic recovery.
“DIT Technologies is one of 192 businesses in Toowoomba that received a COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan, supporting more than 1700 jobs.
“These loans represent a $26.89million injection into the local economy to support jobs that might otherwise have been lost.”
“Across the state we have supported more than 68,000 jobs with almost $1billion in loans directly to Queensland businesses.”
The loan scheme administered by the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) provided finance of up to $250,000 for businesses and non-profit organisations impacted by COVID-19 to assist with carry-on expenses such as employee wages, rent and rates and other expenditure.
“DIT Technologies are well known in the field and have established their name developing technology to replace traditional cattle licks with supplements in a herd’s drinking water,” Mr Furner.
“It’s a great example of Queensland agricultural companies finding new, innovative and efficient ways for primary producers to maintain animal health but the company has been able to find new opportunities even during COVID-19 restrictions.
“They’ve started a first-of-its-kind full service model in which the company manages and monitors cattle supplement distribution in water remotely.”
While travel restrictions impacted the company’s ability to operate interstate, the COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan allowed the company to progress existing plans to open a manufacturing facility in Townsville in August.
DIT Technologies CEO Mark Peart said the facility would allow the business to build technology and infrastructure entirely in Queensland, while supporting regional workforces.
“We decided to do all our manufacturing in regional Queensland, close to our core customers in Northern Australia. We build all the software, manufacture all the circuit boards and assemble all the devices there, as well as testing,” Mr Peart said.
“The loan has been great as it was able to give us working capital and keep us going while not having the stress of managing cash flow. It allowed us to restore the business in COVID and have some runway in front of us, as well as keeping our staff employed. It was a diligent process and it was collaborative.”
