Bowen’s new seafood store open in time for Christmas thanks to RED Grant
Rynn family
13 December 2023
From crispy prawn cutlets and hot chips to grilled fish wraps, Bowen locals can now get their favourite seafood from a new takeaway shop just in time for Christmas thanks to a Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant.
Rebecca Rynn said she and husband Travis Rynn expanded their wholesale fishing business, Rynn's Seafoods, into the hospitality industry to showcase local produce from boat to plate.
"We used the grant to expand our fresh retail and wholesale seafood business into cooking our locally sourced seafood. We also used the grant funds to assist with renovation costs which were carried out by local tradesmen," she said.
"The store opening has gone very well. The positive community support has been overwhelming."
In just three years the Rynn family has grown their business from a processing facility and cold room in the backyard of their home, to refrigerated trucks, a new standalone wholesale facility, and a takeaway store.
"Rynn's Seafoods started out in October 2020 with just me, my husband Travis and one employee, and over the past three years we have continued to expand our retail and wholesale business, employing 14 local staff members," Rebecca said.
"This new project has created 10 more job positions within Rynn's Seafoods, including kitchen staff, administration positions, and front of house employees, and there's more positions to be filled."
Rynn's Seafoods 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.
A sixth round of the RED Grants has been allocated for the 2023-24 financial year, with applications to open later this year.
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.
