Businesses in northern NSW are desperate not to be forgotten as they continue fighting an "uphill battle" to rebuild and recover after this year's catastrophic floods.
Matt Dwyer runs a busy smash repairs business in South Lismore that is already taking bookings for February.
But he said it was tough to get the business operating after the February and March floods caused a three-month closure.
"It's been hard to get out of bed in the morning and come to work and go through this sort of stuff," he said.
Mr Dwyer received a $50,000 small business recovery grant from the state government but said his costs "well and truly" exceeded that.
To save the cost of replacing all equipment immediately after the floods Mr Dwyer paid for some machinery to be repaired — if it could be.
But as the months wear on, despite repairs, the flood-damaged equipment often breaks down, dragging out both the cost and process of recovery.
"Our spot welder alone cost $33,000 to replace, then our measuring equipment was another $16,000, [and] the list goes on," he said.
"Industrial plant and equipment are really expensive and, to get up and going, it needs to be working.
"We can't function without any of that gear."
New grants needed
The state's business lobby group said a new type of flood recovery grant for equipment renewal could tackle these kinds of challenges.
"I've seen the government invest in this area before," said Business NSW regional director Jane Laverty.
"Usually they're doing it for job creation … but I think right now what we're focused on is retaining the businesses.
"We all know that we're facing a labour shortage at the moment and our new challenge is retaining the jobs that we have."
Marketing and manufacturing an 'uphill battle'
Food manufacturer Ozganics is based in Tweed Heads-based and says marketing is another area of need.
The company closed its Murwillumbah factory for three months after the floods, causing sales to decline.
It was unable to replace damaged equipment and was unwilling to reopen on a floodplain, so manufacturing operations were moved to a co-packing facility near the NSW-Victorian border.
Account manager Sherralee Tempest said rebuilding sales, particularly in the international market, had been an uphill battle.
Ms Tempest said bespoke grants to support marketing costs would be a big help.
"We just want to show that we're still here and fighting strong because this is an expense," she said.
"After losing so much shelf space and working to regain that after [the 2017 floods], it's harder now and we need support to help us."
State government says it is listening
In September, the state and federal governments jointly funded nearly $60 million between six of the region's large anchor businesses, including nearly $35 million for dairy cooperative Norco.
In a statement, Service NSW said it had delivered about $100 million to more than 5,000 small and medium-sized businesses.
Flood Recovery Minister Steph Cooke said the state government was continuing to work closely with local businesses.
"Take-up [of existing grants] has been very good, demonstrating a need but also demonstrating that the NSW government continues to listen to people on the ground," she said.
"Where it is possible for us to do more, we will."
