TRC’s $74 million local spend in financial year to date hits target
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Toowoomba Regional Council’s (TRC) focus on spending money with local suppliers reached new heights this month with almost $21 million spent in November 2023 alone.
As part of the strategy to keep as much money as possible within the Toowoomba Region, Mayor Geoff McDonald said Council was hoping to continue this trend for the rest of the financial year.
“Local spend for this financial year, up to the end of November 2023, was $74.41 million or 61% of all Council expenditure,” he said.
“When you compare this to our local spend of $56 million back in 2012 for an entire year, it’s clear we’re on the right path with the changes we’ve implemented.
“Council changed the weighting within tender procurement arrangements to give local businesses every opportunity to work with us.
“We’ve also worked hard to ensure that when we need to use contractors, that these contractors use the local workforce wherever possible and source materials from local suppliers.
“This has proven fruitful for our local suppliers on projects like the flood recovery program and Toowoomba Bypass.
“With work soon to begin on the Dam Safety Improvement Project, there are so many further opportunities for our community to benefit from this project.
“In addition to this focus on local spend, our 14-day payment terms for local suppliers (from the date of invoice) further highlight the priority we place on keeping jobs and dollars circulating in the Toowoomba economy.”