Hodgson Vale man Josh Poynter, the inventor of the Eazy Stay, an innovative fence strainer post, is the beneficiary of a grant totalling close to $100,000.
The Trustee for Poynter Family Trust was recently successful in receiving a $98,864 grant for the Eazy Stay as part of round 11 of the Queensland Government’s Ignite Ideas Fund.
A builder by trade, Mr Poynter said the idea for the Eazy Stay came about when he bought his place at Hodgson Vale.
“I was cell grazing and ran into trouble with posts pulling over so I made my own device,” he said.
The Eazy Stay is a multi-functional fencing aid, manufactured in South-East Queensland and is constructed from solid steel and galvanised, making it durable and sturdy.
For close to twelve months Mr Poynter has been taking the Eazy Stay into rural shops to sell and also promoting it at agricultural field days such as FarmFest.
“I’ve had a great response – people have said it’s a brilliant idea, very handy,” he said.
Now that he has finished with acquiring patents and the like, Mr Poynter said the grant money will be great for helping to promote the product, as the biggest issue he’s faced thus far is visibility because of how new the Eazy Stay is.
He hopes this will create brand awareness and really get the product out there.
The Ignite Ideas Fund helps companies to take a viable product to market with grants of up to $200,000.
Across Queensland 26 businesses will share in grants totalling $3.3 million in funding.
Applications for the next funding round are now open. To find out more and apply, search online for ‘Ignite Ideas Fund’.
This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 4 April 2024.
