NORTHERN Rivers Tourism and North Coast TAFE have teamed up to secure more than $25,000 in federal government funding for skills training for small and medium enterprises.

The money will be spent on ten individual businesses who will receive training in mentoring, service quality, innovation and supply chain collaboration.

The information gained from this process will help design a customised program to assist businesses to asses their workforce development needs and position their business for the future.

"Teaming up with TAFE makes a lot of sense and we're delighted to be able to offer skills training to those in the tourism industry through this grant," NRT CEO Russell Mills said.

North Coast TAFE manager of international programs Gillian Gray said the project went beyond actual skills by also improving levels of professionalism, creating cohesion and communication against stakeholders, developing strategic alliances and creating a benchmark for service quality.

"A skilled workforce is vital to remain competitive and exceed the high expectations of our domestic and international visitors," Ms Gray said.

The skills training will be delivered between February and June 2012.

The businesses involved will be required to collectively contribute to the cost of the training delivery with the remainder provided through the National Workforce Development grant.

Expressions of interest can be sent to Russell Mills at rfm@northernriverstourism.com.au