BOMEN BUSINESS PARK - HIGH AND DRY!
Wagga Wagga has broken its record annual rainfall total with 1004mm of rain so far this year. We have received more than our normal summer rainfall in the first 9 days of summer, and this follows our spring rainfall which was some 87% above average!
Take a moment to consider that despite the amazing wet we have been experiencing, Wagga Wagga's premier industrial estate, Bomen Business Park, has remained flood-free, and the Bomen businesses have carried on with business as usual!
"We have actually provided warehousing services for several businesses from the lower areas of Wagga Wagga which have been affected by the floods' said Richard Reid, Director of the Rivco Group which is located in Bomen and amongst its businesses operates a huge warehousing facility there. "And the Gobba' Bridge ensures that the Murrumbidgee River won't pose a barrier to Bomen businesses sending freight southwards".
Bomen Business Park is Wagga Wagga's industrial development centrepiece. There are more than 50 businesses (local, national and multinational) employing 1,350 people located there, including Cargill Foods Australia (a major export abattoir), Renewed Metal Technologies, Southern Oil Refinery, Austrak, Rivco Group, Riverina Oil and Bio Energy and Heinz Australia.
So Why Do Businesses Locate at Bomen Business Park?
Over the next five years it is estimated 700 additional jobs will be generated by businesses relocating to the area, which will boost the Riverina economy by $264 million! They will come because Bomen Business Park offers a rare package of benefits to business.
The Park is ideally located on the main southern railway line. Dedicated industrial land at the Bomen Business Park has all key infrastructure including electricity, gas, water, waste treatment, an intermodal freight hub and metropolitan grade broadband.
The capital cost of industrial land at the Bomen Business Park is substantially less than in metropolitan areas. For example, a 2 hectare industrial site costs some $4.6 million less than the same sized parcel in Western Sydney. Similarly, leasing costs for a 2000 m2 warehouse are almost 70% less in Wagga Wagga compared to Western Sydney.
These are impressive advantages for businesses whose markets are spread across the eastern seaboard, and Bomen can compete well with metropolitan located businesses when it comes to export logistics as well. ‘It takes 31 days for one of our containers to be shipped from our Wagga Wagga factory to our facility in Chino (Los Angeles) in California' says Sam Turnbull, Founder and CEO, Flipscreen Australia.
Other comparative advantages of Wagga Wagga for business include a loyal and skilled workforce, excellent freight services, and access to an abundance of agricultural feedstocks.
"I think the greatest asset we have in Wagga Wagga is our workforce. We have an attrition rate of 2% a year" says Daryl Day, Managing Director of Precision Parts.
So What is the Vision for Bomen Business Park?
The new Master Plan for Bomen Business Park provides for the expansion of the industrial estate from its current size of 150 hectares to a bustling business hub of 1500 hectares.
The vision for the Park by 2030 is that it will be:
• The intermodal transport terminal of choice for industries and transport businesses across south-eastern Australia;
• A well-planned Park that takes advantage of its location, its accessibility and infrastructure;
• An internationally renowned exemplar of ecologically sustainable development through deployment of the principles of industrial ecology;
• One of the most resource- and energy-efficient places of businesses in Australia;
• Supplied with infrastructure for transport, energy, communications and resource materials sharing that is economically and environmentally effective.
Efficient transport links hold the key to the viability of the Bomen Business Park. The Master Plan includes the construction of a rail/road intermodal hub for the speedy transition of freight from road to rail (a more environmentally friendly freight system). At present, the majority of exports from Wagga Wagga leave Australia through the Port of Melbourne, although there are also rail services to Sydney.
Wagga Wagga is fortunate to have an industrial estate which offers so much to business, and which can withstand the amazing weather that nature has served up to us this season!
