Townsville’s RGM Maintenance grows with green energy
A heavy vehicle maintenance company in Townsville will triple its size, due to growth in hydrogen and electric technology.
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A defence and hydrogen maintenance hub costing $19m will be built in the Cleveland Bay Industrial Park, which will make Townsville a central link in North Queensland’s renewable energy supply chain.
As part of the hub, commercial and fleet maintenance group RGM Maintenance’s expansion will triple the land size of its existing lot in Roseneath and would mean the creation of 65 new jobs when construction is completed in two years.
RGM director-owner Greg Jackson said it was “exciting times” for the 20-year-old business, and that job growth for the company would increase training opportunities.
“We’re very proud of the number of apprentices we employ every year, our current numbers around around 40 which is about a quarter of our total number.
“With this move with this facility we’ll push that number higher.
“It won’t be a traditional apprenticeship like I went under, there will be a lot more focus on electric vehicles, hydrogen.”
When asked how current management was keeping up to these new technologies in order to train apprentices, he said that it was likely that eventually, “the apprentices end up teaching us”.
First year mechanic apprentice Makenzie Weale is one of the employees at the forefront of such changes in the company.
Ms Weale was formerly an electrician apprentice at the mines but decided to transfer into mechanics after moving to Townsville 10 months ago.
It had not occurred to her that she could be part of the new industrial movement into these types of technology, even though she worked with brands such as Mercedes that were starting out in electric.
”It would be good to obviously be at the forefront of that because not everyone will be, it will be a bonus,” she said.
Acting Premier Steven Miles toured the existing facility in Roseneath on Wednesday, due to the Queensland Government’s investment in funding part of the project within a commercial agreement.
He said facilities that used hydrogen based technology such as this was the answer to balancing job creation with protecting the environment, and that it would reinforce Queensland’s position as “Australia’s khaki state” through offering essential services to support Australian Defence Force’s ground transport operations.
“This is just the beginning of a golden decade of incredible opportunities for the state’s north emanating from Townsville,” Mr Miles said.
“We acknowledge unless the world can maintain temperature increases then the reef will continue to be threatened, that’s why our investment in decarbonising our state is so important, that’s why our goal of converting our electricity system, our energy system, to renewables is so important.
“What we’re proving with announcements like today is that (it) is not a threat to jobs, it is how we will protect jobs and it is how we will create jobs.
“We can address climate change, protect existing industries, grow new industries and save our Great Barrier Reef.”
“The hub will put North Queensland and Townsville on the map as a key location for new-generation heavy-vehicle fleets.
Originally published as Townsville’s RGM Maintenance grows with green energy
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