Geelong industries set to boom in 2022 revealed
Geelong is booming but where will future economic growth come from? These are the industries set to explode in 2022.
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Geelong is booming but where will future economic growth come from?
Public sector jobs are growing. The face of manufacturing is changing. Houses are popping up in our growth areas like mushrooms.
Two per population growth in the region is tipped to see Greater Geelong’s five one-billion-dollar industries boom in 2022, seeing the area’s gross regional product (GRP) rise above $16bn in coming years.
Combined health care and social assistance, construction, manufacturing, education and training, and public administration and safety make up more than 57 per cent of the value of the Geelong economy, according to data from the .idcommunity demography website.
GRP in the City of Greater Geelong rose from $11.95bn in June 2011 and was at $15.34bn in June last year, according to .idcommunity. In the Surf Coast Shire, GRP was at $1.59bn in June 2021.
Using data from .idcommunity as a base, the Addy spoke to business and community leaders to get their views on what industries will boom in 2022.
The leaders say there’s a quiet confidence about the city’s economic prospects and rebound in 2022.
G21 Chief Executive Officer Giulia Baggio said she was “very confident” the Geelong region would bounce back stronger than ever as Covid recedes and immigration gets going again. “Many people are making a fresh start in our region and there’s a lot of excitement about the future,” Ms Baggio said.
Committee for Geelong chief executive Jennifer Cromarty backed up Ms Baggio’s optimism.
“We are already seeing a strong rebound in the economy locally which includes increases in retail spending as consumers have saved during the pandemic and are set to open their wallets as restrictions ease,” Ms Crommarty said.
“This will support growth in jobs in ‘bricks and mortar’ shops, in restaurants and cafes and in the warehousing and logistics sector as online shopping continues to grow.”
Ms Cromarty said service-based industries made up 41 per cent of total jobs in the City of Greater Geelong in 2020 and that total was expected to grow to keep pace with population growth.
“With over two per cent population growth projected in the coming years, the local economy and the core drivers of prosperity will remain, assuming we are appropriately funded by government with the necessary enabling infrastructure,” Ms Cromarty said.
“Due to … investments in Geelong from both the public and private sector, the Committee for Geelong sees the region’s economic prospects as excellent.
“Emerging economic opportunities are in advanced manufacturing, creative industries, defence and the move to zero emissions.
“This move to a zero emissions economy could create economic opportunity in social housing, transport, renewables, circular economy and clean tech manufacturing.”
MANUFACTURING
Worth $1.25bn overall to Geelong’s economy in 2020-21, the total includes $418m from petroleum manufacturing, $197m from food manufacturing and $128m from fabricated metal manufacturing. More than 9,300 people are employed in the sector across the City of Greater Geelong.
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING (major investment and research)
Hanwha’s decision to build its $170 million hub at Avalon will create 300+ jobs and grow the region’s economy for years to come, developing high tech jobs and research capacity through their partnership with Deakin.
Construction of Hanwha’s facility is due to begin before June.
Deakin University continues to impress, incubating business start-ups at its Manufutures hub.
High quality jobs and sophisticated business development will continue to attract more investment to Geelong.
CONSTRUCTION
Worth $1.67bn to the City of Greater Geelong’s economy between July 2020 and June 2021, construction made up 13.8 per cent of the value of the city’s economy.
More than 13,300 people are employed in the sector across the City of Greater Geelong but community leaders see this growing in 2022.
Ms Baggio said the region had a strong pipeline of major projects which will create hundreds of construction jobs from 2022 onwards.
“The Geelong Arts Centre, Hanwha defence precinct, the Convention and Exhibition Centre, Stage 5 of the Kardinia Park redevelopment and the Barwon Heads Road duplication will benefit the whole community and regional economy,” Ms Baggio said.
“A new national surfing museum and cultural centre in Torquay is another major project on the drawing board, as well as the expansion of the Geelong Gallery so it is exciting times.”
When the sector was shutdown last year because of Covid, industry source estimated the brakes would be put on about $60 million worth of work per week across Greater Geelong and the Surf Coast Shire.
Nat Anson, director at urban planning and property advisory firm Urbis, said Geelong’s construction sector was set for further growth in 2022 following 1.9 per cent growth in 2021 — which was a larger level of growth compared to construction statewide.
HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE
Worth $1.74bn to the City of Greater Geelong’s economy in 2020-21 and the city’s most lucrative, health care and social assistance made up about a quarter of the value of the city’s economy.
Hospitals made up the lion share ($840m) followed by health care services ($274m) and residential care services ($207m). More than 22,000 people are employed in the sector across the City of Greater Geelong.
Geelong Chamber of Commerce Chief executive Ben Flynn said: “The growth of health services, especially mental health and well being is strong. Providers simply cant keep up. For some time it will continue to be hard to get important services and until we have more people becoming qualified or recruit skills migrants this shortage may continue.”
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
One of Geelong’s five industries worth one billion dollars each, education and training grew about 10 per cent between July 2020 and June 2021, and was worth $1.20bn.
Despite a tough time for Deakin University with a dearth of international students, tertiary education contributed $569.4m to the Geelong economy in 2020-21. About 10,900 full time equivalent are employed in the sector.
Mr Flynn said: “With a critical skills shortage we will see a real focus in this area which is further supported by the return of international students. This will provide a terrific opportunity school leavers and those returning to study to upskill and get the jobs they want in a tight market.”
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (DIGITAL)
Huge demand will make it hard for businesses to get the digital services they need in an increasingly competitive environment, Mr Flynn says.
Computer system design and related services including website design, videography and social media curation was worth $96.8m to the Geelong economy in 2020-21.
TOURISM
Ms Baggio was optimistic for the turnaround in tourism in the region.
“Prior to Covid, the Geelong region’s tourism and visitor economy supported more than 16,500 jobs, contributed $3 billion to Victoria’s economy per year and attracted nearly 14 million visitors annually,” she said.
“The visitor economy should receive a huge boost from the return of domestic and international tourists and the arrival of the Spirit of Tasmania at GeelongPort.
“This will reinvigorate business after two difficult years, creating jobs and prosperity across the region. Our creative industries are blossoming, adding even more buzz to our attractive tourism, recreation and hospitality offering.
“Having been deprived for two years, I get the feeling many more people will now be wanting to visit this beautiful part of the world.”
CLEAN ENERGY INDUSTRY
Ms Cromarty said: “Emerging economic opportunities are in advanced manufacturing, creative industries, defence and the move to zero emissions. This move to a zero emissions economy could create economic opportunity in social housing, transport, renewables, circular economy and clean tech manufacturing.”
Ms Baggio said: “Big investments are driving significant growth in zero emissions technology and clean energy production, as our community makes the transition to becoming carbon neutral. Geelong Port is building a $100 million green hydrogen production and distribution hub and VIVA Energy has just announced it will build Australia’s first commercial, green hydrogen vehicle refuelling station with the ambition of creating a network of stations from Geelong to Sydney and Brisbane. The biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere will be built just outside Geelong and more solar energy farms are under construction, while household rooftop solar continues to grow. Climate change is affecting all of us and the switch to clean energy will bring benefits, not least lower bills and cleaner air.”
GEELONG ECONOMY AS A WHOLE
Population growth, infrastructure investment and local business investment bodes very will for the Geelong economy in 2022, Ben Flynn said.
“We may see some frustrating challenges in getting staff and managing supply chains but hopefully this works out in the nearer term. Major events and tourism will also rebound and we are hoping lots of domestic and international tourists choose to visit our region. Most experts expect Geelong’s economy to really grow over the coming years and this should provide opportunities to businesses and community members alike.”
In 2020-21 Greater Geelong’s gross regional product (GRP) grew 2.6 per cent and the city’s population is predicted to hit 393,000 by 2041 according to .idcommunity.
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