Geelong’s
economy has been diversifying over many years and now has a much broader
industry base. Traditional manufacturing industries have been in decline and
have resulted in the closure of Alcoa’s Point Henry Aluminium Smelter (August
2014) and the closure of Ford’s manufacturing plant in October 2016. Both these businesses have been a
major part of the economic landscape in Geelong with Ford being established in
Geelong in 1925 and Alcoa in 1963.
Despite
this, key economic indicators show that Geelong has a strong local economy with
an investment pipeline that will provide job opportunities into the future,
particularly in emerging growth sectors. Geelong’s major industry strengths
include: health; education and research; advanced manufacturing; defence;
information and communications technology; tourism; and food and agriculture.
Major
industry sectors include rental, hiring and real estate (16 per cent of the
workforce), manufacturing (14 per cent), health care and social assistance (10
per cent), education and training (8 per cent) and retail trade (7 per cent). Rental, hiring and real estate has overtaken manufacturing
as the biggest value-added contributor to the region’s Gross Regional Product
at $1.56 million annually (16 per cent of total value add). Trade through the
Geelong Port also continues to be strong, now at 12.1 million tonnes (a slight
decline on 2013-2014 figures). 639 vessels entered the port in 2014-2015.
Investment
in the region continues to grow with $1.3 billion in major construction and
redevelopment underway in Geelong and a further $2.3 billion awaiting
commencement or in planning stages.
Statistics referred to in this section have been taken
from the City of Greater Geelong Enterprise Geelong: Facts at a Glance (Nov
2015).
For more about business and investment visit Enterprise Geelong.