By Claire Reilly
The manufacturing industry in Australia is set to receive a boost with news that Electrolux’s New South Wales manufacturing facility is set to be kept afloat to the tune of $110,000 per year over the next ten years.
Located in Orange in central western New South Wales, 250 kilometres west of Sydney, the Electrolux factory employs some 550 staff and produces refrigerators and freezers under the Electrolux, Westinghouse, Kelvinator and Simpson brands.
The $1.1 million investment in the facility was decided upon by a meeting of the Orange City Council last week. Originally proposed as a financial assistance package of $55,000 per year, the motion was amended to provide the Australian Electrolux subsidiary $110,000 per year “to preserve local employment”. The council is now seeking public comment on the resolution.
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First opened in 1946, the factory manufactures upwards of 300,000 refrigerators and freezers a year according to Electrolux, all almost exclusively for the Australian and New Zealand markets. The factory boasts a history as “either the biggest or among the three biggest employers in Orange since it opened”.
The facility also houses the Electrolux Skills Centre adjoining the plant, opened in 1994 as a joint venture with the New South Wales Government, which is used as a training facility for local organisations from the agricultural, mining and aged care industries.
Despite its strong pedigree, the factory has faced troubles in the past, including a major restructure announcement in 2004 that saw the loss of 200 jobs across the Orange workforce.
Despite the job cuts affecting 20 per cent of the company’s staff at the time, the facility’s general manager Scott Ostini said the company still believed “refrigerator manufacturing in Orange has a good future”.
Following the news of the job cuts, the then manager announced that Electrolux would invest $14.2 million in the plant to help it remain competitive.
The call for public comment on this month’s funding announcement will be open until mid August.
The Electrolux factory in Orange is set to receive $1.1 million in Council funding to "preserve local employment".