The Victorian Minister for Manufacturing, David Hodgett, has visited Hickory Building Systems (HBS) at their Brooklyn factory in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne.
"It was great to visit Hickory Group on 6 March and see first-hand their innovative practices which have made them so successful. Hickory Group are a great example of a thriving local manufacturer and who through R&D and efficient work practices are producing valuable products for export right around the world.
“The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to supporting innovative businesses like Hickory Group which are the future of manufacturing in our country" Minister Hodgett said.
Managing Director of Hickory, Michael Argyrou welcomed the Minister’s visit and said “It was great the Minister visited us to see how we’re revolutionising construction. We build offsite, using manufacturing principles to deliver buildings faster, cheaper and with less waste.
“We now employ 150 people, and we have potential to grow exponentially. Many of those jobs have gone to people from the automotive sector, so we have the capacity to pick up some of the slack left by the closure of Holden, Ford and Toyota.
“The facts are however, that much of our work is coming from the resource sector in Western Australia, and that freight costs are putting up barriers to growth. We need some help to make staying in Victoria add-up, rather than to look at relocating.
“We’re grateful for the interest of the Victorian government and look forward to continuing to work with them to get a result for HBS, and Victoria. That will mean more jobs, better productivity in the construction industry and lower construction costs” Mr Argyrou said.
Modelling by Boston Consulting indicates that 150 manufacturing jobs would generate 600 jobs in total at a four times multiplier through downstream activity.
HBS focuses on the construction of medium and high-rise residential, hotel, aged care facilities and hospital projects in Australia, utilising the Hickory Module and Unitised Building (UB) technologies.
