Nambucca Valley Council has launched an Investment Prospectus designed to showcase the region’s strengths and attract new business and investment to the area.
The prospectus was unveiled last week at a launch event at the Nambucca Heads Island Golf Club, bringing together council, industry and business representatives from across the valley.
It identifies priority sectors with strong growth potential, including native food production and food processing, advanced manufacturing, circular economy and plastics manufacturing, transport and logistics, and the visitor economy.
Nambucca Valley Mayor Gary Lee, who attended the launch, said the prospectus reflected what could be achieved through collaboration between government, business and the wider community.
“This prospectus is more than a document. It is a statement of confidence in the future of the Nambucca Valley and a roadmap for sustainable economic growth,” Cr Lee told Nambucca Valley News.
“It showcases the opportunities that exist across our region and highlights the strengths that make the Nambucca Valley a great place to invest and do business in.”
Cr Lee said the document also put a spotlight on the valley’s established businesses.
“It also showcases the many exceptional, multi-generational businesses and industry we have in our valley, including Comet Windmills, Midcoast Trucks, Sable Engineering, Express Coach Builders and more,” he said.
Those businesses feature in a promotional video accompanying the prospectus, in which local operators speak to the strengths driving their own growth. Midcoast Trucks Dealer Principal Luke Smith said the Macksville-based business, started in 1991, had grown from a small family operation to more than 130 staff.
“It’s the unique location where we are. It’s the diversity of the people and the true country spirit that everyone bands together and helps each other out,” Mr Smith said in the video.
Midcoast Trucks General Manager Bridget Ramunno said the business was increasingly able to attract skilled tradespeople to the region.
“We’re finding more and more differentiation to attract quite skilled professionals and automotive technicians to our business because of the lifestyle, and they’re still getting the same career progression opportunities,” Ms Ramunno said.
“So we’re finding that stability in workforce is really one of the key strengths, as well as stability in infrastructure around us.”
Sable Engineering and Metaland Operations Manager Nathan Keen pointed to the valley’s natural surrounds as a drawcard for young families.
“You’ve got river, you’ve got ocean, you’ve got farmland, bush, and I think a lot of young families are finding that out as well, and I think that’s the biggest growth in the area, all the young families coming in,” Mr Keen said.
The prospectus points to major opportunities on the horizon for the valley, including the first stage of the Valla Urban Growth Area industrial land release and prospects tied to the proposed Great Koala National Park.
Located in the heart of the Mid North Coast and strategically positioned between Sydney and the Central Coast to the south and Brisbane and South East Queensland to the north, the Valla estate offers easy access to the Pacific Motorway. The fully serviced industrial lots come with three-phase 415V power and fast NBN connectivity, making the site well suited to industries such as food production and processing, manufacturing, circular economy enterprises, transport and logistics, and supply chain services.
Council has also planned for growth beyond the industrial estate itself. The surrounding Valla Urban Growth Area includes further staged development providing residential land, schools and business precincts to support a growing workforce, alongside investment in securing water supplies, upgrading sewer treatment plant capacity and improving waste management facilities.
Nambucca Valley Council is working with the NSW Government to unlock investment and growth opportunities intended to deliver jobs and long-term benefits for communities across the valley.
Business NSW Mid North Coast Regional Director Rod Barnaby welcomed the launch, saying strategic investment attraction was key to the long-term prosperity of regional communities.
“Business confidence is built when regions demonstrate leadership, vision and a clear understanding of their economic strengths,” Mr Barnaby told Nambucca Valley News.
“This prospectus sends a strong message that the Nambucca Valley is open for business and focused on creating the conditions that support sustainable economic growth.”
Mr Barnaby also highlighted the industrial land release as a drawcard for investors in the promotional video.
“I think the opening up of industrial land right here is so important, and such an opportunity for investors. We’re right in the middle of two of the key growth areas in the country, between the Central Coast, Sydney and South East Queensland,” he said.
“The location of this industrial land, just a couple of minutes off the Pacific Motorway, right near a major service centre, is really important.”
Industry Capability Network Regional Manager Brad Doonan said the valley’s manufacturing base was underpinned by long-established operators.
“In the region we’ve got some magnificent businesses who have either relocated here or they could be multi-generational in long-term manufacturing, and then that’s pushing into advanced manufacturing, agriculture and other service industries,” Mr Doonan said.
Nambucca Oyster Company 2IC Antoine Tessier said the family business, established seven years ago, relied on the valley’s central location between Sydney and Brisbane to get produce to customers quickly.
“We ring up the truck, they come here, and within a day the customer gets oysters,” Mr Tessier said.
ShoreTrack CEO Jill Ashley said her organisation gave disengaged young people a pathway into local trades and employment, a pipeline several other businesses in the video credited for their workforce. Express Coach Builders Operations Manager Sally Heather said three of the company’s four current apprentices had come through ShoreTrack.
“The last few years we’ve worked very closely with the guys here, and we find that the kids that come from ShoreTrack hit the ground running. They’ve got the basic skills down, they’re work ready, they know to turn up ready to go,” Ms Heather said.
Cr Lee thanked the businesses, stakeholders and council staff who contributed to the prospectus, describing it as a team effort, and encouraged residents and industry groups to share it through their own networks to help promote the valley as a destination for investment.
The Investment Prospectus and its accompanying video can be viewed at https://www.nambucca.nsw.gov.au/Business/Invest
Got something you want to say about this story? Have your say on our opinion and comment hub, North Coast Times Engage