HOSE manufacturer Parker Hannifin has taken on 40 more staff thanks to a $4 million upgrade opened yesterday by Victoria’s Minister for Manufacturing, Richard Dalla-Riva.
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The Wodonga factory now employs 120 making hydraulic hoses and components and there are plans by the US-based corporation to add another 15 to 20 jobs, subject to approval by the US-based corporation.
Job losses by Parker Hannifin in Adelaide and Auckland last year have been Wodonga’s gain, with four staff from each centre transferring to the Border.
The Australasian division’s general manager for fluid connectors, Sean Fredericks, said most of the new staff had been recruited locally over the past 12 months.
The changes consolidate manufacturing operations for Australia and New Zealand in Wodonga and come 21 years after Parker Hannifin established manufacturing in the former Sanyo television factory in Chapple Street in 1991.
Mr Dalla-Riva said the Victorian government had given $500,000 to top up Parker Hannifin’s $3.5 million investment in new equipment, training and recruitment.
He toured the site yesterday with Mr Fredericks, member for Benambra Bill Tilley and the Department of Business and Innovation’s Wodonga-based manager, Ray Hortle.
Wodonga mayor Mark Byatt also attended.
Mr Fredericks said that if the corporation approved proposals to instal more equipment, the factory could grow to 135-140 staff but meanwhile there were moves to create a third shift in some production areas.
“Most of our production now is for Australia but we are increasing our export side,’’ he said.
“At present we export hoses to Russia, South Africa and Canada but it represents only about 5 per cent of the total.”
Editorial — page 40