The twin cities' diverse economic base is ready to step up again to lead the region out of the multi-pronged turbulence brought on by bushfires, COVID-19 and border closures.
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As was the case when the Global Financial Crisis hit more than a decade ago, Albury-Wodonga's economic firepower including construction, manufacturing, health, education, retail and agriculture combined to help weather the storm and stand poised to do so again.
In an economic indicators report released last week the region's resilience was underlined.
Albury-Wodonga's labour force was 51,299 in June this year compared to 50,458 12 months earlier, an increase of 1.7 per cent despite COVID-19.
In 2019-20 the value of construction in Albury was estimated at about $208 million, up from $163 million on the previous financial year with residential projects (789) comfortably outweighing commercial projects (94).
Albury's residential property prices and sales volumes jumped with 918 house sales and the median house price hitting $350,500 in 2019-20 financial year, a 1.9 per cent increase from the previous year.
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The biggest hits in COVID were the loss of 7 per cent of jobs in the accommodation and food services sector closely followed by retail, 6 per cent, with Albury-Wodonga having a combined 3010 JobKeeper applications in June.
But green shoots have started to appear with the border re-opened, according to Australian Industry Group's Tim Farrah.
"A diverse economy has always been one of our huge advantages," he said.
"When one sector might be struggling there are always a couple of others pumping along.
"At the moment manufacturing and agriculture are having a really strong period and they are helping to make up for the impact on tourism and hospitality.
"Retail was flat for a while, but we are starting to see some positive indicators and what we've been hearing from business for a little while is it has been really hard to get staff.
"We shouldn't underestimate the positive impact of the drought ending and farmers having a great season.
"We can't also forget how important JobKeeper has been because without it thousands of businesses would have gone to the wall."
More jobs about to come on line early in the new year when Harris Farms Markets open as part of the Amart furniture complex in Young Street.
In a further boost the region's digital connectivity is about to be supercharged with Australian tech company Leading Edge starting construction of a data centre in early 2021.
"The data centre will expand connectivity options in the Albury-Wodonga regions, which will empower everything from the wider community to local businesses," company founder Chris Thorpe said.
"Albury-Wodonga is a growing region, and this infrastructure will open up direct cloud access to major IT cloud environments in metropolitan areas, enabling faster processing speeds and greater functionality for digital applications."
Albury is one of 14 hubs the company has established in regional NSW.
"This new infrastructure will be an amazing boost to our digital arsenal, giving us metro-standard connectivity that will open the way for us to attract new residents and businesses," mayor Kevin Mack said.
Despite the challenges of 2020, Wodonga Council has had nine small businesses start up after taking part in a streamlined 'Better Approvals' program.
"We've seen the inception of several large developments including a motel in Osburn Street, the sale of land for an industrial estate and the sale of land in Beechworth Road as well as several parties optioning land at Logic," mayor Cr Kevin Poulton said.
"This is in addition to the development of CBD West and at Junction Place.
"With the funding granted to assist our hospitality industry, we will see additional lighting and dining infrastructure around the CBD and we continue to see ongoing interest for cafe sites across the city.
"The council has also waived permit fees for the hospitality industry for outdoor dining and waiving and refunding local laws permits for our businesses across the city as we enter the recovery from the pandemic.
"We also know that growth continues in the residential housing market through new builds and land sales."
