Construction of a project to support homeless youth is six weeks ahead of schedule and expected to be finished this year.
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Work on the $15.7 million Education First Youth Foyer for at Wodonga TAFE on McKoy Street was well under way, Premier Building and Construction said.
PBC general manager Anthony Baker said the firm would have employed about 190 people to work on the dorm-style building which will support at risk young people between the ages of 16 and 24 for up to two years.
The move is a joint effort between Wodonga TAFE, the Victorian government, Beyond Housing, Junction Support Services and Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Mr Baker said work was progressing at a breakneck speed with his company being able to focus on the nuts and bolts of project, leaving financial management issues in the hands of another big company on the Border, Findex.
"The project's running six weeks ahead of program at the moment, all of the ground floor infrastructure, all the services are 100 per cent complete," Mr Baker said.
"All ground floor slabs are 100 per cent complete, the columns for the upper level structure are 80 per cent complete.
"The upper floor structures are completed while framings commence this the central part of the building, which is the larger portion of work, has the form work in place.
"We're starting to install the tile reinforcement to the first floor slab and the west area is now starting to move forward with first of all framework complete."
PBC works closely with Findex, the sixth largest accounting and wealth management firm in Australia with their largest regional office, with a team of more than 120 people, in Albury-Wodonga.
The company this week announced a partnership with Australian and New Zealand private equity investment firm Mercury Capital.
Findex said the partnership would allow the firm to "bring an even greater level of financial support and advice to rural Australian communities".
Mr Baker said dealing with a firm such as Findex made his job much easier, particularly when dealing with complicated projects involving several government agencies.
"If there's a need for any higher level support, then they've got the ability to go into the city to other offices and, and find that support or that reference material, whatever it is that we may need from time to time," Mr Baker said.
"Particularly when a project like the youth foyer where there's a lot of government departments, it's multifaceted, and there's a lot of compliance requirements on us, as the head contractor, so we enjoy being able to receive that support from the guys here locally."
Stephen Bowler, managing partner for Findex in the Albury office, said the partnership with Mercury would be beneficial for Albury-Wodonga.
"They (Mercury) have an intimate knowledge of the Australian New Zealand market, which again, perfectly aligns with the with the Findex regional footprint as well," Mr Bowler said.
"Now we're Australia New Zealand, Mercury are Australia, New Zealand, so there's a lot of synergies around the Australia New Zealand region, the knowledge that they will bring to the business, which in time will provide insight and changes that we'll be able to implement on the ground."
