Today I visited the Arnott's Virginia bakery with Campbell Arnott's Asia Pacific President Mr Mark Alexander and Mr Lindsay Fox to discuss its major new investment at the site.
Arnott's today announced a $37 million capital investment – that will boost local jobs – by installing a new, state-of-the-art biscuit production line.
The new line, which will be operational by mid 2010, will boost the bakery's capacity by a further 10,000 tonnes per annum.
This investment will stimulate economic activity and employment at the plant once the new baking line is installed.
Arnott's anticipates the new line will result in approximately 25-30 new roles in the first year of operation, increasing to a possible 50-60 over the course of the next couple of years.
It will also be highly likely to significantly benefit under the Rudd Government's 30 per cent Small Business and General Business Tax Break under the $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan announced in February.
The Tax Break provides an additional tax benefit for businesses that commit to new capital investment between now and the end of June 2009, and complete that investment by the end of June 2010. The aim of this tax break is to give businesses incentive to invest for the future with confidence, like Arnott's has at its Virginia facility.
Arnott's employ around 3,500 Australians and produces more than 100,000 tonnes of biscuits each year for local and export markets. The new capital spending will assist in supporting further expansion into international markets.
The Virginia bakery also boasts a new $30 million distribution centre, purpose built by Linfox for Arnott's to streamline production and distribution.
In the face of the most severe global economic conditions in our lifetime it's encouraging to see Arnott's and Linfox, supported by the Rudd Government, investing with confidence, and I congratulate them for this.