Geelong’s story of reinvention
THE CITY HAS TRANSFORMED FROM A REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL POWERHOUSE, WITH MOST JOBS IN MANUFACTURING, TO A SERVICE-ORIENTED ECONOMY
SINCE the 1850s, Geelong has had a rich industrial history. Ford Motor Company, Pilkington’s Glass, International Harvester, Shell Oil, Alcoa and Godfrey Hirst have all called Geelong home.
Our world-famous wool helped establish a booming textile industry in the 1860s. By World War II, production had grown to seven woollen mills in production to help to supply the war effort.
The mid-century population growth, from 11,368 in 1921 to more than 120,000 by 1971, was primarily linked to this industrial sector strength.
Geelong was a regional industrial powerhouse with significant levels of employment related to the manufacturing sector.
Due to a range of local and global factors, in the 1990s Ford started retrenching workers.
The 1990s also saw thousands of locals lose significant cash when the Farrow Group of Building Societies (including the Pyramid Building Society) collapsed with debts of $2bn.
However, through community connections, government supports and population growth, Geelong has been able to transform over time from this manufacturing hub to a serviceorientated economy.
A big part of Geelong’s transformation was the establishment and growth of Deakin University initially at Waurn Ponds. This was a significant development that boosted productivity and reshaped the region and Geelong’s identity.
As Deakin expanded and established a campus on the Geelong waterfront in old woolstores, Geelong was creating jobs in skilled occupations as well as training the future workforce.
In more recent years, we have seen a range of government agencies call Geelong home including the Transport Accident Commission, WorkSafe and the NDIA.
While manufacturing is still a large part of our productive economy, jobs have transitioned to be in the new booming sectors of health, education and professional services.
JOBS HAVE TRANSITIONED TO BE IN THE NEW BOOMING SECTORS OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES