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A decade after Ford's Geelong manufacturing closure ended the city's century-long automotive manufacturing tradition, the workforce skills, industrial land, and supply chain expertise that Ford's presence cultivated are enabling a new chapter of advanced manufacturing in Geelong — centred on clean energy equipment, recycled materials, food processing, and defence supply chain manufacturing rather than automotive production.
Deakin University's Carbon Nexus facility at the Waurn Ponds campus has been central to the transition, providing industry partners with access to world-class carbon fibre research and production capability that has attracted several clean energy and materials companies to establish Geelong operations. The facility's collaborative model, in which university researchers work alongside industry engineers on commercial production challenges, has produced several technology partnerships with global companies seeking to access its capability.
The Geelong Manufacturing Council, which coordinates industry advocacy and workforce development across the manufacturing sector, reports that the city's manufacturing employment has recovered to approximately 85 per cent of its pre-Ford closure peak, but with a significantly different composition — more automation, higher average wages, and a greater proportion of workers in technical and engineering roles than the direct production positions that characterised automotive manufacturing.
Barwon Asset Solutions, a recycled materials manufacturer operating from the former Ford site at Norlane, employs 280 people in the production of recycled plastic products for the construction and packaging industries — one of the more visible examples of how the industrial land and infrastructure that Ford occupied has been progressively repurposed for manufacturing businesses in growth sectors.
This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.
Cunningham Pier and the Geelong waterfront at dusk.1 / 4Watch: Aerial tour above the Bellarine
