Economic Development

Wangaratta is home to a diverse economy with industries including manufacturing, transport, health and agriculture.

Our largest employers are the Health Care and Manufacturing industries. The output of Wangaratta's economy is estimated at just over $3 billion, with exports from our region over $1 billion.

Housing and land affordability combined with access to skilled workers helps us foster business growth and innovation.

See below for more information on Wangaratta's economy.

Tourism

Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the Rural City of Wangaratta. Council offers support to tourism operators through the Visit Wangaratta and Visit King Valley websites, and associated social media accounts.

See below for how to get involved:

We participate in the national tourism program the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW). The ATDW is a major database of all tourism product and experiences across Australia located in one place. Our websites draw their information from this database making it an easy one stop place to upload all of your business information.

A listing on the ATDW costs $250 (incl. GST) per annum (or 0.68c per day) and offers you exposure on:
• Our local websites
• Tourism North East’s website – www.victoriashighcountry.com.au
• Tourism Australia’s website – www.australia.com
• And a host of other websites that draw their listing from the ATDW.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing provides Wangaratta’s largest output at $838 million with 229 businesses employing 1,347 workers or 12% of the workforce. The manufacturing sector encompasses aviation products, heavy machinery, defence, chemicals and plastics, fabricated metals, textiles clothing, beverage and food processing.

The region provides opportunities for the expansion of manufacturing with access to affordable large acre allotments, serviced industrial estates and easy transport access by road and nearby rail services. Wangaratta’s position and close proximity to the Hume Freeway ensures overnight freight to both Melbourne and Sydney.

Agriculture

The Rural City of Wangaratta with its combination of high rainfall and quality soils allows for an array of agriculture commodities including beef, sheep, dairy and horticulture. Wangaratta’s location to the Hume freeway ensures overnight access to three domestic markets including Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

The Rural City of Wangaratta's agriculture sector makes an important contribution to the local economy and has the fifth largest industry output in the municipality. Land, water and associated structure allow a variety of rural production through the municipality including inputs into food and wine manufacturing.

The Rural City of Wangaratta is extremely well serviced for transport and logistics. There are a number of local specialised, interstate trucking companies with daily services to all key markets for the delivery of goods. The municipality is within an hour of the Logistics centre near Wodonga which provides access to major supermarket supply chains.

For more information visit the Agriculture Victoria website - http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture

Small Business

The city has a thriving retail sector along with small to medium enterprises providing a diverse range of services and products. Through innovation and expansion, small businesses are a source of employment growth and competition.

The Rural City of Wangaratta partners with Small Business Victoria to develop a Small Business Development program to assist business operators to learn new skills and network with other business owners. This program runs over the course of the year and offers low cost, practical, convenient and expertly facilitated workshops. All of which can help you plan, improve and grow both yourself and your business.

For more information, visit the Business Victoria website http://www.business.vic.gov.au/

Business