- Published:
- Thursday 21 October 2021
The Victorian Government is supporting a Geelong-based company to create 100 new jobs and drive the state’s competitiveness in producing Australian-made medical equipment.
Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas today visited the North Geelong headquarters of Care Essentials, which is expanding its medical manufacturing capability backed by funding from the Victorian Government’s Regional Jobs Fund.
Locally owned and operated Care Essentials has a history of entrepreneurship and innovation, exporting medical equipment and products to more than 60 countries including the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.
Last year, Care Essentials bolstered its production of face masks at the height of the pandemic. The company supplied three million high-quality single-use masks for the community and healthcare workers across the state.
Recently recognised at Victoria’s National Export Awards, Care Essentials is a leader in supplying specialised warming blankets and machines to maintain a patient’s body temperature during surgery.
The company will be able to install state-of-the-art German engineered machinery to manufacture up to six million patient warming blankets each year.
The project will create 100 new full-time jobs over three years across engineering, maintenance, finance and payroll, resulting in $6.7 million of additional wages and salaries circulating in the Geelong economy each year.
The project is ensuring manufacturing jobs stay in Geelong, with the Government investment giving Care Essentials the confidence it needs to keep its operations local.
The Regional Jobs Fund is part of the Government’s flagship Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund which helps businesses create jobs in regional Victoria, supports community projects and backs councils to build the infrastructure that locals and visitors need.
A new round of the Regional Jobs Fund opened earlier this year and is available to companies seeking to grow their operations. For more information visit rdv.vic.gov.au/rjif.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas
“This project will boost Geelong’s economy, create highly skilled jobs and showcase world-class medical manufacturing products at a critical time during the pandemic.”
“Care Essentials is a pioneer in the medical manufacturing space in Geelong – its innovation has been recognised throughout the world. This is a regional jobs success story and I am pleased to see that the company is choosing to base its operations locally.”
Quote attributable to Member for Lara John Eren
“Geelong is home to some of Victoria’s best manufacturers and we’ll do all we can to support them. I’m pleased to see the entrepreneurship of Care Essentials and look forward to seeing what it achieves next.”