- Published:
- Monday 16 May 2022
The Andrews Labor Government has supported one of Australia’s fastest growing dairy companies to hire more workers and expand its operations in the small northern Victorian town of Girgarre.
Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas announced today the company – Australian Consolidated Milk (ACM) has exceeded its forecast jobs growth, hiring 65 new workers since expanding its site, which was supported by the Labor Government’s Regional Jobs Fund.
ACM has almost doubled its annual capacity since the new facility was completed just over two years ago and now processes 200 million litres of milk a year at its Girgarre manufacturing facility. The company had expected to hire 50 workers at the new plant but has now added 65 staff.
The company has also expanded its product range, which includes milk powders, cheese, butter and cream products across conventional and organic milk. All product categories have been recognised with awards from the Dairy Industry Association of Australia over the last two years.
The company manages 500 million litres of milk a year and supplies dairy ingredients to domestic and export markets.
ACM services around 300 dairy farmers, which is almost 10 per cent of Victoria’s dairy farm businesses. Victoria is Australia’s largest dairy producing state, producing close to two-thirds of Australia’s milk production.
The ongoing roles based at Girgarre are on top of more than 100 construction-related jobs created during the three years the facility was being built.
The Regional Jobs Fund is part of the Government’s flagship Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund, which helps businesses create more jobs in regional Victoria, supports community projects and helps councils to build the infrastructure locals need.
The Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund has backed more than 1,100 projects across the state, which has supported around 13,000 jobs since 2015.
The Fund is key to the Government’s more than $36 billion investment across regional and rural Victoria since 2015. Information about the Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund are available at rdv.vic.gov.au/rjif.
Quote attributable to Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas
“We’re proud of our investment in ACM’s operations in Girgarre which has provided a much-needed boost to the dairy industry, created more local jobs and increased local manufacturing.”
Quote attributable to Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes
“ACM Girgarre has not only grown its workforce but also its product range, creating more milk products to supply local and international markets – a big win for this small town.”