Shepparton continues healthy trajectory of growth…
By Geoff Adams
Readers don’t have to look far to witness the extraordinary development activity currently underway across Greater Shepparton. Shepparton and the wider Goulburn Valley never cease to amaze the tens of thousands of people who visit Shepparton whether shopping, on business or just driving to and from New South Wales, Queensland or to the snow from South Australia. The Adviser, the publisher of the popular annual Our Goulburn Valley magazine constantly hears how visitors are surprised at what is on offer and how quickly the face of Shepparton is changing through major developments. Shepparton could be referred to as the hub of the wheel in Northern Victoria, where well over 100,000 shoppers, tourists, and businesspeople visit each week. Ideally located to business, many 1000s of people funnel into Shepparton from a huge radius, whether it be from Cobram, Yarrawonga, Berrigan, Deniliquin, Echuca, Kyabram, Nagambie, Seymour, Avenel, Euroa, Benalla, Wangaratta and all the towns in between. It isn’t a surprise to hear Shepparton’s accommodation is booked out during the week by business representatives using the city as a base to visit the surrounding towns. Shepparton is primed for further growth as the outer suburbs of Melbourne become increasingly unattractive places in which to live. Our food processing, agricultural, transport, engineering, retail and health sectors contribute to a vibrant way of life that allows many 1000s of families to live comfortably and geographically close to the Murray River, the High Country and Melbourne. A standout business celebrating the extraordinary milestone of 100 years of business is Hansen Yuncken, one of Australia’s oldest building companies which has built a large number of Shepparton’s landmark buildings, one being the major GV Health upgrade. The firm celebrates its major milestone at Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) on Thursday, October 30. Construction has begun on the multi-million dollar, much talked about and planned Stage 1 of GV Link Enterprise Park on Toolamba Road, Mooroopna. The visionary Shepparton and Mooroopna 2050: Regional City Growth project is being developed by the Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) and Greater Shepparton City Council. The $4.9M Princess Park Multi Use Events Pavillion facility is underway at the western end of Nixon Street, Shepparton. The pavilion will feature modern change rooms, umpire facilities, a large social room with a commercial kitchen, tiered seating and undercover viewing areas. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.Makers Mile is certainly stamping its mark on Shepparton with a major development of secure mini warehouses, businesses and factories of 40 sqm – 511 sqm in size. More than 50 per cent of the architecturally designed buildings have been sold on Industrial Road off New Dookie Road, Shepparton. The long-standing successful business and medical clinic that has been operating for a remarkable 95 years, Lister House Medical Centre in Nixon Street, Shepparton has launched a major relocation and expansion program with a state-of-the-art complex being built in North Shepparton. The clinic’s new address is 4 Shelby Court off Numurkah Road North Shepparton, near Solar City Marine & Caravans, and is headed up by Peter Guy. Peter said the new 800sqm building offered new clinic and cutting-edge capabilities and a dedicated team of 27 healthcare professionals. Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) has experienced many 1000s of new visitors with the highly successful Brett Whiteley: Inside the Studio exhibition. The exhibition has attracted a huge number of unique visitors from outside the region, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the city. Mooroopna based Gouge Linen & Garment Service, who employ a massive 500 people across several sites, recently opened a state-of-the-art 9000 sqm facility on the North Shore at Geelong. The dynamic home-grown family-owned business run by brothers Phil and Rob Priestly and run by CEO John Calleja also have depots in Bendigo, Ballarat and Melbourne. A quiet but now known international business in 22 countries around the world and based here in Shepparton, Rubicon Water, continues to tackle the era of water scarcity and ensuing food insecurity on both a national and international scale. The successful company employs 100 staff and has a large manufacturing footprint in Wheeler Street, Shepparton. The company is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is globally helping to conserve billions of litres of water by implementing intelligent control systems within existing open channel networks. Graham Thomson Motors, the 40 plus years successful truck business, has a new general manager, Anthony Conte. Former GM, Gerard Michele has been promoted to oversee the company’s growing business in Bendigo, Swan Hill, Renmark, Mildura and Broken Hill. Major property agent in the Goulburn Valley, Rocky Gagliardi of Gagliardi Scott Real Estate has experienced busier than normal property transactions in the commercial property sector with a large number changing hands for generational reasons. “Business owners were retiring, and their estates were being sold. Land tax was also a big reason for commercial / retail property selling,” Rocky said. Some property highlights have been the sale of I-Med Radiology at 104-108 Nixon Street, Shepparton selling for $4.8M. Believe Early Learning childcare centre at 10 McLennan Street, Mooroopna recently sold for $5.9M. Rocky said there was good demand for industrial / shed blocks. The residential market was steady, however there had been a boom in the $600,000 and below first home buyers’ market and added that the higher end of the market had slowed. Stockdale & Leggo celebrates its 30th anniversary of success this year. Headed up by Scott and Darren Butler, the real estate business opened its doors in Shepparton in 1998. Their first real estate office, run by the late Noel Butler, was opened in Numurkah in 1995. Jamestrong Precision Packaging of Kyabram continues a growth trajectory with increased volume of specialised packaging in the last 12 months. Manufacturing manager, Leo Voges, told Our Goulburn Valley magazine they had employed extra staff to keep up with demand. The combination of a generous donation of land by Jim and Angela Andreadis and almost $3M from the state government saw the completion of a state-of-the-art purpose built Foodshare complex in Mooroopna. Shepparton Foodshare opened in 2012 and has distributed a staggering 4M kilos of food to a whole range of neighbourhood, community, services and faith organisations. Jmar Engineering continues to invest heavily in its Shepparton operations. Mark and Janice Hooper of Jmar Engineering recently acquired a state-of-the-art 30-kilowatt fibre laser cutter, the Hans 4020 Expert, the only one of its kind in regional Victoria, only one of two in the state and among just six nationwide. This powerful new addition joins their existing assets of 4kW and 8kW laser cutters, creating an unrivalled capacity to cut thicker materials and handle higher volumes than ever before. Local hospitality supply specialist In Hospitality, recently changed hands. Long time restaurateurs and in more recent years hospitality suppliers to the trade, Min and Jill Innes-Irons sold their business to Jarod and Natasha Issell in early July. Long standing successful freight business Keating Freight Lines continues to modernise its fleet with the purchase of four new MAN trucks which are to be delivered shortly. This takes their fleet to 24 with 34 trailers of which 20 are refrigerated. They service large clients such as Greenhams at Tongala and a2 Milk produced by Kyvalley Dairy Group at Kyabram. The business is led by the oldest living sibling of the Keating family, Ken Keating, with his sons also in the business, Stephen and Mark. “Service is our motto,” said Stephen and Mark. A new 107- key luxury apartment hotel is under construction on Wyndham Street near Shepparton Art Museum (SAM). To be known as the Punthill Apartments, it is being developed by the Sofra Group and is expected to be completed by 2027. It is The Veriu Group’s first project in regional Victoria. They have 1800 rooms / apartments operating across 25 sites and a further five sites in development. The Shepparton Club has embarked on a major $10M, four-stage redevelopment, set to be completed next year. Stage 1 was recently finished and involved adding a second storey for upgraded staff and administrative facilities. Further enhancements will transform the ground floor, with a renovated bistro and members area, new sports bar, relocated gaming area, upgraded exterior and security enhancements. Successful locally based and expanding civil engineering business Chris Smith & Associates has become a strong player in the renewable energy project space with solar farms and battery site work a major addition to their well-established civil engineering, land development, urban and regional planning and project work. CSA director, Scott Golightly said they had opened a new office in Wangaratta. Their work covers Victoria, NSW and SA. Goulburn Valley farm agent specialist, Kevin Hicks of Kevin Hicks Real Estate told Our Goulburn Valley magazine farm land prices had plateaued out in the last two years, reaching their cost-effective level. “The big farmers are getting bigger, particularly in the good rainfall country such as between Dookie and Yarrawonga,” Kevin said. “This type of country is selling for between $8,000 and $11,000 an acre,” he added. Kevin said fully improved dairy farms with irrigation were selling for $7000 – $9000 an acre. “This represents good value; it’s the increased running costs for dairy and horticulture enterprises that are the challenge,” Kevin said. Broad acre farms have big inputs but can be more cost effective. “Water is likely to get dearer with the stronger environmental use. Temporary water is normally $100 a megalitre but is currently over $200 a megalitre. Farmers will need catchment water,” Kevin said. Interestingly, on the livestock front, heavy fat lambs have been selling for upwards of an extraordinary $500 per head. The state-of-the art 3000 sqm Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence located next to Rumbalara Football Netball Club in North Shepparton celebrated its first anniversary in August coinciding with a number of architectural and building awards. The $30.2M project and building won no less than four honours at the recent Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Awards. The centre has also been shortlisted for the prestigious World Architecture Festival, to be held in Miami, USA in November. Shepparton United Football & Netball Club celebrated its 75th Anniversary at their Deakin Reserve headquarters in Shepparton in August. A standout 55 plus age group development is the highly successful Kensington Gardens Shepparton off Channel Road, Shepparton. The 300-house lot development goes from strength to strength with manicured gardens, great storage for boats and caravans, ideal for locking up and going on holidays knowing full well your property will be looked after. KGS Village Manager, Glen Thomas said they had a thriving community where you could, “enjoy the freedom of doing as much or as little as you like”. Almost 80 per cent of our 300 house lots in total are already built with Stage 7 selling with limited sites left. Stage 8 is to commence in 2026, Glen added. GJ Gardner Homes has just launched two new display homes at Lorikeet Drive, Kialla as part of Seven Creeks Estate. The Cressbrook and Vista have proved very popular with hundreds of new home enthusiasts visiting the new display homes since opening in late August. GJ Gardener Homes Shepparton is owned by Chris and Sharri Longmore. Notre Dame College’s new multipurpose building in Knight Street Shepparton is still under construction and is due to be finished in the coming few months. Foott Waste continues to push boundaries winning new business in northern Victoria. You can’t help but notice the new Foott Waste trucks on our roads throughout northern Victoria. The recent $20M upgrade of La Trobe University, Shepparton is proving a real hit with 400 students currently enrolled in on campus courses including Primary Nursing, Education, Social Work and another 140 in the Greater Shepparton region enrolled in fully online programs, including Business Arts, IT, Cybersecurity, Food & Nutrition, Psychology, and PG Mental Health for Nurses. Echuca Plant Farm opened a Shepparton outlet with a bang on Archer Road. The successful plant business is run by Craig and Kate Turner. Stratco Shepparton opened in mid-September. The new showroom is on the corner of Numurkah Road and Mercury Drive in North Shepparton. The smart looking home improvement outlet is run by Dean Rankin.7 Eleven is to open its third outlet in Shepparton with a store at three of the four entrances to Shepparton. The site for the latest outlet is on a large site near McDonalds on Wyndham Street. All the above businesses are a just a few of the many great things happening in the Goulburn Valley. Local valve and actuator business, Challenge Valves & Actuators will shortly relocate from their long-standing Glenn Street premises to a newly built complex on Wheeler Street, Shepparton. The go-ahead business sends their valves and actuators nation-wide and internationally. The company chaired by Rocky Varapodio employs 36 staff across the nation. A major renovation has been under away at The Carrington in Wyndham Street. The project is due for completion shortly. Adding to several major projects on Wyndham Street at the old Pizza Hut site opposite SAM is a possible development of new apartments.All the above businesses and organisations are a just a few of the many great things happening in the Goulburn Valley.
Our Goulburn Valley magazine takes this special opportunity to recognise the ever-growing success of hundreds of business and services across our great region and salutes the substantial investment in Greater Shepparton and its future by many entrepreneurs, business owners, investors and developers.
