Park Boosts Local Economy
The University of Ballarat Technology Park contributes nearly $300 million to the regional economy, according to a major report commissioned by the University.
Conducted by the Western Research Institute, the report examines the Technology Park’s output, income and employment.
The Technology Park is located on the University of Ballarat’s Mt Helen Campus in Ballarat. It has been specifically designed to cater for high technology companies and features high quality optical fibre and network facilities.
“The Technology Park offers a low cost alternative to location in the capital cities and hosts over 30 businesses ranging from local enterprises to international companies, such as IBM,” Mr Mal Vallance, Director of the Technology Park, said.
The independent report commissioned by the University showed that the economic impact of the Technology Park in 2009 to be $296 million, with $97 million contributed in wages and salaries.
In 2009, the Technology Park provided 1,731 full-time jobs to the economy of Ballarat equating to nearly 5% of the total full-time employment in the City.
“These results demonstrate the crucial importance of the Technology Park to Ballarat and surrounding areas,” Professor David Battersby, University Vice-Chancellor, said.
“The University of Ballarat Technology Park is one of the leading parks of its kind in Australia, and is contributing significantly to the economic success of our region,” Mr Mal Vallance, the Director of the Technology Park, said.
