economic profilepredominant business types

Economic Activity

The region’s economy is founded on a strong base of industrial and agricultural activity, however, as is the case in the rest of the Illawarra, tertiary industries such as retail trade, tourism, property and business services and health and community services are becoming more dominant in the local economy.

By far the largest industrial activity in the area is manufacturing, which generates approximately $267M in annual turnover and employs nearly 13% of the local workforce. Manufacturing is concentrated at Braemar and Moss Vale Industrial Estates and includes such activities as the production of cement and cement products, engineering and mining equipment manufacture and book publishing.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Register, there were 2,029 business locations operating in the Wingecarribee LGA in September 1997. Of these, over one quarter (27.5%) were agricultural or forestry enterprises.

Traditionally, the area’s agricultural activity has comprised of dairy farming, cattle grazing, potato farming and mushroom farming. However, an increase in the value of rural land in recent years has led to the introduction of more intensive forms of agricultural land use such as berry farming, viticulture, organic vegetable production and horse breeding and training.

The area also has robust construction and retail sectors. In the 1997/98 financial year the value of buildings approved for construction in the Wingecarribee was approximately $90 million and there were 547 new residential dwellings approved. In the same period, the Illawarra Regional Information Service estimates that the area’s 341 retail businesses had a turnover in excess of $180 million.

At the time of the 2001 Census, the Wingecarribee LGA had a total labour force of 17,759 of which 95% were employed. Over one third (38%) of the workforce is employed in either professional or para-professional occupations and 23% are employed as tradespeople and labourers.

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