A large industrial building with a prominent X on the corner, creating a striking optical allusion, dominates the horizon just one kilometre off the Hume Freeway at the Logic Centre exit.
Logic is a significant industrial area attracting world-class manufacturing to the region and is home to XLam Australia’s cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing centre, the first in Australia.
XLam produces high-quality residential and commercial structures that can be up to 15 stories high and as large as a city block, and is an established market leader in the mass production and supply of engineered timber. As a supplier to the government and the commercial and residential building sectors, XLam needed a location that provided strategic access to its customers across the east coast of Australia and could accommodate the 60,000 square foot plant.
Logic’s location along the Hume Highway, and support and assistance from local councils, helped Albury-Wodonga stand out against other location options, says XLam site manager Anthony Quinnell.
“The advantage of operating the business out of the Albury-Wodonga region is the access to our major markets. One of the decisions to put XLam at the Logic site was because we could access all our markets on the east coast of Australia within 24 hours,” Mr Quinnell said.
XLam has been manufacturing cross-laminated timber – alternating layers of timber bonded together to create a strong timber panel – in Albury-Wodonga since 2017. AlburyCity and Wodonga Council recognises the importance of large-scale manufacturing for the region and assisted XLam with obtaining government grants, including A$2.5 million in Next Generation Australian Industry Grants and meeting development consent requirements.
“The local councils have assisted us with government grants, and we recently need to upgrade our consent condition for the factory. Wodonga Council was very easy to deal with and quick with granting that change,” Mr Quinnell said.
Easy access to transport links wasn’t the only draw card to the region for XLam. With most of the source material coming from the Tumbraruma region, Albury-Wodonga provides a close-by and cost-effective solution for accessing their raw material.