Invest Wollongong

As 2024 comes to a close, Invest Wollongong would like to wish our community a happy and safe festive season! It’s been an exciting year for Wollongong’s business community, and we look forward to seeing it continue to grow in 2025! Wishing all of our wonderful partners, stakeholders, community, friends and followers a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season. 🎄 Merry Christmas from the Invest Wollongong team 🎄

#Wollongong businesses are backing themselves as they head into the new year with majority indicating they are more optimistic about their financial future than they are about the broader Australian economy in the next 12 months. This is one of the key highlights in the latest edition of the Economic Insights Report released by Wollongong City Council today. This report spotlights the results from the 2024 Business Survey that received over 300 responses in August from business operators in Wollongong, providing a snapshot of updated economic data for our city. Key highlights include sentiment on staff retention, remote working, AI and renewable energy adoption. To read the full report and learn more about what it’s like to run a business in Wollongong, click here: https://lnkd.in/dq6A77xA Linda Davis, Greg Doyle, Mark Grimson #businesssurvey #economicinsights #report

Green Gravity featured today on WIN News showcasing progress in #theIllawarra

Invest Wollongong are excited to launch the #MadeInWollongong Business Leader Series, a new initiative dedicated to promoting local businesses that are putting #Wollongong on the map. The series was launched by City of Wollongong Lord Mayor Councillor Tania Brown and our first business leader, Mark Swinnerton, the Founder and CEO of Green Gravity with a tour of the Gravity Lab. “Wollongong is teeming with inspiring business leaders who are driving our local economy forward and making Wollongong a competitive player on both the national and international stages,” Cr Brown said. The #MadeinWollongong series will see one business leader profiled every month, with interviews to be published on the Invest Wollongong website and promoted to a national audience. We are excited to shine the spotlight on Wollongong’s thriving business community, stay tuned for the next profile! View the profiles here: https://lnkd.in/dHRT2WyY Wollongong City Council #BusinessLeaderSeries #IWBusinessLeaderSeries

“We've spent two years in Wollongong developing a technology that we are increasingly convinced can make a radical change to our future climate”. Introducing Mark Swinnerton, the founder and CEO of Green Gravity, an incredible business #MadeInWollongong. Green Gravity is on a mission to radically accelerate the world's renewable transition by repurposing old mine shafts to store renewable energy. As part of our new Business Leader Series, we sat down with Mark to discuss the impact they’re having in the clean energy space and why he chose to do it from #Wollongong. Read the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/ddC8FcC9 Tania Jones #BusinessLeaderSeries #IWBusinessLeaderSeries #cleanenergy

🎉 3,000 followers! 🎉 Whether you're a proud #Wollongong resident or someone who just loves staying connected to everything happening in our city, we want to say a huge THANK YOU! We’re proud to be part of a growing community invested in Wollongong’s growth. To celebrate, we’re bringing back the #Top5 moments from the past year that you, our followers, loved the most! We look forward to continuing Wollongong's momentum together. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come. Thanks to our committee members, Mark Grimson, Nigel McKinnon, Leanne Smith, Rory McAlester, Tony Dyer, Canio Fierravanti, Ivy Fleming. #investwollongong, Wollongong City Council, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, NSW Trade & Investment, Investment NSW, University of Wollongong

On Tuesday we joined nearly 50 organisations at the i3net (Illawarra Innovative Industry Network) end-of-year Industry Celebration—a fantastic evening of networking, insights, and announcements! i3net CEO Bianca Perry and Treasurer David Apolo shared highlights from another outstanding year, particularly unprecedented membership growth that reflects our region’s thriving industry ecosystem. We also celebrated and farewelled i3net Chair David Bridge (CPSPM, PMP) and Vice Chair Jim Allan, whose contributions have left a lasting impact. 🎤 The evening featured insightful presentations from Peter Engelen, General Manager at NSW Ports and Harry Ottley, Economist from Commonwealth Bank who sparked meaningful discussions in the room.   👏 i3net also welcomed three newly elected board members. Congratulations to Tania Jones, Sam Boardman, and Craig Morris on joining the i3net board—exciting times ahead! This event was a powerful reminder of the strength and collaboration within the Illawarra’s supportive industry network. #Wollongong #industry #networking

Wollongong’s industrial legacy continues to evolve ⚙️ The Australian and NSW Governments are investing $47 million to establish the Illawarra Heavy Industry Manufacturing Centre of Excellence at TAFE NSW Wollongong! Announced today by NSW Premier Chris Minns, this upgrade will fuel the region’s next phase of growth. The centre will focus on both traditional and emerging manufacturing incorporating technologies like digital, electrical, and robotic manufacturing—vital to sectors such as the clean energy transition. The courses start as early as next year, with the site fully refurbished by 2027. Investments like these continue to strengthen the capability of our region and accelerate the pipeline of skilled workers in #Wollongong. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/d4ccW8gf Australian Government NSW Government Alison Byrnes MP Paul Scully Steve Whan MP Andrew Giles Stephen Jones #advancedmanufacturing #education

💡 Calling all aspiring #entrepreneurs—iAccelerate is searching for its next cohort of game-changers! The 'Activate' Program is a launchpad that turns ideas into real businesses – right here from #Wollongong. Whether you’re testing feasibility, refining your pitch, or figuring out where to start, this is your chance to be mentored, connected, and upskilled by the iAccelerate experts helping entrepreneurs build global success stories. Applications now open, closing 2nd February 2025. 👉 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gVKP8eBP #Activate #startups #thisisUOW Tamantha Stutchbury, John Kerr, Ainslie Tweedie, Rebecca Duldig

Last week, #Wollongong hosted the third Illawarra Clean Energy Showcase, highlighting our region's leadership in the clean energy transition, including $750M+ worth of major clean energy projects due to be completed by the end of 2024. It was an inspiring and educational day, including: ✅ BlueScope Steelworks to learn about plans for Green Steel production ✅ A deep dive on Hysata’s innovative electrolyser technology ✅ Seeing the scale of Green Gravity’s gravitational energy storage solutions ✅ Coregas Pty Ltd - a Wesfarmers company Hydrogen Refuelling Station ✅ EnergyAustralia's plans for the Tallawarra A & B Power Stations These events help support community education, which is a vital part of the clean energy transition. It was great to host members of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Net Zero Economy Agency and NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), and Industry Capability Network - NSW. Thanks to Lord Mayor Councillor Tania Brown for the welcome and to speakers David Wilson and Amber Waldron. And to Nigel McKinnon, Leanne Smith and Mark Grimson for bringing this showcase to life. Wollongong’s future is looking clean! Watch the wrap-up video below. #CleanEnergy #Wollongong #InvestWollongong #EnergyTransition #NetZero #PortKemblaHydrogenHub Paul Barrett, Mark Swinnerton, Ian Smith, Mark McClean, Judith Zhu, Michael Whiteman, Joel Smouha, John Mills, BlueScope Distribution, Orrcon Steel | Distribution