The City of Greater Dandenong is Australia’s most culturally diverse locality, with residents from more than 150 different birthplaces making up the 163,792-strong population. With that diversity comes an eclectic mix of businesses – 19,776 at last count in 2023 – making Greater Dandenong a thriving economic hub.
Last year, Greater Dandenong’s economic output was $58.23 billion and its gross regional product was $19.32 billion. Meanwhile, regional exports were valued at $29.72 billion.
It’s little wonder why so many businesses and companies are deciding to invest in the region, given its unparalleled connectivity and growth potential. Located only 35km south east of Melbourne’s CBD, Greater Dandenong connects with railways, key arterial road networks and motorways, easily linking businesses with ports, airports, and Melbourne’s CBD.
One such company that has decided to capitalise on Greater Dandenong’s prime location is Australian automotive giant Walkinshaw Automotive Group. Late next year, Walkinshaw Automotive Group will consolidate three of its existing sites into a new Australian headquarters at Salta’s 180ha Nexus Dandenong South Industrial Estate.
Walkinshaw Group Communications Manager Andrew Wiles said the company had experienced rapid growth over the last five years, which meant the need to look for a new home. “It was extremely important for us to do that in a way that increased efficiencies and productivity, but also ensuring we are using world’s best practices in all of our programmes,” he said. “The new site in Nexus Dandenong South does that. The site will allow our engineering and manufacturing capabilities to all be close, but also each programme to be isolated and confidential, which is really important.”
Mr Wiles said there were a few key elements in choosing the area. “First of all, Salta have been fantastic through this process, they have been excellent in working through our needs and requirements,” he said. “Location is also really important for not only the suppliers we use, but importantly, our staff. We currently have over 1200 staff across our group, with most of them residing in the south east area of Melbourne, so it was important that they were still close to home. Another key element was the access we will have to the commercial rail link, which will be a huge advantage to our operations.”
Another company that saw value in relocating to the City of Greater Dandenong was Trunk Logistics Group, a specialist boutique logistics provider. Trunk Logistics Group recently opened a new facility in Salta’s Nexus Industrial Precinct in Dandenong South and decided to rehome their head office to the site.
Trunk Logistics Group Managing Director Mark Mastroianni said they chose Dandenong South due to its “superior connectivity” – being only 35 kilometres from the CBD, with easy access to the M1 and Eastlink, as well as the upcoming rail spur line to Nexus Dandenong South, which will connect the estate directly to the Port of Melbourne. He said the ability to generate further employment opportunities close to a major population centre was also appealing.
Mr Mastroianni recommended other businesses and companies consider investing in Greater Dandenong. “Having recently moved both our head office and anchor warehouse facility from other districts to Dandenong South, a significant amount of discovery analysis was conducted to ensure that the Greater Dandenong area was the ideal location for our business, not just now, but into the future,” he added.
