Cardboard box company Opal announces new factory for Logic Centre

Opal, one of Australia's largest paper and fibre packaging manufacturers, on Wednesday announced construction will start next month on the corrugated cardboard packaging factory at the Logic Wodonga industrial estate.

Opal general manager Chris Daly said up to 195 jobs would be created through construction and 76 new jobs would be created once the facility was operational.

"Front office, all the way through to operator, technical people in factory," he said.

Mr Daly said the Border's shortage of skilled workers was a concern, but the company would be proactive to recruit staff.

"We'll run some training and development programs to help people come up to speed," he said.

"Current thinking is that we will start the commissioning process in the third quarter, so I guess that recruitment process for us will start in the first quarter of next year."

Mr Daly acknowledged long time Wodonga manufacturing company Visy was a competitor in the market and said he hoped his company would do well against them.

"We have a respect for Visy, I mean they've been around a long time, they're a good competitor, a strong competitor, but this facility will give us the ability to compete both from a technology perspective, from a positioning perspective in the market place, as well as from a cost competitive situation," he said.

"We'll be out there recruiting and if there's people within Visy who have the technical capability we're looking for and want to come and join Opal, sure, we're open for business."

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The 48,000 square metre factory will have solar panel and water harvesting capability, and will produce cardboard boxes for packaging fruit and produce, cereal and meat distribution.

Wodonga mayor Kev Poulton said the development showed the future was bright for the city and region.

"We're excited to show we're open for business," he said.

"This is a really good outcome for the community, it puts Wodonga on the map, it's being open to some pretty big projects and we've got capacity here to do more."

Cr Poulton said Opal considering Wodonga as the home for their factory was "visionary".

"The price to bring a project to life in a region like ours is substantially less than on the outskirts of a city," he said.

"And I think for us we can keep unlocking our strengths, I mean we know why we like living here and we know there's other industrial parks and other industrial estates right throughout the country, but do any of them cross sector with a major state and federal highway, with a railway line project that's only going to see continued investment over the next decades?

"We really are in a prime spot right now and we know our neighbour across the river in Albury have got their development as well, but we've already got the know how and we've got the skills and we've got money in our region already.

"The challenge for cities like Wodonga is to make sure our city remains liveable and as rural as it already feels."

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