news, local-news, Edith Creek, Murray Goulburn, Tasmanian economy, Tasmanian jobs, Dairy, Joah Rylah, Dutch Mill

Circular Head is due for an overall jobs boost in spite of the temporary closure of the Edith Creek milk processing factory. The factory’s new owner, Dutch Mill, is keen to take on local workers for a re-start later this year. However, the final report of a state government task force set up after previous owner Murray Goulburn announced the site’s closure in May, said 93 of the displaced workers had found new jobs. That means that unless Dutch Mill can entice many of them back, the factory will need a significant number of new workers, either from within Circular Head or from elsewhere. Thai-based milk and milk product processor and marketer Dutch Mill said in late November it expected to reopen the site in the second quarter of 2018. It said it would engage with the community “in terms of employees, milk supply and services”. The state government set up a working group and committed $1.5 million after Murray Goulburn announced the closure, which took place late last year. The closure was expected to cost about 120 jobs. As well as the 93 workers who had found new jobs, working group chair and Braddon Liberal MHA Joan Rylah said another 22 were receiving ongoing support to retrain and reskill to get back into the workforce. “The majority Hodgman Liberal government was not going to just accept the loss of 115 local jobs, which would have had a catastrophic impact on the community,” Mrs Rylah said. “ ... the success of this work can be seen in the net job increase in the region over this period. “That is, there are now more jobs in Circular Head today than at the time of the shocking announcement, and this is before the new owner of the Edith Creek factory completes the buy-out deal or re-starts the factory.” Mrs Rylah said Circular Head’s future was now bright. “To continue the progress we have already made, another 15 projects worth almost $1.3 million will now receive nearly $516,000 in funding,” she said. “These new projects range from business and market expansion to business support and training, and regional marketing initiatives.” Funding commitments included:

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