THRIVING Inverell business Boss Engineering is putting on another 28 staff, helped by an injection of $495,000 from the state’s Murray Darling Basin Economic Diversification Program.
The agricultural implement manufacturer will put particular emphasis on training and employing local people, including the disabled and disadvantaged youth, as it expands its business into new States, and starts trials of its machines in Europe.
“Anyone who thinks manufacturing in the regions has disappeared needs to visit Boss,” said Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall during a visit to the firm this week.
“The company is only eight years old, and sited in a town that is seldom identified with industry, but through intelligence, hard work and a customer focus its directors have put Boss Engineering on the map as a leading manufacturer in a space with serious national and international competition.”
The $495,000 grant, part of a program to offset the economic effects of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, will help Boss expand sales of its highly regarded agricultural implements into Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
“We wouldn’t have been able to handle this expansion on our own,” said Boss director Dan Ryan.
“We’ve been talking about it for a long time, but we’ve got the rest of the business to worry about. In this business, you always have to put a lot of cash out before you get a lot of cash back, so it’s difficult to grow.”
Mr Marshall said that Boss was the ideal business for a regional centre.
“It has an entrepreneurial outlook, looks after its customers, and looks after the town. These qualities are important to any business, but they matter to a much higher degree in the bush, where the town is dependent on the success of the business, and the business is dependent on the town.”