A Traralgon-based industrial design company launched last week bringing with it employment for one ex-Hazelwood Power Station worker and the potential to bring more skilled work to the Latrobe Valley.
ADRA Group also intends to hire another ex-Hazelwood employee in a design drafting position.
The new group formed following the merger of Gippsland-based engineering companies, Engineering Design Resource and Warragul-based Plant Performance.
ADRA Group operations manager Andrew Quenault said management and ownership had not changed, it was just two local companies coming together.
“We’re what a lot of people would consider small, country business playing with the big boys of the industry,” Mr Quenault said.
The company has offices in Traralgon and Perth and offers engineering and drafting support to businesses in the power industry such as AGL, BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group.
“We’ve gone from 18 employees half way through last year and we’re now up to 40 in total across the company,” Mr Quenault said.
“Our plan at the moment is to secure the work at the moment from WA and secure the work from Queensland and try and keep growing locally.”
“The goal is to grow as much as we possibly can within the Gippsland area to have this as our hub.”
Mr Quenault said the employees at ADRA Group were engineers and “drafties”.
“Drafties are between tradesmen and engineers so they sit right in that middle tier,” he said.
“It’s very hard to get those skills so we can’t afford to lose them, so we need to try and generate as much work as possible for them.”
