The Victorian Coalition Government has allotted $700,000 to help Drouin West Timber and Truss (DWTT) introduce new innovative construction methods. The financial aid will help reduce construction times for new homes and will create twenty two new full time jobs.
The Coalition Government’s contribution to the $2.23 million DWIT Futurefit Project was announced last week in Drouin by Acting Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan, together with Member for Narracan Gary Blackwood.
The financial aid is provided through the $1 billion Regional Growth Fund, as reported on the official website of the Premier of Victoria.
According to Mr. Ryan, the funds will be used to purchase and install a wall panel, floor cassette and floor joist that could produce building materials for up to 500 homes per year.
“The project will deliver a factory that manufactures pre-clad exterior walls and floor sections that, along with roof trusses, can be delivered to the building site and erected in as little as one week, reducing the time to attain lock-up in the construction of houses by up to 10 weeks,” Mr. Ryan said.
“This will deliver significant cost savings for both the home owner – in reduced duplicative housing costs during the construction period – and the builder, because the largest payment in house construction is linked to lock-up.”
Mr. Ryan further adds that apart from cost savings, the faster construction process will allow builders to construct more houses in a shorter time frame, as well as allow local building industry to access top notch building and construction innovative techniques.
Mr. Blackwood said that the project will not only enable the company to retain the services of their existing workforce of 18 people , but also create further eight new jobs during the project’s construction phase on top of the 22 full time jobs already in place.
“It allows DWTT to introduce the latest building construction methods to the Victorian market and position itself as one of Gippsland’s most innovative manufacturers.”
Mr. Blackwood also expressed his delight at the exemplary collaboration between the Coalition Government and the industry, which has resulted in creating new jobs and attracting significant investments in regional and rural Victoria.
According to him, the Regional Growth Fund has thus far provided more than $340 million to support 1200 projects across Victoria, leveraging almost $1.5 billion in total investment.
