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28 June 2007
Tim Holding, the Victorian Minister for Information and Communication Technology, will visit the University of Ballarat Technology Park today to celebrate a major milestone with IBM and welcome a new company, IR Gurus, to the Park.
“The University is delighted that IBM has now grown its workforce to approximately 700 people in Ballarat,” Vice-Chancellor, Professor David Battersby, said.
“This milestone demonstrates the growing value and success of the University of Ballarat Technology Park.
“We also welcome computer games developer IR Gurus to the Park. As a new tenant at the Park, IR Gurus will employ 20 people over two years to create new titles for new consoles, including PC, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and PS3.”
During his visit, Minister Holding also will speak about the economic impact of the Technology Park upon the local economy.
According to a major report commissioned by the University, the University of Ballarat Technology Park contributes up to $273 million to the regional economy.
Conducted by the Western Research Institute, the report examines the Technology Park’s output, income and employment in Western Victoria.
The Technology Park is located on the University of Ballarat’s Mt Helen Campus in Ballarat. It has been specifically designed to cater for innovative high technology companies and features high quality optical fibre and network facilities.
“The Technology Park offers a cost-efficient alternative to location in the capital cities and hosts over 25 businesses, ranging from local enterprises to international companies,” Dr Stan Jeffery, Director of the Technology Park, said.
The economic analysis showed that expenditure by tenants on the Technology Park accounts for around $273 million in output to the economy of Ballarat and the region, $130 million in value adding (GRP) and $83 million in wages and salaries.
Technology Park expenditure also contributes around 1,743 jobs to the local economy.
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