Leading horticulture company Ball Australia is moving to Skye as part of a $15 million expansion of its production nursery and distribution business.

The company has secured a $350,000 State Government grant to support the move, which is expected to be completed by mid-2017 and will include the construction of a production centre and office complex on a 20ha site on the corner of Hall Rd and Westernport Highway.  The privately-owned Keysborough site it has occupied since 1998 will be sold.

The move is expected to create up to 19 new jobs with the company over the next five years, potentially including 12 retrenched automotive workers in the first 18 months, and as many as 100 construction jobs.

Ball Australia’s managing director, Paul Boland, said: “The move comes at a time of rapid growth for the amenity horticulture sector, and we want to be there to support this growth.

What Ball Australia will bring to Melbourne’s southeast as well as the overall Australian horticulture industry is opportunity, jobs, improved marketing and promotion of plant products plus a continuance of bringing gardening into consumers’ lifestyles.”

The new site will feature advanced equipment including germination chambers, growing and mother stock facilities and hi-tech environmental controls.