The money was awarded by Federal agency AusIndustry, which shows that the government is starting to “back the manufacturing sector in a big way”, said Focus managing director David Fuller.

“They are starting to regard manufacturing as more important than they used to. In the Illawarra area, they are looking for things that will stimulate employment.”

Focus is the biggest recipient of a $30 million aid package for the region, which followed last year’s decision by BlueScope Steel to axe 800 jobs at its Port Kembla facility.

The Federal government contributed $20 million to the package, with the NSW State government and BlueScope each pitching in $5 million.

Focus Illawarra will be established as a digital and offset printing hub with a major focus on training, said Fuller.

“We are looking to employ school leavers, people with manufacturing backgrounds, people with no training – we are not really looking for people with print background.”

He added that the attraction of the region was that it offered “a good, consistent workforce, a nice place to live and a place where we will be welcomed”.

“There are a lot of people [in the area] who have had really good training. Wollongong is full of global companies and the global approach to training is very good, especially in the area of lean manufacturing.

“By the same token, we are partnering with the TAFE and the University of Wollongong to put on specific training that goes well beyond printing and into manufacturing,” added Fuller.

The site will initially employ 30 staff, with all employees recruited from the local area, “other than a few people I am sending down to start it up”, said Fuller.

According to a report in the Illawarra Mercury, the print site could eventually employ up to 190 people.

Fuller said the plant could be the most well kitted out site in the country. “Because I have government help in the funding, it has taken away the usual constraints around the technology we put in there.”

Focus Illawarra would operate the latest in high-speed digital manufacturing as well as having offset capacity and a heavy slant toward R&D, he added.

According to Focus Press, which already has two sites in Sydney, “the facility will complement existing printers in the region, making them more viable in the long term”.

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