By CASEY NEILL
THE Burbank Group of Companies in Dandenong is family-owned and operated.
It’s been involved in the Metro Village 3175 project in Dandenong – Places Victoria’s project to change the stockyard site into a residential development.
Awards chairman James Sturgess said the project was now substantially complete and Burbank was a key participant in its success.
Spokesman Frank Perconte said the next major project locally was Mosaic Apartments on Cheltenham Road, which prompted an “I am Dandenong” campaign on social media.
“When you walk through the CBD, you see the smiles and energy,” he said.
“We wanted to capture that somehow and connect it back to what we do.”
The Mosaic building will be a nine-storey apartment block with commercial space on the ground level.
Over the past year, Burbank has injected about $63 million into local business through building 358 homes in the region.
It also works with local students to encourage them to join the industry through South East Local Learning and Employment Network (SELLEN).
Twice a year, it organises for young students to visit sites and meet construction and project managers with the clear goal of encouraging people to join their industry in the future.
“The business has set up a young professionals program in the west and looks forward to developing a similar program in this region where mentor programs are created to encourage Year 11 and 12 students to build networks from an early age,” Mr Sturgess said.
Burbank employs about 300 people and runs wellness activities for them, including fruit days, Pilates, family days and 1000 Steps challenges.
NOMINEE – Employment, Service Excellence, Corporate and Social Responsibility and Premier Regional Business.