An upcoming business summit hopes to shine a spotlight on Wagga's economic future and help locals tap into upcoming infrastructure projects, and future population growth, across the city.
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The Committee 4 Wagga will host its 2022 business summit on April 28 with all three levels of government represented and speakers from a range of locally-relevant industries.
Committee chair Adam Drummond said this year's event isn't about hosting speech after speech but bringing everybody into one room for panel discussions and providing locals the opportunity to ask questions of prominent business leaders.
"That's gonna be a really good opportunity for people to put their hand up and ask 'what does this mean for us' and clarify things that maybe aren't that clear at the moment," Mr Drummond said.
The event will be split into three sessions, with the first focusing on regional and agribusiness developments in the future.
The second will focus on the money coming into the region from various sources, and the third one "everyone is waiting for" is about housing supply and affordability issues, as well as skills and employment shortages.
Back in 2018 when the state government's 20-year economic vision for regional NSW report was released, Wagga was identified as a growth centre with a population forecast of 100,000 by 2038.
Mr Drummond said population growth across the city is "definitely going to be happening", but maybe not at the speed previously predicted.
The committee's revised target is 90,000 people by 2040, mostly due to the impact of COVID-19 and a change in job forecasting.
Wagga's Bomen special activation precinct was originally intended to deliver 6000 jobs within a decade, but is now expected to reach this number by 2050.
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"My future outlook [for Wagga] is positive and optimistic, but it's also cautious of the fact we have to have this sustainable growth pattern," Mr Drummond said.
"[With the] original forecast there wasn't any sign of COVID and there wasn't any immigration crisis, which is what is stifling the migration workforce.
"We just don't have the number of people to fill those jobs."
Mr Drummond said the local housing crisis is also something that has to be addressed in order for the city to reach its workforce and population goals in the coming decades.
He said questions about these "logistical challenges" will be welcome at this year's summit. "[We can then] go back to council and the state and federal governments and say 'we need money for this to happen'."
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