The expansion will create more roles in the business for existing and new employees in Ararat and the surrounding communities. 

Gason consists of four divisions, Off-Road Adventure, Heating, Agriculture and Industrial.

The Pioneer Camper range was finalised and purchased by Gason on May 7.  

Managing Director Wayne Gason said there was roughly 130 full time employees currently working at the Ararat site.

“The takeover has the potential to employ fifteen to twenty employees over the coming years,” he said. 

Mr Gason said all steel manufacturing will be done at Gason in Ararat and will be assembled at the Gason base in Bayswater, Melbourne. 

“We will laser cut, cut tube, weld and prepare the chassis for galvanising in Ararat,” he said. 

“We will do all the swing arms for the axles, sheet metal componentry and powder coat all the internals of the product at the same time.”

Mr Gason said this new range will give existing employees the opportunity to learn new skills and specialise in the area. 

“We have one young guy who finished his apprenticeship and wants to move into some other areas of the business. He came down with us to look at all of the stock at Actco Pickering, we then transferred the stock over to our Bayswater site where we will do the assembly of the unit,” he said. 

“He will also be looking after the chassis and sheet welding side of things in Ararat.” 

The takeover has brought two styles of campers to Gason, the Hardroof Campers and the Hardfloor Campers. 

There are two versions of the Hardroof Camper (Wilpena and Mitchell) and two of the Hardfloor Camper (Longreach and Onyx). 

Mr Gason said the goal is to start selling the campers as soon as possible. 

“We will work on improving on the designs that are already in place now and keep the standard up for the market,” he said.