Almost two years on from the Boxing Day 2024 fire that devastated part of disability employer Flagstaff’s Unanderra headquarters, CEO Rodney Von Clark says it’s time for the not-for-profit to look beyond recovery and start building for the next 60 years.
Flagstaff Group is seeking new laundry customers across the Illawarra, South Coast and Southern Highlands, while undertaking feasibility work to rebuild its fire-damaged facilities.
The organisation celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. It employs 430 people, including 240 with disability, providing work and life skills through its laundry, recycling, printing, engineering and group services.
The fire saw 130 employees stood down and halted Flagstaff’s fine foods production, which supplied frozen meals to Meals on Wheels and other customers.
“The first 12 months were all about responding and reacting to the environment that we were forced to work in due to the fire,” Von Clark said.
A $150,000 federal grant helped Flagstaff get all employees who chose to return back to work by early March 2025. The funding followed discussions with Member for Cunningham Alison Byrnes in February about what the organisation needed.
The funding supported temporary facilities, including accessible bathrooms, lunch areas, offices, meeting spaces and a first aid room.
Von Clark said providing those facilities was part of ensuring employees returned to a safe, comfortable workplace where they felt valued.
Flagstaff’s rebuild planning is focused on what the organisation will need in the decades ahead. Von Clark said construction would not begin within the next 12 months.
“My priority is to ensure that when we look at the rebuild and the feasibility, it’s going to be fit for purpose for Flagstaff for the next 60 years,” he said.
Byrnes visited on Friday, October 2, to see the facilities and hear about the organisation’s progress.
“It is absolutely delightful to turn up here today and see the work that has gone on,” she said.
She said Flagstaff’s employment opportunities and services were important to the Illawarra and offered to assist with its future plans.
“I know the workforce here; they love coming to work,” she said.
“They play such an important role in our community.”
Flagstaff’s laundry mainly serves aged care providers, hotels, resorts and holiday parks. It is working to win back customers who needed another provider after the fire, while attracting new business.
Von Clark thanked customers who had continued to support Flagstaff during the disruption. He said they are seeking opportunities in hospitality and health, with scope to serve customers beyond the Illawarra.
“We’ll look at all those areas where we can deliver the service to the same quality that our local partners enjoy,” he said.
The fine foods operation remains closed.
“Due to our obligations of having high-quality product for our Meals on Wheels customers, our elderly, as well as people with disabilities, we made the choice that if we do pursue that in the future, it's got to be delivered in a way that is going to be of the highest standard,” he said.
“At the moment, we're focusing on those four businesses that we currently operate.”
Von Clark said maintaining those opportunities meant balancing Flagstaff’s social purpose with financially strong businesses.
He said he remained “quietly optimistic” about continuing to provide sustainable employment, crediting support from Byrnes and local leaders across aged care, hospitality and disability services with helping Flagstaff recover.
“There is a true sense of collaboration where business leaders and community leaders work together hand in hand,” he said.