As you drive around the Union Street/Elliot Road roundabout, you can see the construction of the Norco Ice Cream factory taking place.

The Lismore App thought it a good time to catch up with Norco CEO Michal Hampson on the progress being made.

"The ice cream factory rebuild is going very well, Mr Hampson said, "The construction process is on time."

"There's new production lines that have been put in now, the building works are all but complete, which is good. It's starting to look more and more like a state-of-the-art food factory which is fantastic to see and we're looking forward to working our people back."

"Will look to bring the first wave of people, production staff, back around August through September and then October, so it's only five months away. We will certainly have enough jobs for everyone that stood down which is great and there might even be some opportunities for more people."

With staff shortages still affecting a lot of businesses, Mr Hampson said Norco have some employees that will return and they will be offering some really good conditions to entice more to sign up.

Like most rebuilt flood-affected buildings, the Norco Ice Cream factory has improved its flood resilience.

(The rising flood waters inside Norco on February 28 2022)

"It's basically going to be brand new everything inside so that's a positive environment for people to work in," Mr Hampson explained.

"We've got a number of walls that have been reinforced, some plinth walling put in as well, all of the electrical key electrical equipment is up above 15 meters now, not that we ever want to see a 15 metre flood in Lismore, I think we're done with what we had but at the end of the day, all that equipment is up high. That's the major stuff that really stops you in terms of electrical supply. The things that can't be lifted all have quick-release mechanisms, and we have mezzanine areas that are above 15 meters that will put all those up there. So that'll be good."

"The site will act like a dam in some respects with reinforcement. We've got a diesel generator that will be on the roof to provide emergency power when the power goes out as we see in the floods, so that we can then operate a significant pumping station to remove any water from ingress."

What impact will that have on any future potential losses when the next floods hit?

"Significantly less. We will have a very risk-averse process now. When we start hearing news of floods, so we'll relocate all of our stock and inventory. That'll be a bit of a cost that we'll incur but in terms of the losses of a major event like we had 12 months ago, and let's hope never have that again, they'll be significantly less. We might be down for a week but not eighteen months."

While Michael Hampson and the Norco team are keen to get the production line underway and produce the first ice cream product, realistically it will most likely be August or September. Then, by the end of September Norco will be in full swing with two production lines and a further two production lines to come in October and November.

The second half of 2023 is shaping up to have a positive impact on our city as we get more clarity around the rebuild.