Albany Woollen Mills

[2] In 1921 the Minister of Industry, John Scaddan, announced that Albany had been chosen over sites in Perth, Bunbury and Collie.

In 1926 rumours were rife that the mill was on the brink of closing prompting the Chairman of Directors, Ernest Augustus Lee Steere, to express his surprise in local newspapers at the idea.

The site was poorly chosen as the noise and smog were constant problems for the town and the wool produced was too distant from markets.

[2] Directors of the mill gave 100 workers a week's notice of dismissal in early 1931 as a result of an overburden of stock.

Holmes à Court persuaded the state government to waive a A$500,000 loan guarantee in exchange for keeping the mill open;[12] he then turned the business around so that it was financially viable again.

The Regional Development Minister, Hendy Cowan, was keen to see the mills become a more vertically integrated wool processing company that manufactured more than yarn.