We believe in industry

Rationalisation within agriculture, as well as the concentration of freight transport and fishing to only a few places along the Bohus coast, meant that industry on Orust underwent some changes in its character. Today, industry on the island is dominated by the manufacture of yachts and small boats as well as service enterprises. Other branches of industry represented in the municipality include mechanical and electronic engineering, plastics and building contracting, and there are still many smallholdings on the island.

The many small firms on the island is a typical feature of Orust. Together, these provide many of the jobs available within the municipality. We are justly proud of our yach and small boat manufacturers, who are continuing a long tradition of boat-building on Orust. The builders of wooden boats trace their tradition back to the vikings, and even today there are skilled boat builders who can build juniper wood Orust skerries, which is a type of boat that is the dream of every boat-lover who appreciates high quality craftsmanship and sea-worthiness.
The industrial plastic boat manufacturing industry has also carried on the traditions of craftmanship when it comes to design and interior fittings, and also an appreciation for what a boat shall really look like and behave at sea.
Together, the various boat builders on Orust account for about 50% of all industrial jobs on the island.

The yacht and small boat yards export as much as 80% of their production, and half of Sweden's total exports of sailing boats and yachts are produced at yards on Orust.

About 45% of the municipality's total industrial production is exported, which is more than the average for the entire country.

The inhabitants of Orust have been provided with good housing both in built-up areas and in the sparsely populated areas, but the number of jobs available have not been adequate. This means that many of the island's inhabitants commute to work outside the municipality.

The municipality of Orust is committed to improving the opportunities for new companies to set up bussiness on the island. The fact that the island is not far away from the larger regions of Gothenburg and Uddevalla, or from the E6 motorway, is an influential factor which companies would do well to consider when deciding on whether or not to establish themselves here.
The municipality is also working hard to pursuade the State authorities to improve part of the road network, which is not all that good on some parts of the island.

Good communications is not the only important feature of a successful industrial policy. The ambition of the municipality of Orust is to offer ground on which to develop housing in the vicinity of each community, and strategically located industrial sites.

It is important that our inhabitants do not have far to go to work and that their high level of expertise is utilized locally.