Clayton Neil is Manager City Growth at the City of Wodonga, where he leads strategic initiatives to drive economic growth, investment attraction and industry development across one of regional Australia’s key logistics and manufacturing hubs. Clayton brings over two decades of experience across local government, social enterprise and the private sector, with a strong focus on enabling sustainable economic outcomes and building resilient regional economies.

Clayton has held senior leadership roles including Chief Operating Officer at the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship and General Manager Commercial at Merriwa Industries, where he led large-scale strategic planning, investment attraction and enterprise development initiatives. His work has been characterised by a practical, systems-based approach to unlocking economic opportunity, supporting business growth and strengthening industry capability.

A strong advocate for entrepreneurship, Clayton has worked extensively with communities, businesses and government to develop innovation ecosystems, support emerging enterprises and deliver place-based economic strategies. He is particularly interested in the intersection of infrastructure, industry transformation and regional competitiveness, and is committed to creating environments where businesses can grow, innovate and contribute to long-term economic prosperity.