SPECIAL EDITION –
2008 TASMANIAN EXPORT AWARDS
WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Introduction from George Chambers
Assistant General Manager, Export and Market Development
Department of Economic Development and Tourism
The past year has been another highly successful one for Tasmania, particularly in the area of export performance. It has been a very challenging year with relatively high interest rates, a volatile Australian dollar and more recently global finance markets in disarray. Tasmanian exporting businesses have risen to the challenges and posted some remarkable results.
This special edition of ExportActive details the winners of the 2008 Tasmanian Export Awards. All category winners now advance as finalists to the prestigious 2008 Australian Export Awards with the winners being announced on the evening of 5 December 2008 in Melbourne.
Congratulations go to all category winners and in particular, The Learning Edge International Pty Ltd which was named the Minister’s Tasmanian Exporter of the Year 2008.
I would also like to congratulate Josef Chromy OAM for being announced as the winner of the 2008 Tasmanian Export Leadership Award. This is an individual award given to those that have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities and whose individual contribution has had a significant impact on their entire business sector and Tasmania as a whole.
Thank you to our sponsors for their support of the awards, their commitment to honouring our export heroes and their individual contributions to Tasmania’s continued success in international markets.
I look forward to the upcoming 2008
Australian Export Awards where Tasmania’s Export Award winners will vie
with other state and territory winners for national award success.
Export and Market Development Team
Mark
Warrener, Kim McShane, Shelley Stephens, Martin Turmine, Ann Atkinson,
Fransina Barns, Maree Crisp, Alan Campbell, George Chambers.
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Industry News
The Minister’s Tasmanian Exporter of the Year Award 2008
The Minister’s Tasmanian Exporter of the Year Award 2008 is selected from the individual category award winners.
The winner of the Minister’s Tasmanian Exporter of the Year
Award 2008 is:
The Learning Edge International Pty Ltd
Combining business vision and smarts, The Learning Edge International has emerged as a true leader in its field of eLearning.
The Hobart-based education software solutions provider’s main product, EQUELLA, is widely recognised as the world's leading solution in the digital repository market. This award-winning educational tool is supported worldwide through dedicated teams in Australia, Canada, Asia, Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Learning Edge International’s rapidly growing team has expertise in a range of areas including product development, support and testing, business development, marketing and service delivery. It is this attention to customer service that has helped to build EQUELLA into a trusted brand.
Having also secured this year's UK Trade & Investment Information and Communications Technology Award for the second time, The Learning Edge International has followed its own learning curve with integrity, energy and determination.
Tasmanian Exporter of the Year Award
The Hon Lara Giddings MP with Mr Bob Cupitt of The Learning Edge International Pty Ltd
2008 Tasmanian Export Leadership Award
This award is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the export industry in Tasmania.
The 2008 Tasmanian Export Leadership Award was presented to:
Like so many European refugees who fled from their homeland after World War II, Josef Chromy arrived in Australia penniless but with deep hope in his heart. Sixty years on, this hope is thriving within the JAC Group, a mix of companies committed to investing in the future of Tasmania.
Josef Chromy, affectionately known as Joe, has played an integral role in the development of Tasmania as a producer of premium-quality food and beverages for over five decades.
Since opening his first butcher's shop in Burnie in 1957, Joe has enhanced the Tasmanian food and wine industry with his vision, passion and energy. He has made courageous decisions along the way and always shown a belief in his adopted home and its community.
Joe has been involved in the building of brands synonymous with quality, like Blue Ribbon, which under the direction of Joe pioneered the sale of Australian meat products into Japan, a market where restaurant customers demand only the best. The word soon spread, leading to the opening up of new export markets around the world. Blue Ribbon, with free-range cattle that were 100 per cent pasture fed, achieved export sales earnings of $30.4 million in 1993-94. These sales were achieved by taking a best practice approach to export which included a combination of intensive market research and close customer liaison.
In 1994, drawing on the unrealised potential of Tasmania as a cool climate wine growing region, Joe founded Tamar Ridge Wines, focusing on the production of premium and super-premium wines. Tamar Ridge reached sales of 9 000 cases within 12 months of its launch in October 1999 and when Joe sold the winery in 2003 it boasted 12 trophies along with 20 gold, 26 silver and more than 100 bronze medals from competitions around Australia. It had also started to build export markets in Canada, Britain, Denmark, Singapore and Japan.
There is much more to the Josef Chromy story than Blue Ribbon and Tamar Ridge, but these two examples highlight the impact this one man has had in developing Tasmania's export links. It is an ongoing story as Joe continues to lead the way, inspiring others to follow in his footsteps. His story is one of shared success - his business savvy, integrity and focus on quality have provided Tasmania with a perfect ambassador to sell its unique brand values to the world.
Tasmanian Export Leadership Award for 2008
Mr Josef Chromy OAM with the Hon Lara Giddings MP
This
award is presented to the business which demonstrated outstanding
export achievement in the field of agricultural products, services or
technology, including processed foods and beverages and the forestry,
fisheries and fibres industries.
The winner of the 2008 TasPorts Agribusiness Award is:
Australian Quality Honey Pty Ltd
Mawbanna's Charles family has been producing honey in Tasmania's far north-west since 1955. It is a tradition that has passed through two generations and the final product is as pure today as it was 50 years ago - the premium honey is sourced from the family's 1600-hive apiary nestled in the pristine Tarkine wilderness.
Australian Quality Honey only started exploring its export potential in 2004, seeking advice from its local Business Enterprise Centre, Austrade and the Department of Economic Development.
After considerable research Australian Quality Honey developed a marketing strategy, started to build up an awareness of its Blue Hills brand, made overseas market contacts and made a major investment in new production facilities.
Today the company's honey, including its flagship Leatherwood variety, is packaged and promoted as a gourmet product, aimed at the middle to high end of the market. Australian Quality Honey’s targeted approach to exporting has resulted in export markets being established in a diverse range of countries including Germany, the United States, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong.
Tasports Agribusiness Award
Mr Robert Barns (Tasports) with Nicola and Robbie Charles of Australian Quality Honey Pty Ltd
Australian Government AusIndustry Emerging Exporter Award
This
award is presented to the business which has demonstrated outstanding
export achievement in any industry sector and which has been exporting
goods or services for three years or less.
The winner of the 2008 Australian Government AusIndustry Emerging Exporter Award is:
Ta Ann Tasmania looks set to develop into a major force in the timber industry. With capital investment of $70 million and the creation of 138 jobs to date, the company is building a solid framework for success.
Ta Ann Tasmania exports rotary peeled veneer manufactured from regrowth and plantation eucalypt logs supplied by Forestry Tasmania. The development of international markets for rotary eucalypt veneer is a new value adding industry for the state.
The veneer, processed at state-of-the-art mills in the Huon Valley and Smithton, is exported to Malaysia, Japan and China where it is made into plywood and used for a variety of products including decorative flooring. The first 15 months of operation have seen seven export shipments totalling 61 000m3 of finished product.
Ta Ann Tasmania, in less than three years, has taken the concept of value adding relatively low-grade logs to the reality of international sales of rotary peeled timber. The success of the venture follows several years of joint research and technological development.
The Ta Ann Tasmania Board, in conjunction with Ta Ann Holdings (Malaysia), has built a firm and strategic foundation for the business and is a major investment in the future of Tasmania.
AusIndustry Emerging Exporter Award
Hon Duncan Kerr MP and Dr Sii of Ta Ann Tasmania
UK Trade & Investment Information and Communications Technology Award
This award is presented to the business that has achieved outstanding export achievement in the field of information and communication products, technology or services.
For the second year in succession, the winner of the 2008 UK Trade & Investment Information and Communications Technology Award is:
The Learning Edge International Pty Ltd
The Learning Edge International is a software solutions provider specialising in the education market.
Its main product, EQUELLA, developed by educators for educators, enables users to manage and tailor their online learning material in one centralised location.
Since winning the category last year, the company has intensified its commitment to export growth with EQUELLA widely recognised as the world's leading solution in the digital repository market. In the past 12 months The Learning Edge International has experienced significant growth in export revenue in both North America and the United Kingdom.
Now employing 30 IT
professionals, The Learning Edge International has established itself
as a world leader in education technology. It is transforming online
learning, opening new doors in the quest for knowledge and in doing so
promoting Tasmania as the clever state.
UK Trade and Investment Information and Communications Technology Award
Mr Stuart Gill, The British Consular General with Mr Bob Cupitt of The Learning Edge International Pty Ltd
Caterpillar Underground Mining Small Business Award
This
award goes to the business which has shown outstanding export
achievement by any business with total annual sales not exceeding $5
million.
The winner of the 2008 Caterpillar Underground Mining Small Business Award is:
Tasmania Distillery's attention to detail is paying off, with the company winning this year's Small Business Award. Operating under the watch of four equity partners who took on the operation in 2003, the whisky distillery is building an international reputation for quality products.
Using traditional distilling methods at every stage of the production process, results in a first-class product that is gaining growing praise. Both national and international awards have rated the company's Sullivans Cove single malt whiskies as among the highest quality in the world, prompting increased overseas interest.
The Cambridge-based company's experienced distillers use Tasmanian sourced ingredients to make the spirit which is kept in barrels for up to eight years until it reaches maturity.
The small team at Tasmania Distillery goes about its work with great pride and care, and in doing so is reinforcing Tasmania's reputation as a reliable producer of fine foods and beverages.
Caterpillar Underground Mining
Ms Tami Nelson (Caterpillar Underground Mining) with Mr Patrick Maguire of Tasmania Distillery Pty Ltd
Commonwealth Bank Regional Exporter of the Year Award
This
award is presented to the business with outstanding export achievement
whose head office is based in a non-metropolitan location.
The winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Regional
Exporter of the Year Award is:
Dobson’s Vegetable Machinery Pty Ltd
Dobson's Vegetable Machinery specialises in the design, manufacture, supply and maintenance of a range of planting, harvesting, storage and handling equipment for the root crop vegetable industry.
It is a company driven by innovation, always striving to perfect its products and develop new technology to improve industry outcomes and expand its export markets.
Trading as Dobmac, the business adopts a hands-on policy - conducting site visits, demonstrations and field testing to prove its products and gauge interest. This hands-on approach is entrenched at all levels of the company, which invests heavily in the development of its staff.
The Ulverstone-based company's interests include a New Zealand operation and exclusive dealership rights in the southern hemisphere for several major agricultural machinery ranges. It is also selling into South Africa and Iran, and is exploring new markets in Eastern Europe.
Dobmac continues to build its brand by providing a quality product backed by expert and friendly service. With a commitment to exceed expectation, the business continues to grow and with it, Tasmania's reputation as an agricultural force.
Commonwealth Bank Regional Exporter of the Year Award
Mr Michael Goss (Commonwealth Bank) with Philip and Judith Dobson of Dobson’s Vegetable Machinery Pty Ltd
The Austrade Services Awards are presented to the businesses that have shown outstanding innovation and export achievement in a recognised services industry such as the consultancy, finance, insurance, legal, health, community, education (training services, expertise and curriculum), inbound tourism sector, cultural arts and design services, and engineering sectors.
This year’s Austrade Services Award is split into three sections: Services, Education Services and Tourism Services Awards.
The winner of the 2008 Austrade Services Award is:
Pivot Maritime International is credited with revolutionising maritime simulation training. Specialising in portable simulation systems, Pivot's approach is unique - it is the only known company in the world producing and using portable big-ship simulators. The company says its competitive edge is in the portability and flexibility of its product.
The Legana-based company is currently working on two new technologies that will enhance the realism of its simulation systems and is also further developing its small craft system. It is building on its market share through strategic relationships with maritime providers around the globe and is focusing on defence contracts.
Complementing its portable maritime simulation capabilities, Pivot Maritime International is highly regarded for its consultancy, expertise in international port security, marine standards and regulatory frameworks, making this business another Tasmanian maritime success story.
Austrade Services Award
Mr Peter Yuile (Austrade) with Dr Jeff Hawkins of Pivot Maritime International, and Katherine Podmore (Austrade)
The winner of the 2008 Austrade Education Services Award is:
With a tradition in education dating back to 1846, The Hutchins School prides itself on excellence, a trait that has seen the school honoured with the 2008 Services - Education Award.
It is this pursuit of excellence that has taken the Sandy Bay school, with an enrolment of over 1 000 boys and employing 100-plus staff, to the world stage.
The school's international education marketing began 12 years ago, attracting just one or two students through staff travel connections. This year the school has been home to around 70 overseas students from a diverse range of countries spanning the globe.
The Hutchins School aims to provide its international students with an experience that will remain with them for life - values, friendships and cultural ties - through an inspirational education that will bring out their best.
Hutchins' vision is for the school to become globally recognised as providing the highest quality international academic program. Its international drive includes the development of quality facilities and resources, and the adoption of a broad curriculum - including sports, performing arts and design and technology areas - underpinned by a strong pastoral care program.
Austrade Education Services Award
Mr Peter Yuile (Austrade) with Ms Annie Weatherburn and Warwick Dean of The Hutchins School, and Katherine Podmore (Austrade)
The winner of the 2008 Austrade Tourism Services Award is:
Premier Travel Tasmania Pty ltd
Premier Travel Tasmania promotes to the high-end international touring market. This five-star operator sells its products online and also through a network of travel agencies around the globe.
Growing out of Naturally Tasmanian Tours, a winner in the 2003 Tasmanian Export Awards, Premier Travel's appeal is in its personal touch. With guides fluent in German, French, Italian and Spanish, its tours can be catered to order, groups are kept small and great attention is paid to comfort and interpretation.
Premier Travel Tasmania showcases the best of Tasmania, from food and wine to wilderness and history, and seeks to exceed the expectations of usually ’seasoned’ holidaymakers. Their standard tour packages range in length from one to 10 days and their customer spends well above average tourists.
While working to strengthen its European market share, Premier Travel is also pushing into the United Kingdom and the United States with plans to expand into Asia, focusing on Korea and China. It is also exploring the emerging Indian market.
Premier Travel is setting a high standard in one of the state's biggest industries, promoting Tasmania to the world as a '’must see'’ destination.
Austrade Tourism Services Award
Mr Peter Yuile (Austrade) with Mr Peter Ernst of Premier Travel Tasmania Pty Ltd, and Katherine Podmore (Austrade)
Aurora Energy Manufacturer Awards
The Aurora Energy Manufacturer Award is presented to the business which has achieved outstanding export achievement in the manufacturing sector.
This year’s Aurora Energy Manufacturer Awards is split into two sections: Large Advanced Manufacturer and Small to Medium Manufacturer Awards.
The Aurora Energy Large Advanced Manufacturer Award is presented to a manufacturer who has achieved annual export sales in excess of $20 million.
The winner of the 2008 Aurora Energy
Large Advanced Manufacturer Award is:
Incat Holdings’ high-speed, wave-piercing catamarans are in service in over 20 countries and are used as passenger ferries, freight movers and military vessels.
Cutting-edge technology combined with excellence in manufacturing is the brand's key strength - the Incat design is tried and tested, and has a worldwide reputation for reliability, safety and performance. The company invests heavily in ongoing research and development, constantly improving its product and raising industry standards.
In 2007-08 Incat delivered two 112 metre ships to Japan, a first for that market, and converted two former military vessels for delivery to commercial operators on the Isle of Man and Trinidad and Tobago. It also sold two previously chartered vessels to operators in the United Kingdom.
Starting out as a builder of small conventional steel boats in the 1970s, today Incat is a significant employer of Tasmanians with overseas offices in the United Kingdom, United States and Denmark, and marketing agents in South America, Europe and Asia. As a pioneer of the high speed ship industry, the company now claims 40 per cent of the global market, placing Tasmania in a commanding position on the world stage.
Large Advanced Manufacturers Award
Dr Peter Davis (Aurora Energy) with Mr Craig Clifford of Incat Holding Ltd
The winner of the 2008 Aurora Energy
Small to Medium Manufacturer Award is:
Lightning Protection International Pty Ltd
Lightning Protection International supplies a complete range of advanced direct strike lightning, earthing, surge and transient protection products. It services a wide arc of industries including major players in the fields of telecommunications and power distribution.
Based in Kingston, and the winner of last year's Small Business Award, Lightning Protection International boasts an established distribution network in over 45 countries.
This year its export sales growth has topped 40 per cent with the company building on growth opportunities in China, Malaysia, the Middle East and Central America.
Proof of the company's commitment to export is provided in its sales figures, which show that 95 per cent of its turnover is generated by international business. In fact, over the past 12 months the company's management team has spent a combined total of 100 weeks overseas working on export development activities.
The Lightning Protection International brand is synonymous with quality, service and value. It is promoting Tasmania as a leader in technology, powering the way forward.
Small to Medium Manufacturer Award
Dr Peter Davis (Aurora Energy) with Mr Paul Hollingsworth from Lightning Protection International Pty Ltd
| If you have any Export and Market Development queries please contact George Chambers on (03) 6233 5792 or email George.Chambers@development.tas.gov.au. If you wish to subscribe to ExportActive please send an email to export@development.tas.gov.au with the words "ExportActive Newsletter Subscription" in the subject heading. If you no longer wish to receive ExportActive please send an email to export@development.tas.gov.au with the words "ExportActve Un-subscribe" in the subject heading. | |||
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