by brandsa2018

Inside the high-tech manufacturing at beverage icon Bickford’s Australia

As most of Bickford’s 180 Salisbury based staff are home at night sleeping, a squad of five driverless forklifts quietly traverse the distribution warehouse preparing for the morning’s deliveries.

They follow instructions uploaded to a computer system during the day to ensure the correct products, among some 400 made by the South Australian drinks business, are waiting at the loading dock.

“We have a software program that allows us to track each item by location, the automatic guided vehicles will put away stock in designated locations, then they can pick up stock from those locations and we can track every aspect including use by dates,” supply chain manager Darren Wittenberg says.

When the automatic guided vehicles were bought for the Salisbury facility in 2012 the company was one of the first in the state to incorporate the technology into its production and distribution system.

Now the company that sold Bickford’s these vehicles brings potential new clients along to show how effectively they operate.

Automated guided vehicles make their way around the Bickford’s warehouse.

In fact, Darren and commercialisation manager Shane Houghton are often conducting tours of the pristine and highly efficient production lines and warehouse that is family owned and overseen by Bickford’s Group chief Angelo Kotses.

It’s surprisingly quiet inside the vast building where five different production lines ensure the company’s juices, cordials and alcohol products are bottled and packaged.

Among them is the iconic Bickford’s Lime Juice Cordial that helped make the company a household name and, in 2006, was recognised by the National Trust of South Australia as a Heritage Icon.

A PET packaging and filling plant is able to blow, decorate, fill and pack a range of still and hot plastic bottles, while other sections of the facility label, wrap and pack bottles for distribution to customers all over the world.

“Over the past 10 years, the business has become very complex,” Darren says.

“It has grown through acquisitions of brands and assets and they have all come into the Bickford’s Group family, in order to coordinate that growth we have had to put new equipment and systems in place so it’s streamlined.

“One day we will be running water, cordial, juices and later in that day it may switch over to beer, wine or spirits.”

Bickford’s Australia is one SA company that has taken on advanced manufacturing processes to improve capabilities.

As a result, the group that owns both Bickford’s beverages and Vok, the alcohol beverage unit of the business, has aimed to keep its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility it moved into during 2005, ahead of the curve.

Commercialisation manager Shane Houghton says it’s vital to have efficient systems.

Its production lines can be quickly cleaned and switched to alternate drinks for bottling – while the automatic forklifts transfer products from the production shed and into the warehouse using a cutting edge software program.

“Effectively we don’t need to stock-take any more, our warehouse management system has 100% stock accuracy,” Shane says.

The vehicles stop if sensors pick up movement ahead and if they aren’t working, drive themselves back to battery charging stations around the warehouse.

This embracing of advanced manufacturing technologies is an impressive vision for one of the nation’s oldest brands, founded more than 175 years ago.

The Bickford’s group has also invested in sterile filtration technologies, meaning it can produce a number of products free of preservatives that do not need to be pasteurised.

Bickford’s Group marketing manager Chris Illman is a proud supporter of I Choose SA.

“As a beverage company, a vital ingredient in all our products is water,” according to company statements.

“Naturally, purity is supremely important so we invested in a sophisticated water treatment plant that uses reverse osmosis technology. Before being used in our products all water passes through a series of filters to remove the impurities.”

The group also owns a $25m purpose built manufacturing facility, the 5000 tonne crush Step Road winery in Langhorne Creek on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Other assets include the 23rd Street Distillery in Renmark, the Beenleigh Distillery in Queensland, Pomegranates Australia in the Northern Mallee and the Beresford Estate luxury function centre and tasting pavilion, nestled among 28ha of super-premium vineyards at McLaren Flat.

Staff based at Bickford’s Salisbury headquarters and production site in northern Adelaide are equipped with the latest in ordering programs, with the sales team using tablets and iPads for direct ordering.

“We are always looking at ways to improve, whether it be through programming or engineering, we never stop at the status quo and say that’s how we do it now, “ Darren says.

“It’s about working smarter not harder, if you don’t it means more costs and we want to be the most cost effective producer out there so we can be competitive not just to imports coming in but also exporting to other countries.”

I Choose SA for Advanced Manufacturing stories are made possible by City of Salisbury:

Industry in focus: Advanced Manufacturing

Throughout the month of September, the state’s advanced manufacturing industry will be under the magnifying glass as part of I Choose SA.

As SA transforms away from traditional manufacturing processes, innovative and sophisticated products and services are taking their place, creating new jobs and investment opportunities for the state. Read more stories here.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Advanced manufacturing at the centre of our future opportunities

As South Australia transforms away from traditional manufacturing processes, innovative and sophisticated products and services are taking their place, creating new jobs and investment opportunities for the state.

Advanced manufacturing – the process of designing, building, integrating and sustaining innovative technologies for new and improved products – is an industry underpinning SA’s future by providing access to research and development.

For the month of September, the state’s advanced manufacturing industry will be under the magnifying glass as part of Brand South Australia’s successful I Choose SA campaign.

Brand SA News will bring you a collection of articles that delve into the success of businesses progressing in emerging technologies such as photonics, nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, advanced materials and robotics.

Each month we’ll also bring you I Choose SA ambassadors who will share their triumphs, world-class innovations and thorough knowledge in their chosen fields.

This month we welcome I Choose SA ambassador Mark Fusco, founder and managing director of Adelaide-based consultancy, Advanced Focus, which is helping high tech businesses to “see the future”.

We’ll also deliver news from medical laser company Norseld, which has produced an Australian-first diamond-like carbon coating at room temperature using its laser platform CoolDiamond DLC.

The ground-breaking technology is creating opportunities for the state’s defence and aerospace industry, protecting equipment from high velocity airborne particles, seawater, engine fuels, oils and high humidity.

A robotic machine welds metal fasteners.

Aside from defence, other sectors including, software and simulation, medical devices and assistive technologies are a big part of the industry.

Our medical device manufacturers are creating products used in the best laboratories and surgeries in the world, from a gadget that removes the need for x-rays during orthopaedic surgery to technology using light to treat sleep apnoea and jet lag – it’s all happening right here.

Beyond the world of defence, medicine and additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing), more unsuspecting sectors like the food and beverage processing and packaging industry are benefiting from our technical skills base.

First up we bring you the story of longstanding local beverage manufacturer Bickford’s, which has transformed its bottling practices into a highly sophisticated and robotic process that is inspiring to watch.

These businesses aren’t alone in what they do, they’re supported by infrastructure including fast internet networks set to deliver one of the fastest and cheapest internet services in the world.

They will no doubt also rely on our city’s three world-class universities to deliver the employees of tomorrow in a range of leading innovation areas.

Brand South Australia will be hosting an Industry Briefing where guests can see how businesses have applied advanced manufacturing at the Tonsley Innovation Precinct.

High school and university students are invited to freely attend and hear from Minister for Industry and Skills David Pisoni and two industry experts.

Register for the event here.

I Choose SA for Advanced Manufacturing stories are made possible by City of Salisbury:

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

The rise of Mt Gambier’s Metro Bakery and Café

Two years ago, Mt Gambier’s Metro Bakery and Café was named the nation’s best bakery/patisserie at the Restaurant & Catering Association Awards.

Toni Vorenas heard the whispers from the crowd as the unsuspecting squad of South Aussies walked on stage.

“Everyone was saying ‘What’s Metro? Where on earth is Mt Gambier?” she laughs.

Just ask any Limestone Coast local and they will point you in the direction of this main street eating institution in the heart of the Blue Lake city.

Expect queues; the business now takes up five premises in order to cater for demand.

Aside from the lure of the baked treats and goods, Metro Bakery is a vibrant and quirky hotspot for wall art.

“When we opened at the end of 2009, it was my husband Theo’s dream to have a little coffee shop,” Toni says.

“We started from scratch and had no hospitality experience – Theo was a mechanic and I was a teacher – and we had a single room with one table, one coffee machine and five sandwiches on the menu.

“Now, we’ve expanded into the two shops beside us and one behind, added a bar, two commercial kitchens and an outdoor dining area.”

There’s also a second smaller venue, A Slice of Metro, at the eastern end of town, for customers on the go.

A former deputy principal, Toni counts many of her students among their 44 staff, but Metro has also attracted talent from much further afield, including three Filipino pastry chefs who have worked in Paris, Dubai and Sydney’s Star Casino.

Metro Bakery and Café owner Toni Vorenas with some of the delectable sweet treats.

“We advertised all over Australia for chefs without success, so then we turned to an immigration company,” Toni says.

“We are so lucky – they came with enormous skills and they are teaching them to our local kids.”

The Metro ethos is ‘one family’, and the staff are incredibly close. Toni and Theo have nurtured the sense of camaraderie with their strong focus on wellbeing.

“Last year we paid for yoga lessons, and this year we funded 10 weeks of boot camp; it’s not just about knock-off drinks, and that’s the old teacher in me,” Toni says.

“They have become one another’s closest friends.”

Desserts almost too good to eat. Photo by Frank Monger.

The sense of family extends to the customers, many of whom visit daily for a coffee fix, meal or take-away sourdough loaf.

Metro is the regular meeting spot for book clubs, park runners, mothers’ groups and live music fans, with a growing number of performers stopping by on their travels from Melbourne to Adelaide.

They all contribute to the Metro vibe, which Toni and Theo sum up by the Greek word ‘Kefi’.

It’s a vibe so powerful that many staff, including Toni, have the word tattooed on their skin, such is their devotion to this magnetic place they have created.

“Kefi means spirit and passion for life – that moment when you let go of everything that isn’t important and embrace everything that is – family, life, love, and joy,” Toni says.

“That’s what we encourage here.”

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by brandsa2018

Your guide to choosing SA at the Royal Adelaide Show

Fairy floss, dodgem cars, show bags and dagwood dogs are just some of the ingredients needed for a good time at the Adelaide Showground.

September means showtime and this year’s Royal Adelaide Show is promising all the favourites.

Half a million people visit the show every year – one third of the state’s population – making it South Australia’s largest event. It also generates more than $193 million for our economy every year.

But on top of all the usual fun to be had, be sure to choose SA where you can.

Swing an SA show bag over your arm (the Gourmet Goodie Bag, Robern Menz and Charlesworth Nuts are just a few), slurp on a Fleurieu Milk milkshake or spin a yarn with a farmer in the livestock pavilions.

The 2018 Royal Adelaide Show is on from August 31 until September 9. Here are a few ways to support local in-between all those hotdogs and ferris wheel rides.

The Cup & Saucer ride is one for those after a tamer thrill. Photo by John Kruger.

Golden North ice cream
Think you can smash a one litre tub of ice cream in one minute and 53 seconds? That’s the finish time of last year’s winner of the Golden North ice cream eating competition.

We challenge you to take it to the next level.

The contest is held daily from 1.30 – 5.30pm. There are prizes to be won and tubs to be emptied.

Have a yarn with a farmer
Visit the livestock pavilions to see farm animals big and small laze about before being scrubbed up for judging.

Some of our livestock showers are farmers and stud owners who have travelled from regional areas far and wide in hope of scoring a champion’s ribbon.

Some farming families even camp out overnight at the showground throughout the duration of the event ensuring their animals are fed, watered and looked after!

Once the show is over, be sure to keep local farmers in mind when choosing local dairy, pork and other meat and animal products at the shops.

Grab a Gourmet Goodie Bag
The Gourmet Goodie Bag is full of SA goodies, including offers from Brand South Australia’s new look marketplace, Shop South Australia, launching next week.

In the goodie bag you’ll score Haigh’s Chocolates, Bickfords juice, MOO yoghurt, Fruchocs and much more!

The Gourmet Goodie Bag features a selection of local sweets, nibbles, vouchers and treats.

Get a milk moustache
More than 9000 milkshakes and dairy treats are sold from the milk bar in the Dairy Food Hall every year.

Give our local dairy farmers a nod by sampling dairy products from a range of SA based businesses including Fleurieu Milk, Golden North and B-d Farm at Paris Creek.

Taste the best of SA
The Foodland Pavilion is where the good stuff is at, and by good stuff we mean food.

Quality products grown and produced across the state will be showcased here including wines, baked goods, honey, condiments, olives and smallgoods.

Free olive oil tastings and education sessions, as well as beer and cider sessions will go ahead, allowing industry experts to share their secrets.

Photo: RAHSSA

Look for I Choose SA and the State Brand
Make a competition of it – how many State Brands and I Choose SA logos can you spot? Many local stallholders and producers will be displaying the messaging.

And remember, if you’re snapping something South Australian on social media, use the #ichoosesa hashtag!

Cheer on your fellow South Aussies
Whether it’s the strength of a woodchopper or the intelligence of man’s best friend in the sheepdog trials, competition is rife at the show.

The State Young Farmer Challenge is also one to watch, with our cleverest young people taking on a number of rural challenges including throwing a fleece, rolling and loading a wool bale, setting up an irrigation sprinkler system and an electric fence.

These piglets are almost too cute to handle. Photo: RAHSSA

Royal Adelaide Show fun facts

• The Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of SA will stage its 243rd show in 2018, a world record.
• Nearly 35,000 cappuccinos, 70,000 buckets of hot chips and more than 12,000 donuts are devoured at the show every year.
• More than 9000 milkshakes and dairy treats are sold from the milk bar in the Dairy Food Hall.
• More than 3000 poultry eggs are laid during the event and are all donated to the Salvation Army.
• The Country Women’s Association (CWA) bakes more than 12,000 scones during the show.

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Barossa Valley gin distilling dreams become reality

It took a career crisis and a curiosity for gin making for ex-policewoman and classical musician Nicole Durdin to turn to the world of distilling in the Barossa Valley.

Nicole and her husband Jon were living in the UK when a desire to move home and delve into something starkly different to their professions took over.

This weekend the South Australian pair will celebrate the opening of Seppeltsfield Road Distillers (SRD), the Barossa Valley’s first commercial distillery.

“We were in the UK for Jon’s work (as a finance director), and I went over as a freelance musician expecting that work would be easy to find ,but it didn’t quite turn out that way,” says head distiller Nicole, who also spent 10 years in the police force.

“I was having a career crisis and needed something to focus on … we knew that we would come back to the Barossa, that was our plan.”

Nicole, left, and Jon Durdin. Photo by John Krüger.

Nicole, a French horn player with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, is a seventh-generation Barossa local whose ancestors were among the first to settle in the Barossa Valley.

Her great-grandfather was one of the first coopers at Seppeltsfield, while her grandfather, uncle and father are all involved in the wine industry.

Nicole says she and her husband had toyed with the idea of falling into the wine industry, “but didn’t want to be tied down to the seasonality”.

So they put the idea on the back-burner, heading to the UK.

One day Jon suddenly flagged the idea of gin making – and the pair were hooked.

“Jon just said to me, ‘why don’t you make gin?’ It just came out of his mouth,” Nicole says.

“We knew nothing about gin other than we liked to drink it. But I started doing some research. The industry in Australia was still really small at that stage, and over 12 months we planned and studied.”

Nicole then flew back to SA from the UK to look at a block of land, turning their distant Barossa dreams into reality.

Seppeltsfield Road Distillers will open in the Barossa Valley in September. Photo by John Krüger.

The pair now live in Tanunda, with their small-batch boutique distillery at home along the palm-tree lined Seppeltsfield Road.

Visitors to SRD are first greeted by the sight of the German-made still where all the magic happens.

“The first thing you see when you arrive on site is the still. Being in the Barossa, people love the idea of knowing how things are made,” Nicole says.

“Our first goal is just to make really good gin, but we also want to help educate people on how gin is made, so we’d like to include tours and gin-blending masterclasses.”

SRD has launched a trio of gins made with a range of botanicals sourced from the Barossa where possible.

The distillery uses a grape spirit base from the Barossa Valley’s Tarac Technologies, Australia’s largest producer of high-quality grape spirit.

Botanicals including pink pepper corn and lavender are sourced from as close as down the road.

First up is the Barossa Dry, “a take on the traditional London Dry Gin” with clean juniper and coriander notes and a pinch of peppercorn and lavender.

Photo by John Krüger.

The Savoury Allsorts features star anise, liquorice root, fresh thyme, marjoram, borage, and gentian.

The House Gin is recommended for drinkers not quite sold on the taste of gin, as it has subtler hints of juniper, while chamomile, lavender and cinnamon add sweetness and warmth.

The gins have already scooped a number of awards, including the House Gin which won silver and the Barossa Gin which won bronze at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London.

The House Gin has also been awarded a gold medal at the Melbourne International Spirits Competition.

SRD will make its public debut at a sold out gin blending class as part of the Barossa Gourmet Weekend on September 1.

On September 2 SRD will set up a pop-up gin bar for the ‘Gin & Jams’ event at The Greenock.

Visitors can explore SRD from September 3. Check the website for opening hours.

Header photo features tasting room manager Bec Henderson, left, gin distiller Nicole Durdin, general manager Jon Durdin and brand ambassador Scott McCarthy.

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A ‘transformational’ year for SA-based Beach Energy

South Australian-based Beach Energy has more than doubled its workforce across Australia in the past year, with the company also expecting its biggest investment year on record in 2019/20.

The oil and gas producer has set a record capital expenditure budget of $460-$540 million, reflective of opportunities it expects to flow on from a recent $1.6 billion acquisition of Origin Energy subsidiary, Lattice Energy.

With Beach Energy releasing its FY full report last week, CEO Matt Kay tells Brand SA News the past 12 months have been “transformational” as the company increased its footprint from only the Cooper Basin to five basins across Australia and New Zealand.

“We’ve had a significant increase in the last year in terms of our employees, about 12 months ago we had less than 200 employees and they were all in SA,” he says.

“We now have around 500 (across Australia) and in SA we have about 250.

“We’ve brought 30 new people into Adelaide in the last three months and we probably have another 30 new people coming in the next three months.”

Beach Energy’s head office is in Glenside south east of Adelaide’s CBD, while the company’s main operating site is the Cooper Basin, in the state’s far north.

The Cooper Basin in the state’s far north, and extending interstate is Beach Energy’s core operation.

The Cooper Basin and overlying Eromanga Basin make up the country’s biggest onshore oil and gas province, extending over northern SA, NT, Queensland and NSW.

“The Cooper Basin has been going for a very long time, since the 1960s, but it has a new lease of life in the last couple of years,” Matt says.

“We’ve been more efficient as operators in the Cooper, we’ve got our costs down so we’re now making some genuine money, which is why we are reinvesting.”

Beach Energy also has plans to expand its gas discovery in the state’s South East with assistance from the SA Government’s PACE Gas grant program.

While it has commenced drilling of conventional gas well Haselgrove-3, the company is also planning to drill a new appraisal well, Haselgrove-4, about 7km south of Penola.

Haselgrove-4 will be drilled in conjunction with an earlier announced exploration well, Dombey-1, 20km from Penola, with both activities expected to commence by early 2019.

Designs are also underway for an upgrade of the existing Katnook gas processing facility, with the Federal Government granting $6m from the Gas Acceleration Program towards the project.

Beach’s drilling operations at Haselgrove-3, the company’s well near Penola in the South East.

While the new processing facility will provide “much needed processing capacity”, Beach Energy has a strong focus on the local community and ensuring the company remains transparent about its plans.

The amount of jobs set to flow in the region because of the new projects is yet to be determined, but Matt says the company last year contributed $1.4 million to the local economy through its activities, giving an indication of the benefits.

Beach Energy was founded in Adelaide in the 1960s by geologist and conservationist Dr Reg Sprigg before being relocated to Melbourne and Sydney in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

After experiencing highs and lows, the company formerly known as Beach Petroleum, was brought back home to SA.

Matt says a clear decision was made following the Lattice acquisition to keep Beach Energy here.

“One of the advantages of being based in SA is we can keep our cost structures relatively low (and) we already have all the expertise we need here, we just need to supplement that, that’s why we’ve been growing our staff numbers,” he says.

“We have the right support from the State and Federal governments, and we can keep growing in this state.”

Beach Energy CEO Matt Kay. Photo by James Knowler / @jkcrewphotos

While Matt was born and raised in SA, his career has taken him to Perth, Dubai and Sydney, in addition to stints in the Middle East, Africa and through Asia.

Spending more than a decade at Woodside Energy and more recently Oil Search, he returned to SA to take on the role at Beach in 2016.

He says the oil and gas sector is currently in “growth mode” and that opportunities do exist for SA’s next generation of workers to pursue long-term careers in the industry.

“There are many opportunities in the sector in all disciplines, from finance, legal and community, environmental, geology, engineering, the whole spectrum,” he says.

“It’s certainly not (just about) people being out in the field and covered in dirt and dust. There is a lot of development in high technology, knowledge and capability in the industry.”

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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Coonawarra families co-produce region’s most expensive wine

What started as a late-night conversation between two wine families who share a common distant relative has evolved into the most expensive wine yet produced from Coonawarra – and it sets an innovative new benchmark for elite wine output from the region.

The Redman and Balnaves families are already renowned for producing world-famous wines, but their decision to join forces and produce a wine that celebrates their common ancestor William Wilson (he’s fourth generation winemaker Dan Redman’s great-great-great grandfather) represents a first.

The release of the 2016 William Wilson Shiraz Cabernet on Saturday September 1, selling for $300 a bottle, combines elite grape parcels to produce a style once called claret, and regarded as a distinctive Australian wine signature.

“It was an idea we had before the 2016 vintage – to make a very special wine that could be released to celebrate the 200th anniversary of William Wilson’s birth, but sometimes simple ideas don’t turn out so easy,” says Doug Balnaves with a wry grin.

While Scottish-born Wilson was a famous horticulturist – and the lavish garden beside his Petticoat Lane cottage in Penola inspired Coonawarra’s first grape grower, John Riddock – trying to confirm accurate records of Wilson’s birth has not been so easy, with Doug finding three different dates in two countries.

“Let’s just say the wine is an appropriate celebration of William Wilson’s life,” he says.

To build this iconic wine blend, cabernet fruit comes from 46-year-old vines on Balnaves’ vineyards, while the Redman’s shiraz is from 85-year-old vines on a patch they call The Last Row.

“Both fruit parcels were identified as ideal for this blending project, even before they had been picked,” says Dan Redman.

The Redman and Balnaves families share an ancestor, William Wilson.

The hunch proved right, although it took a while to decide on the wine’s final recipe; the winemaking team initially thought shiraz would account for three quarters of the blend, but after blending trials it became 55% shiraz and 45% cabernet.

What results is a deliciously rich, nuanced wine, eminently drinkable now, but with the structure and intensity that will allow it to age gracefully in the cellar for at least 40 years.

“It’s not a contrived wine,” says Doug Balnaves with a note of pride. “The fruit is exceptional and the quality shines through. It’s a rare thing for a wine to exceed our expectations, but this one has.”

While this was designed as a one-off project, the results have been so encouraging that the winemakers have already secreted away parcels of grapes from the 2018 vintage in the hope of making another Redman/Balnaves blend, although nothing is yet confirmed.

The Redman and Balnaves families have collaborated to produce Coonawarra’s most expensive wine.

“The first my dad knew about us possibly doing it again was when he saw the team I’d hired to hand-pick shiraz from the Last Row block,” says Dan Redman with a sheepish grin.

“If I hadn’t noticed a few extra expensive oak barrels in the inventory, I probably still wouldn’t have been told,” says Doug’s daughter Kirsty Balnaves with a smile and a weary shake of her head.

“The truth is, this project has excited both families. It’s a rare thing to achieve something so exceptional.”

Due to its limited volume, with only 250 dozen produced (shared equally between the two family wineries), 2016 William Wilson Shiraz Cabernet will only be available at each winery’s cellar door or online.

To celebrate the launch of this special wine in grand fashion, the Balnaves and Redman families will be hosting a William Wilson event beside his headstone in the Coonawarra cemetery as part of the Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations in October, with haggis to eat and bagpipes providing the soundtrack to accompany a wine tasting.

Check coonawarra.org for details.

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Musicians making it in Adelaide, a UNESCO City of Music

From the trademark growls of Cold Chisel to catchy tracks from Hilltop Hoods, Adelaide has birthed a collection of musicians who have gone on to satisfy the eardrums of millions worldwide.

From world-class festivals like WOMADelaide, to the largest cabaret festival, most significant guitar festival and oldest tertiary music school, Adelaide holds a number of biggest and firsts when it comes to music.

Our reputation is also built on being the festival state of Australia, with Adelaide being the country’s first and only UNESCO City of Music, in recognition of its vibrant music culture and rich and diverse musical heritage.

“There are now 31 other music cities internationally as part of the UNESCO Creative City network, all which are connected to Adelaide, and are aware of our music prominence,” says Rebecca Pearce, Adelaide UNESCO City of Music office director.

Rock music legend and former Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes performs at A Day on the Green.

“As such there is an ever growing appreciation and recognition of Adelaide as a music making city, both within Australia, and certainly internationally.”

But when the festivals wind down and wrap up, is it possible to stay in SA and pursue a career in music?

According to local musician and industry professional Dan Crannitch, the belief that musicians must move to the eastern states to experience serious success is fading.

“Once upon a time if an artist was going to sign with you, they’d want to you be based in Sydney or Melbourne, but I think that’s changing,” says Dan, an A & R executive for Wonderlick Entertainment, and one half of Adelaide band The San Sebastian.

“Because of the internet we’re so interconnected now, most stuff can be done in Adelaide.”

Growing up in the Adelaide Hills with brother Joel – the other half of The San Sebastian – Dan first led band Leader Cheetah while pulling beers at renowned live music pub The Exeter.

Leader Cheetah struck the right chord, signing with a Sydney-based record label and enjoying the heights of success until 2016 when the group disbanded.

But at the height of their hype around 2009, there was a problem when returning home, says Dan.

“We did notice that when we came back here we lost momentum,” he says.

“When you were based in Sydney or Melbourne you’d have industry people at shows and you were a bit more a part of the national music scene.”

Brothers Joel, left, and Dan Crannitch form The San Sebastian. Photo: Facebook.

In a bid to strengthen SA’s music industry and create real, long-lasting opportunities, Dan collaborated with Martin Elbourne, a booker for the Glastonbury Festival in the UK and WOMADelaide here in SA.

Martin was undertaking a residency at the SA-based Don Dunstan Foundation and was tasked with exploring how to build upon Adelaide’s brand as a vibrant music capital.

“It was a pretty epic task, how do we make the SA music industry better? Instead of having a scattergun approach to grants and funding, how can we be more strategic and tailored, and help people have a crack at pretty much the hardest industry in the world?” Dan says.

Then came the Robert Stigwood Fellowship, run through the state’s Music Development Office and giving local musicians and industry entrepreneurs a chance to develop their ideas and make global connections from SA.

Successful SA musicians Tkay Maidza, Bad Dreems, West Thebarton and Timberwolf are just a few of the program’s successes.

The fellowship was named after Port Pirie-born Robert Stigwood, one of the most influential figures in the music scene in the ’60s and ’70s, managing big names like Cream and The Bee Gees.

Adelaide rap queen Tkay Maidza was a 2014 Stigwood Artist Fellow and went on to achieve massive success.

Stigwood fellows are mentored annually by both Dan Crannitch and Stuart MacQueen, who owns Australian music company Wonderlick Entertainment.

As an A & R executive for Wonderlick, it’s Dan’s job to find and develop artists and help hone their work.

Wonderlick’s offices are in Sydney and New York, as the company is a joint venture with Sony Music, but both Stuart and Dan work from Adelaide.

“I think Adelaide is a great home base, it’s a good place to work, and lots of A & R involves listening to music and making notes and looking for new music … it helps to be by yourself because you have to get quite deep into it,” Dan says.

Many of Adelaide’s music successes have shared their first tracks on the stages of the city’s live music venues such as The Exeter and The Gov.

The Grace Emily Hotel is one of Adelaide’s popular live music venues, showing gigs most nights of the week.

Dan, who co-owns the booking agency side of Adelaide company 5/4 Entertainment, says Adelaide’s live music scene “punches above its weight”.

The owner of the Grace Emily Hotel, George Swallow, agrees. He’s been showing live music at the CBD live music hotspot for 20 years.

“Our main focus is on SA live and original music, and the people who are just getting out of the garage and want to perform on stage for the first time,” George says.

“Here in Adelaide we support and help each other out, that’s what sets us apart. And we’re so diverse in music culture from jazz to the ASO (Adelaide Symphony Orchestra) to garage rock.

“I’m so proud to be working in this industry and community for so long and seeing it grow and grow.”

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

OZ Minerals’ Katie Hulmes: SA mining sector creating benefits for all

South Australian geologist and engineer Katie Hulmes admits that earlier in her mining career, she’d look around and realise the room was full of men.

But that scenario is increasingly changing, says the 35-year-old General Manager Transformation and Readiness at one of South Australia’s largest mining companies, OZ Minerals.

She says it’s both men and women who have helped shape her successful career in mining, an industry that employs 10,000 South Australians.

“I’ve been really lucky to work with amazing men and women throughout my entire career, and OZ Minerals has always brought a diversity of thought and process to what we do,” she says.

“It’s definitely changed over the years, absolutely there are more women now.”

Joining the ASX-listed company in 2008, Katie’s current role involves helping OZ Minerals – one of Australia’s largest copper producers – progress as a modern mining company.

She began her career in the mining sector at the age of just 17, working as a field engineer for Golder Associates while, at the same time, pursuing a geology degree at the University of Adelaide.

The 35-year-old has not only managed to establish a career in the state’s mining sector, but maintain it here too, and says opportunities exist for others to follow suit.

Oz Minerals General Manager of Transformation and Readiness Katie Hulmes is an I Choose SA ambassador. Photo by James Knowler / JKTP.

“I’m a firm believer that individuals can create opportunities and SA is full of them,” says Katie, an I Choose SA ambassador for the energy and mining sector.

“I think when people go into university, they shouldn’t be thinking that they can’t because they absolutely can get a job in mining.

“Mining doesn’t just need people to come out with degrees in geology and mining engineering, we need people with a range of skills – as an example we employ data scientists, communication specialists, lawyers, nanotechnology engineers and biochemists.

“It doesn’t necessarily matter the field you study, there are opportunities in this industry.”

Katie took an unconventional path into the workforce, working full-time in the mining industry while undertaking her bachelor’s degree.

After Golder Associates, she worked for a company then called Resource and Environmental Management at Prominent Hill, south east of Coober Pedy in the state’s Far North.

Prominent Hill is OZ Minerals’ copper-gold mining operation that produces one of the market’s highest grades of copper concentrate.

While flying in and out of Prominent Hill, Katie also pursued her second degree, a Bachelor of Engineering (civil and environmental).

She witnessed OZ Minerals’ transformation in 2015, when it relocated its headquarters from Melbourne to Adelaide to be closer to its flagship operation.

Aside from Prominent Hill and projects across Australia and in Brazil, OZ Minerals also owns Carrapateena, a copper gold deposit 160km north of Port Augusta.

“SA was a local place to our operating asset at the time. It was a more affordable place to do business, so it made sense to position ourselves here,” Katie says.

“We changed our workforce, our direction and our vision and really tried to lift being a modern mining company to the forefront of everything we do.

“It allowed us to reconsolidate. It was an exciting time.”

Last year came a big announcement – board approval of a $916m investment to develop the Carrapateena mine.

The project is set to create 1000 jobs from construction through to production. It will be a 4.5 million tonne per annum (Mtpa) underground operation with an estimated life of 20 years.

Construction on site has commenced, with the airstrip completed recently. Commissioning of the mine is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Katie says the operation will not only benefit direct job creation, but will also have flow on effects for supply chain companies throughout the Upper Spencer Gulf.

The impact on local community’s livelihood and prosperity will also be felt, she says.

“There is excitement in the community around Carrapateena getting started,” Katie says.

“As we are promising local employment and procurement, I believe there will be flow on opportunities for the next 20 years in the region.”

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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by brandsa2018

Hillgrove Resources GM on SA’s world-class mining operations

As Hillgrove Resources explores ground-breaking opportunities for its Adelaide Hills copper mine in the energy business, its well-travelled general manager Lachlan Wallace is relishing being part of a world-class operation.

He’s a firm supporter of plans for a pumped hydro energy storage project at the Kanmantoo mine along with exploring some of the state’s untapped copper potential in the South East.

“Having worked overseas and seeing how mining is done elsewhere, it made me realise Australia is the best at mining effectively, we are the world leaders in mining practice and by a long stretch,” Lachlan says.

“I think also having lived and worked in Europe, Asia, Africa and on the east coast of Australia during the past 20 years, there’s no better place to live, nowhere more liveable than South Australia.”

It’s a bold statement from the proud South Australian whose diverse career kicked off with a mining engineering degree at the University of South Australia’s Mawson Lakes campus.

His first job was in Tasmania at the Savage River iron ore mine where Lachlan delivered wide-reaching training from equipment operation to surveying, geology and production engineering.

Hillgrove Resources general manager and I Choose SA ambassador Lachlan Wallace. Photo by James Knowler / JKTP

It was around the seven-year mark that his wife Rebecca, a talented jewellery maker he met at a Blackwood fruit and vegetable shop, was offered a rare opportunity to train in one of the world’s creative epicentres, Milan, in Italy.

“We both moved to Italy,” Lachlan says, and the decision also launched his own international career.

He worked out of Johannesburg in Africa on mines in Zambia and Guinea, in Switzerland and India and then the couple moved to Indonesia, before deciding it was time to move home.

“I’d been watching the project at Kanmantoo for a long time and saw it as an exciting new development in the Adelaide Hills where there hadn’t been any open cut mining for 30 years,” Lachlan says.

In February, 2012, Lachlan was named its mine manager, then in 2015 its general manager, working in a region thought to be one of the most under explored and prospective base metal provinces in Australia.

At this stage, the copper mine has a licence until the end of 2019, with Lachlan saying about nine months of mining is ahead and an additional 18 months of processing on site.

Work is also underway to look at the possibility of underground mining and also creating the onsite pumped hydro facility by 2021.

“We have what we believe would be the lowest capital cost per megawatt pumped hydro facility in Australia,” Lachlan says.

“It could provide a much-needed energy storage solution and network stability for SA’s electricity grid.

“We are looking to build a facility that would store over 14 times the energy of the much talked about Tesla battery in the state’s north, for only double the cost.”

The mine is also recognised for it cutting edge technology.

When Lachlan arrived he found a way to create a pit with steeper sides saying for each degree steeper millions of dollars in costs were saved.

The operation has also been recognised for its commitment to working with the local community.

At the moment, 85% of its 200 FTE and 60 FTE contractors live in the local region including nearby towns stretching from Murray Bridge to Mt Barker.

There’s been a strong relationship built over the years, and the Kanmantoo and Callington communities are currently working with the company to develop a 30-year regional master plan for the site and the region.

Hillgrove Resources sponsors local events and sporting teams, and each quarter holds a public meeting alternately at the Callington or Kanmantoo town halls.

In 2016, the Hillgrove Resources and Kanmantoo Callington Community Consultation Committee won the Premier’s excellence in supporting communities in the mining and energy awards.

“One of the most enjoyable aspects has been working with the local Kanmantoo and Callington communities to develop a regional master plan which seeks to ensure that the mine’s presence results in a lasting positive legacy to the community surrounding the mine,” Lachlan says.

“The work that Hillgrove and the local community is doing is recognised as best in industry, something of which I am very proud.

“It demonstrates that mining can have a positive impact on local communities beyond employment, and sets the bar for community engagement which is essential to ensure social acceptance of mining into the future.”

“Keeping young people is so important to regional communities and that means creating jobs so they don’t have to leave the area where they grew up in to find work, we’ve managed to do that successfully around Kanmantoo.”

Visit I Choose SA to meet the people building business and industry in SA, and to find out how your choices make a difference to our state.

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