A tour of southwestern NSW has given Australian Industry Group the opportunity to hear from members about their business achievements and challenges, as well as local issues.
Regional Manager NSW Terry Crotty, above left, hit the road this month, visiting members in the Albury, Wagga Wagga and Griffth areas.
“The challenges of finding and keeping staff, salary expectations of current and new recruits and housing top the list of their concerns,” Mr Crotty said.
“There is also some concern about the flow-on impact of US tariffs on their businesses.
“Balancing that, many members are having their best year in terms of customer demand and forward sales orders.”
First stop was steel and aluminium fabricator DTD Engineering in Thurgoona which has been in operation since 1980.
The past year has been its busiest yet, with DTD employing nine — soon to be 10 — apprentices from the Ai Group Apprentice and Trainee Centre.
“Finding and keeping skilled staff is DTD’s biggest business challenge,” Mr Crotty said.
“It’s holding back their capacity to expand.”
At Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network in Wagga Wagga, HR Manager Ericka Burgun told of the organisation’s role in securing and delivering health care services to regional and remote areas in the state’s southwest, with a focus on disadvantaged and at-risk groups.
North of Albury at Overall Forge, HR Business Partner Toby Wilson outlined the company’s 24/5 operations, necessary to meet the demand for specialist forged alloy products for the defence, aviation, mining and quarrying industries, see below.
In Griffith, Mr Crotty visited Murrumbidgee Irrigation, where HR Manager Stewart Wood provided an overview of the company's operations and led a tour of the control centre, which manages — in real time — the region's water supply to towns and farms.
The company is one of the largest private irrigation companies in Australia, serving more than 3000 landholdings within an area of almost 380,000ha with a population of more than 50,000 residents.
Rounding off the member tour was a visit to De Bortoli Wines, which has been in operation for almost 100 years.
HR Manager Paul Foley and National HSE Manager Lindsay Gullifer provided an overview of the Griffith company's impressive growth and diversification.
Among the member visits, Mr Crotty facilitated a free workshop that gave Murray - Riverina businesses and government agencies updates on workplace relations issues and managing psychosocial workers compensation claims.
Those who attended heard from Ai Group’s Anthony Powter, who spoke about the current IR landscape, managing workforces in the context of new employee rights and the new bargaining paradigm.
An interactive and engaging presentation by icare NSW’s Andrew Hollier followed.
See more photos here.
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at the Australian Industry Group. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a reporter, features writer, contributor and sub-editor for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK.
