SA’s best entrepreneurs named
Friday, 7 August 2009 — Entrepreneurs succeeding in health services, internet search optimisation, kangaroo meat exports and solar power were recognised at this year’s Central Region Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Adelaide last night.
Congratulations to the 2009 Central Region winners:
- Ray Borda, Macro Meats (Products category)
- Virginia Bullock, Home Support Services (Services category)
- Rahmon Coupe, YourAmigo (Technology & Emerging Industries category)
- Adrian Ferraretto, Solar Shop Australia (Young Entrepreneur category)
The Awards also celebrated the achievements of anti-litter campaigner and environment sustainability leader John Phillips OAM, and well-known wine industry chief Robert Hill Smith.
John Phillips OAM has been named Central Region Social Entrepreneur Of The Year for his work leading KESAB, driving the not-for-profit organisation’s work in community-based anti-litter and environment sustainability programs. Robert Hill Smith was awarded the Central Region Champion of Entrepreneurship, recognising his achievements in business and innovation as head of the iconic Yalumba Wine Company.
Ernst & Young Adelaide Managing Partner, Mark Butcher, says the calibre of winners for this year’s Central Region awards reflects the healthy entrepreneurial spirit in the South Australian business sector.
“The innovative nature and diversity of the businesses augurs well for the State’s long term prosperity,” says Butcher.
“We congratulate these entrepreneurs whose achievements demonstrate the substantial contribution entrepreneurs make not only to the business community, but also to our broader community.”
“Entrepreneurs bring fresh thinking and new approaches that help create jobs and new market opportunities. Their success is testament to their courage to not follow the competition, but to follow their own individual vision.”
The Central Region category winners and social entrepreneur will go on to compete in the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year national awards in November.
Ray Borda, Macro Meats (Products category)
For over 20 years, Ray Borda has pioneered the global kangaroo meat industry. Having handled kangaroo meat in his pet food business in the early 1980s, Ray saw the quality of the meat and its potential. Ray had to create both the market and the infrastructure needed to support supply from scratch. Macro Meats worked closely with government to develop regulations for the kangaroo industry. Then the public education campaign began. In 1989, the company published a recipe booklet and started working with chefs to raise awareness. In 2007, the company launched Macro Hides and Skins, which is now 30% of the business, attracting interest from global brands such as Adidas. This was followed by the outback products concept store, Wild Oz, in 2008, which also sells other game meats and native herbs and spices. Today, Macro Meats controls the world’s largest retail distribution of wild game kangaroo meat. It is the exclusive supplier to Australia’s supermarket chains and a major exporter. To cope with demand, the company is about to start a $7.3 million processing facility upgrade to double its capacity.
Virginia Bullock, Home Support Services (Services category)
As a nurse, Virginia Bullock was acutely aware that many patients didn’t need to be treated in hospital. Following many rejections, in 1988, Virginia negotiated Australia’s first “Hospital in the Home” health benefit with private health funds. The following year she began operating what was to become Home Support Services (HSS) from her home. Virginia’s vision was to alter the health system mindset that sick people must be treated in hospital. First, to benefit patients, but second, because she saw the demand for healthcare was outstripping the services that hospitals could provide. Initially, HSS provided holistic in-home hospital care, including domestic help, nursing, food and occupational therapy. After Virginia’s own experience of being hospitalised with stage two breast cancer, HSS became the first company in Australia to operate a private in-home chemotherapy practice and to offer at-home intravenous antibiotics. In 2002, HSS became Australia’s first free-standing Day Surgery “hospital in the home” service provider to be registered under the National Health Act 1953. Four years later, HSS was awarded the South Australian Department of Health’s tender to provide hospital avoidance services. Virginia’s vision for the future includes becoming a health provider with a truly national presence, developing new technologies for improving patient care and positioning the business to ease the pressure on the hospital system.
Rahmon Coupe, YourAmigo Ltd (Technology & Emerging Industries category)
In the late 1980s, Rahmon Coupe led a team at the Defence Science & Technology Organisation (DSTO) developing unique radar simulation technology. Rahmon left the DSTO to commercialise this technology in a start-up, MRad, which grew to 55 staff in four years and over $30 million in contracts. Rahmon then established a consulting company in which he identified novel internet search technology at Flinders University. In 1999, with co-founders Stuart Snyder and Victor Previn, Rahmon acquired this technology and established YourAmigo. In 2002, YourAmigo launched its first product, Enterprise Search, and won the Secrets of Australian IT award. However, Rahmon saw a larger opportunity in the internet search engine optimisation market, and realised the limitation of a fixed-fee licence model. He launched Spider Linker, which made invisible content in e-commerce sites visible to internet search engines, and opened US and UK offices in 2003. YourAmigo received the 2008 Premier’s Award for SA Exporter of the Year with exports accounting for 99% of revenue. YourAmigo’s latest offering is a content creation service that drives incremental revenue to web sites by intelligently matching content to searchers’ queries. Rahmon’s next goal is to list YourAmigo on the London stock exchange.
Adrian Ferraretto, Solar Shop Australia (Young Entrepreneur category)
To Adrian Ferraretto, the solar car race between Darwin and Adelaide was the perfect fusion between his interest in Formula 1 car racing and his mechanical engineering background. Inspired, he began working in the solar industry and, in 2001 was offered 25% equity in a new Adelaide solar venture, Solar Shop Australia (SSA). After 18 months, Adrian mortgaged his house and bought out the other owners. Adrian chose to differentiate his business in Australia by being the first to market with a new thin film amorphous panel. He also negotiated supply from Japanese company Kaneka. This proved critical to managing Solar Shop Australia’s working capital, which was constantly under threat from the fluctuating solar panel rebate regime. In 2007, the solar rebate doubled and became Federally administered. In response, Adrian who had already taken Solar Shop Australia into WA, NSW, Victoria and Queensland, expanded the business further by continuing to roll out a franchise style regional sales network. As a result, the following year, 25% of all PV grid connected systems on Australian roofs were installed by Solar Shop Australia. Adrian has now begun further expansion into the ACT and Tasmania. He has already established a new schools division and is moving into commercial sun farms. He is travelling to Europe to develop business internationally in 2009.
John Phillips, OAM, KESAB (Social Entrepreneur)
John Phillips is the Executive Director and driving force behind KESAB environmental solutions. Originally formed through a community partnership as an anti-litter campaign in the mid-1960s, KESAB has developed into a proactive, non-government organisation that cuts across all facets of community and environmental issues. Today, KESAB delivers a range of dynamic education, behavioural change programs and action-based initiatives engaging the community in environmental sustainability best practice. Successful campaigns have included Clean Site, Road Watch, Tidy Towns and Clean Marine. John sees KESAB’s long-term strategic direction focusing on emerging issues, including sustainability, climate change, water conservation and resource recovery.
Robert Hill Smith, Yalumba Wine Company (Champion Of Entrepreneurship)
Robert Hill Smith and his brother realised a dream 20 years ago when they acquired 100% ownership of Yalumba Wines founded by their forebear Samuel Smith some 140 years earlier. Robert set about restructuring Yalumba’s operations and product offering away from fortified wines and focused on breaking new brands under the Yalumba label into the United Kingdom and Europe. Today, Yalumba has 550 employees globally and its products are sold in more than 38 countries. It remains Australia’s oldest family owned winery and its position as an iconic Australian and globally recognised wine brand is indisputable.
About the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award program
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognises the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement.
As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.
Since Ernst & Young’s global program began in Australia in 2001, more than 800 leading Australian entrepreneurs have been recognised for their entrepreneurial spirit. Entrants are assessed by a leading panel of independent judges on their innovation, integrity, influence, strategic direction and national/global impact. Their relationships with their local communities are also taken into account.
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program is conducted across five regions in Australia with these winners progressing to the national awards ceremony in November. Independent judging panels, drawn from a broad range of successful Australian businesses, assess the entrepreneurs on their innovation, integrity, influence, strategic direction, and national or global impact.
The Australian Entrepreneur Of The Year is invited to represent Australia at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award held annually in Monte Carlo. Former Australian winners have included Peter Farrell of ResMed Limited (2001), John Rothwell AO of Austal Limited (2002), David Bussau AM of Opportunity International (2003), Robert Gerard AO of Gerard Corporation (2004), Tony D’Antonio and Peter Hosking of Global Machinery Company Worldwide (2005), Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar of Atlassian (2006), Shane Yeend of Imagination (2007) and Rod Jones of Navitas (2008).
In Australia the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program is sponsored by Westpac (primary sponsor), Qantas and supported by the Federal Government through Austrade.
-ends-
About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. Worldwide, our 135,000 people are united by our shared values and an unwavering commitment to quality. We make a difference by helping our people, our clients and our wider communities achieve their potential. For more information, please visit www.ey.com.
Liability limited under a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
Contact details
Megan Ball
Ernst & Young
Tel: +61 2 8295 6427
