BDmag Issue 04

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Deborah Noller Making the Switch.

Local graduate to global innovator

Live it Like a Local Love it Like a Local

The Y Factor The generation to watch

Our Socialites Townsville’s social ambassadors

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Why?

We believe in Regional Australians growing Regional Australia.

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Values

Value Matters.

We deliver client defined value.

Quality & Expertise We focus on learning and development, knowledge sharing and connectedness to build on our Big 4 DNA.

Sustainable Success We maximise the opportunities for our clients and our people by defining, seeking and sharing success over the long term.

Market Commitment

We acknowledge our market is the key to growth and that connectivity to the market, community and clients is paramount.

The Deal

We make decisions based on fairness and balanced outcomes for all parties be they our people, clients or community.

Our Family

We respect each other, our clients and our community.

NOW AT 52 Walker Street, The City. 4721 8500 pvwpartners.com www.bdmag.com.au

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April - May 2018 / Issue 04

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07 BD AMBASSADORS Mark Brine & Debbie Rains

21 LIVE IT LIKE A LOCAL Love it Like a Local

36 OUR SOCIALITES NQ’s social ambassadors

09 PROPERTY: our region’s largest employer

25 TOWNSVILLE TURF CLUB The $30m local industry going the distance

43 TOWNSVILLE: the world’s healthiest city?

10 DEB NOLLER local graduate to global innovator

26 SAFE TRAVELS local company creating a safer connected world

LERNIT 45 LEARN IT new app is music to our ears

13 THE Y FACTOR the generation to watch

29 OPINION Skills and Leadership

47 DATA DYNAMICS world class data center advancing local business

17 THE APPRENTICE supporting youth employment

31 CO-UP new Olympian-standard health hub

49 INSPIRING INDUSTRY CHANGE: Collaboration not legislation

19 MYRIAD FESTIVAL speed dating for start ups

33 LITEHAUS Townsville taking hope to PNG

50 THE LAST WORD Stadium Update

35 THE FUTURE IS FASHION emerging creatives take main stage

PUBLISHERS Maddy Voinea, Sarah Jones EDITOR Jazmin Malcolm ADVERTISING Sarah Jones DESIGN Maddy Voinea, Brooke Fowler PHOTOGRAPHY BlueKino, Jazmin Malcolm COVER James Cook University BD MAGAZINE 183 Ingham Road, West End QLD 4810, ABN 15 620 607 258, P. 0409 272 461, bdmag.com.au EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES sarah@bdmag.com.au All contents of BDmag are subject to copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. The views and opinions of authors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information at the time of print, the publisher accepts no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or subsequence including loss or damages from reliance on information in this publication.

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BD ambassadors These leaders are at the forefront of innovation and development within their field. Striving to improve not only their own business, but our city’s prosperity as a whole. Our BDambassadors will bring you regular updates on the latest news, advances and continuous improvements within their industries. This issue we speak with Hospitality Ambassador Mark Brine and Business Advocacy Ambassador Debbie Rains.

Events season, loosely April - October, is always an exciting time of year for the hospitality industry. Locals are eager to get out and experience our city with reprieve from the summer heat, and visitors descend on our city for a line-up of events – from V8s to triathlons, adventure sports to yacht races, footy games, food truck fiestas and music festivals.

For restaurant, cafe and bar operators, the end of March means our patrons are eager to dine al fresco and take in the water views our coastal city offers. It means restaurant bookings will increase as tourism spikes and locals enjoy the city. For A Touch of Salt, it also means our casual workforce will increase significantly.

HOSPITALITY Mark Brine

Restauranteur A Touch of Salt

The most recent ABS data (December 2017) indicates that visitors bring $2.9m to our region’s economy each day and supports more than 6,000 jobs. The benefits of establishing events are obvious; as well as a healthy visitor economy, there’s promotion

All of us in the business community and leaders in our respective fields, have a responsibility to work with, encourage and help develop the leaders of the future, after all without them, there is no future.

With 62 major projects about to come on line, Townsville is seeing positive trends moving forward. However, research unfortunately shows that we are losing a large number of our local graduates who are choosing to move following their studies.

We clearly have an abundance of amazing opportunities presenting themselves, and where possible we need to harness this talent and retain these skills for our city and region.

BUSINESS ADVOCACY Debbie Rains

PRESIDENT Townsville Chamber of Commerce

Townsville Chamber of Commerce have recently rebranded their ‘Young Chamber to become the ‘Chamber Projects Committee’.

The CPC local gives our emerging talent a platform to involve themselves in projects for our members and the city, to enable them to develop their professional profiles and skills.

Following the re-branding, the committee have created a new sense of direction, working tirelessly to bring alive the purpose

of Townsville as a destination, exposure of local business to new customers, increased employment and locals experiencing the city in new and exciting ways.

This year will be our busiest events season yet at A Touch of Salt, with more major food and wine festivals, themed dinners and long lunches than ever before. Our first events of the year have sold out in record time, showing there is certainly an appetite for events in Townsville.

Townsville has come a long way in recent years, developing a broad range of events and cultivating a following for each. On the food scene, many local restaurants and food providers have created signature food events, growing Townsville’s foodie culture and reputation as a dining destination. It’s now our job as event organisers, business owners and residents to give visitors, and locals, a reason to return.

Mark Brine - A Touch of Salt

of the CPC. This reinvigoration has seen the committee leap into action to promote commerce and develop skills of our next generation of leaders in Townsville.

Best known for creating commerce initiative, the CPC is working closely with businesses to brainstorm projects, undertake key networking and implement recognitionbased activities such as the bi-annual Business Awards.

The CPC has been working with the next generation of business leaders to enhance their career progression, supporting students at James Cook University via our pathways to success programs which bridges the gap between skills and employment, advancing current business leaders and encouraging their involvement in business projects, and connecting leaders with local business mentors.

I encourage business to have a look at their succession planning and take the leap to employ a future leader for your business, after all they are our future.

Debbie Rains - Townsville Chamber of Commerce www.bdmag.com.au

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START LOCAL

GO GLOBAL Deborah Noller, Switch Automation From James Cook University graduate to CEO of a successful software company – Deb Noller of Switch Automation is certainly one of the most inspirational women to graduate from Townsville.

We caught up with her to talk technology, scalability and funding – all crucial elements that entrepreneurs will have to consider during their career.

When Deb inadvertently stumbled into a computer science class at Townsville’s James Cook University, her whole life and future career changed.

Studying parks management at the time, Deb says she immediately changed her major and ended up graduating as one of two female computer science majors, which effectively launched her career as a software engineer.

Now, two decades on, Deb has created one of the most innovative real estate management programs available. Her software – Switch Automation – not only aims to fundamentally improve the way people manage buildings, it also has the ability to help customers identify 10-20% of their annual energy savings and 5-10% of their annual maintenance savings.

“As a consumer, if you want to make an environmental impact you can buy a Prius or install energy efficient windows in your home. It’s much more complicated for a building operator.

They have a huge problem to solve; and for the last decade our ignorance 10 BDmag

around just how wasteful buildings are, combined with a lack of comprehensive solutions, rendered leaders powerless to affect change. Valuable data remained locked away in organisational silos,” Deb says. “Today, thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud infrastructure and Big Data, building owners and operators can have access to and ownership of crucial information they need to fuel key decisions. Meanwhile, investors have noticed the bottom line benefits, not to mention platinum tenants that sustainable green buildings attract and now they’re voting with their wallets.”

In 2013, the company had 75 buildings on their Switch Platform. From there, they expanded into the US and now, five years down the track, Switch has grown exponentially, clocking in at over 8,000 connected buildings. As any entrepreneur knows, scalability and moving your company with the times is crucial – so how do you get the mix right?

“My co-founder and I share a background in Enterprise IT and that drives us to ask ourselves ‘Is it scalable?’ in every aspect of our business. That mentality helped us create a hardware agnostic smart building platform designed to scale not only with expanding portfolios but to accommodate existing as well as future technology,” says Deb. “Our vision is to be the global standard by which people manage buildings. As Switch continues to grow and expand to new markets, I foresee us developing

multilingual user interfaces and mobile applications geared to serving our customers when and where they most need operational insights. Our open architecture and work with projects like Linux Foundation’s EdgeX Foundry are helping to create a unified IoT ecosystem where customers can find end-to-end, interoperable solutions.”

However, as the company scales upwards, so does the demand for revenue, investors and grants. This is something that Deb has been extremely careful about.

“Funding our growth has been one of the most challenging endeavours because we’ve been very precise with our process. We are extremely deliberate about when we take investment, how much capital we raise and who we accept as investors. It’s very important to us to choose people who believe in what we’re doing and understand why this work is so important,” Deb explains.

This dedication to the financial aspect of Switch has certainly made for some great business lessons, with Deb outlining those most crucial.

“Don’t raise more than you need. Know that it’s really hard,” Deb says. “There are abundant grants and incentives available, so hunt them down and use them wisely. There are plenty of incubators and accelerators out there willing to invest in innovative ideas, so know your market, be confident and seek them out. Invest in your

customers. Build relationships with them and show them you value their business by listening to what your buyers and users have to say. Facilitate their success and your own success will follow. Additionally, time is your most valuable asset. Be decisive with it and understand what your primary focus is and why. For example, are you concentrating on fundraising or acquiring customers? Pick one and do it exceptionally well. Most importantly, expand your network and ask for introductions.”

These aren’t Deb’s only gems of advice, either. Both she and her co-founder identified opportunities where they saw them and intuitively worked to fill any gaps – both in the market and in their product. Whilst Deb says that most entrepreneurs struggle and often “kick the rock along the road one step at a time”, there are several things they can do to push themselves ahead.

“It takes perseverance, a strong vision, an amazing team who shares that vision, a sense of humour and fortitude- not to mention a thorough understanding of your market and its problems. Starting a company is a marathon, not a sprint, so you’ll want to pace yourself for the long haul,” Deb says. “On top of that, you have to embrace the uniqueness of what you’re doing and your passion for the why behind it. Know and own your market and finally, cultivate a team of experts who share your vision for success whilst surrounding yourself with family, friends and staff who share your beliefs.”

Whilst Deb did move her company overseas to aid in its expansion, she says that entrepreneurs in Townsville won’t be left behind in this new digital age.

Starting a company is a marathon not a sprint, so you’ll want to pace yourself for the long haul

“I lived in Townsville for three years while attending James Cook University and they were some of the happiest years of my life,” Deb says. “I think Townsville is evolving from its mining, agricultural and defence roots into an entrepreneurial mecca that will usher in a digital future filled with new and exciting business concepts.

I envision it as a vibrant city that encourages creativity while leveraging its foundation of academia and nature to foster curiosity and inspiration. It’s the perfect place for today’s young entrepreneurs to build and thrive while balancing purpose-driven careers with pleasure-seeking lives.” www.bdmag.com.au

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Townsville’s next generation of business leaders are incredibly talented, innovative and ready to push our city forward. We look at who our exceptional Gen Y leaders are, see what they think our growth industries will be in the future and delve into how we can make our city more liveable for younger generations.

DIANE RUHL It’s often difficult to innovate ‘fixed’ industries such as law, but this is where those in Gen Y excel. Diane Ruhl – Principal of Ruhl Family Law Centre – combined her innovative mindset and unique approach to business to create a boutique law firm in Townsville, which has since thrived.

Whilst opening her own business was certainly an achievement, Diane has also won several notable awards. This includes the 2011 Women Lawyers Association Queensland Emergent Women Lawyer of the Year award, the 2012 James Cook University Outstanding Alumni Award and many others.

Diane isn’t alone when it comes to innovation in fixed industries either, noting that there are several Gen Y leaders who she admires.

“I think we have a number of people in our community doing extraordinary things within their field of work,” Diane says. “Alicia Tam – Owner of Milou Dress house in Flinders Street has

created her own fashion label as part of her boutique dress shop, Carly Chiesa and Megan Wessel from The Beet Bar wanted a career change and took a leap of faith creating the Beet Bar. They stepped out of their comfort zone and are doing amazing things. Also Matt Merrin from Jam and the Brine Family at A Touch of Salt. I think these two restaurants are pushing our city forward in terms of everything food.”

Whilst these talented pools of young professionals work to move Townsville forward, Diane says there are also several aspects – such as adapting to technology and change – that will differentiate Gen Y from their predecessors.

“We live in a world of connectivity.

For the baby boomers, a new computer was still an item that required effort and knowledge by looking at manuals.

What we now have with smartphones and social media means that you can create a business and online presence with a mobile phone,” Diane says. “I think the next generation will embrace

change more easily given how quickly technology will change how we do things. I feel that they will have the skill to change any situation in an effective and respectful way. That will be an important attribute that I think differs from the current generation of leaders.”

Diane also notes that utilising the latest technology and social media trends to attract and retain the right type of workers is also another aspect that could benefit our city.

“This generation of people love to be doing things and showing the world that they are. They perhaps have the right balance between work and life,” says Diane. “The tourism industry has a lot of potential – we just have to be brave because industry and work will always play a major part in any individual or families decision to move to a new town. However, seeing the benefits of downtime and where you can spend it also plays a big part as well. A number of people leave the region in their 20s and 30s but return later on knowing that our city is truly something spectacular.”

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DONALD MCPHAIL Living in Townsville for five years, Donald has worked hard to make his mark in the business and startup community by co-founding two successful businesses – Be Psyched and Becon Health. Alongside these, Donald has also won the Emerging Leader award in Townsville, been shortlisted for the state award, become Manager for the Intelligent Grid Platform at Energy Queensland and been placed on the Queensland division committee for Engineers Australia.

Since moving, Donald says he has seen a trend towards brave Gen Y leaders who have been helped by older generations.

“Coming off the back off an economic glut has been good for Gen Y because we often have lower levels of responsibility, debt and families so we’re more likely to take risks, start businesses and go after these opportunities because we’re a little bit less burnt from past experiences,” Donald says. “At the same time, a lot of the established business leaders – like Gen X and Baby Boomers – have done quite well for themselves and are more willing to pay it forward. They’ve done well in the city, they know the potential it has and it hurts them to see the current state, which is why they’re willing to pay it forward to other generations.”

When it comes to industries set to see growth, Donald says Townsville’s unique array of industries could work in our favour if we plan it right.

“Townsville has an excellent level of diversity in the economy which is quite rare in a regional and capital city sense,” Donald says. “I think defence, education, health, resources and construction will all still be really fundamental. I think the growth industries will be energy – especially with the opportunities we have around technology and renewables – the Great Barrier Reef and the discoveries that we can get off the back of that from the marine biology and ecotourism aspect. There’s also a real emphasis on Queensland as a whole to evolve the way we manage healthcare whilst also

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having a focus on healthy cities, healthy communities and being able to service people in their local communities.

Townsville could really be a hub for the development opportunity again off the back of the hospital, university and NDIS that are being based here.”

Whilst having growth industries and brave Gen Y is exciting, there is certainly one aspect holding our growth back.

“The only negative is securing talent,” Donald says. “It’s been slow for so many years that a lot of people have left, so you have to look externally.

There is the potential to tap into JCU or CQU and take straight from the pool, but if you’re trying to get someone above that level of experience it’s quite difficult.”

Yet there are several things we could be doing to attract this talent back to our city.

“One is job opportunities and creating gateways to that by encouraging employers to take on people through development programs,” Donald explains. “For instance, through Energy Queensland and similarly through GHD, there’s been a very big inflow

of graduates who are coming here and ultimately getting set up here because of the development opportunity, then staying for ten or fifteen years. I think those programs from larger employers are important but local, state and federal government also need to help support those initiatives.”

“The other thing is we bring a lot of people in through defence who are ultimately still Gen Y when they decide to leave. We need to support opportunities around that exit and encourage them to stay within the community because they’ll support our economy as a whole.”

SHARELL O’BRIEN When it comes to inspirational women in our city, Sharell O’Brien is certainly a name that tops the list. Sharell is currently the supervising solicitor for North Queensland Women’s Legal Service (NQWLS), a not-for-profit community legal centre providing free legal assistance to women experiencing domestic violence and relationship breakdown. In 2017 Sharell was awarded James Cook University Outstanding Alumni Award, was a Queensland Young Australian of the Year Finalist and in 2016 received the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Pro Bono category award for her work.

Whilst Sharell’s dedication to her job and the industry is inspiring, she says that her generation gets a bad rap which is often undeserved.

“I think we should be excited about the next generation of leaders. They are not afraid of hard work and they’re prepared to take risks and look outside the norm for answers,” Sharell says.

“Gen Y and Millennials are often criticised for their work ethic or different life priorities to previous generations.

This stereotyping is disappointing and can lead to businesses losing great potential because they didn’t know how to engage their employee’s strengths and passions.”

innovation” in order to grow businesses.

“Gen Y and Millennials continually question why and how things are done and whether it can be improved.

This way of thinking is important with the evolving technologies.

Gen Y and Millennials also look for careers, businesses or jobs that they are passionate about which lead to longevity in careers and better outcomes,” Sharell says, emphasising that this new wave of thinking has also helped to change views in society. “Importantly to my field of work, community attitudes to what is acceptable behaviour is slowly changing, and the presence of Gen Y in leadership positions is further empowering that change. The same motivation that drives us to question why and how things are done is being applied at a community scale.

Behaviour that was previously accepted because it seemed just too hard to change is being questioned by a louder and sterner voice, one which is

demanding to be answered. Of course, there are numerous unrecognised figures from past generations that have put us in the position that we are in, but I believe we are on the precipice of significant social change.”

Creating more social and innovative change is certainly a key aspect of evolving our city, which is why it’s important to keep Gen Y and Millennials in Townsville – so how do we do it?

“People in their 20s and 30s want career progression and things to do on weekends. To attract more of them to our region we have to hold events that they would want to attend and show them that living in a regional city will provide its own unique career opportunities and cultural attractions,” Sharell says, adding that once they find Townsville, they’ll never look back.

On top of their dedication to hard work, Sharell says Gen Y and Millennials also have the ability to “look towards

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FACTOR

It truly is an exciting time to be in Townsville. Growth is either already happening or right on the horizon, both new and old industries are being innovated by particularly bright Gen Y leaders and fresh thinking is pushing our city forward with assistance from past leaders. Banding together to improve our future as one is so indicative of the brilliant community we’ve been built on. With fresh minds coming together to create new solutions to existing problems, it’s only a matter of time before Townsville becomes the name in the north. www.bdmag.com.au

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Townsville’s economic growth is soaring, with the city currently going through the largest annual percentage increase in the state’s employment rates. The past year has seen the generation of nearly 12,000 new jobs, bringing Townsville out of last year’s unemployment slump. Townsville’s unemployment figures have now significantly improved, currently sitting close to the 8% mark, in turn showing vast improvements in the recovery of youth unemployment.

Townsville City Council (TCC) is playing a role in the employment and education of our next generation with 2018 seeing the highest intake of apprentices in TCC history. “These new employees will be on the front-line as part of Council’s goal to increase on-the-ground staff,” says Townsville City Council CEO Adele Young. “Many of these new team members will be delivering services directly to our community. I’m incredibly proud that we’ve been able to sign on so many young people, and invest in the next generation of skilled workers for our region.”

One hundred apprentices and trainees have commenced with the Townsville City Council in the past 18 months with Adele adding, “the apprenticeship and traineeship initiative is a great opportunity for Council to lead by example in providing jobs, experience and training to locals.”

One of those new faces is Melataiah Nuggin a recent graduate from Kirwan State High School. A custodian of the Bindal and Wulgurukaba tribes, Melataiah says it was the work ethic that attracted her to the opportunity.

“Developing my skills and learning more about communication and the workplace”, skills that she hopes this new role will assist in developing to see her further her studies into University next year.

Successful candidates came from a variety of backgrounds, including young and mature age people, the long-term unemployed, people with a disability, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who are now all benefiting from this new intake.

“It’s important that we up skill our young people” It’s opportunities like this for young people like Melataiah and those more mature employees re-entering the workforce that the Townsville City Council hope will play a pivotal role in both the improved employment figures and future skilled workers for our city.

“It’s important that we up skill our young people,” says Mayor Jenny Hill.

“These are the young men and women that we’re training for the future. There’s a wide range of work you can do within our organisation and we need to have these skills available to us. These people are the new face of Townsville City Council”.

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Music has the ARIAS, sports has the grand-finals and entrepreneurs? We have Myriad Festival.

Held in Brisbane over three exceptional days in May, Myriad Festival is a smorgasbord of opportunity for everyone in the innovator space, with a plane-load of entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley already planning to attend.

This renowned event isn’t limited to those in the big smoke, with several students and entrepreneurs from Townsville returning again this year.

Curating one of the Townsville groups is Joe Hoolahan from InnovationNQ (iNQ) – one of Townsville’s leading co-working spaces.

“To be a part of it, you don’t have to be a startup business, you could be someone who is a terrific networker,” Joe says. “This year, iNQ is really trying to get together a good, tight group of ten or so who will not only think about their own business but also others. This way you broaden that network for the benefit of our community.”

Whilst getting our regional voice and businesses out into the spotlight is a huge bonus, there are also other ways that Myriad could benefit Townsville.

“The best thing we can learn from things like Myriad is to say, ‘do it in your own backyard’. If that can be incubated in our own region that’s going to be huge. Otherwise, we will see the continual drone of talent go to the cities,” says Joe. “Another part of it is also talent attraction. If we can get

talent to North Queensland and show them that they’re not isolated because there’s a whole community building around entrepreneurs then that’s a big step in the right direction.”

Helping to gather talent for iNQ is Myles Coker, GHD’s Partnerships Manager for Innovation Programs and Chair of I-TAP NQ. “For businesses like GHD, going to Myriad provides an opportunity to connect with new and emerging businesses and technology. It inspires us to consider what we can adopt in our practices to advance our own business and discover where new value lies with customers and suppliers.” Myles says. “For an entrepreneur, startup or enterprise, there is a greater density of opportunities at Myriad. The amount of businesses and potential investors that will be brought together in a condensed venue and time frame allows for connections that normally wouldn’t be made. So whether they’re overseas or local, the right people will be there to make new possibilities happen.”

It’s not just participants from iNQ who will get a chance to enjoy Myriad either, with Dr Ryl Harrison, Strategic Policy Adviser at James Cook University Townsville, hoping another group of students will get the opportunity to go down to Brisbane this year.

“What’s really important is you don’t have to already know a lot or have an amazing startup idea. It’s about having a look at what’s out there and seeing where you fit in. There’s a stereotype that this is for techie guys and that you have to be good at computers but that’s not correct. The entrepreneurs and innovators that we met at the festival have had diverse and multidisciplinary ideas inform their work, and all the most successful teams do. So you need people from all different backgrounds, disciplines and cultures so that you get a better product and a better team,” Ryl says.

“On top of that, people are friendly.

They’re interested in you. Some undergraduate students might think that they don’t know enough yet, but when you’re at Myriad, everybody is interested in what your experience and unique perspective is. So even famous entrepreneurs are looking for students. They are talent mining, in a way, because they might have been successful for 20 years but they want to meet people who think about things in a different way. That’s really confidence building for students,” Ryl adds.

With both the schedule and venue packed with interesting people, businesses and events this is certainly going to be an event that attendees will remember.

Ryl also addresses some of the most common misconceptions about attending the event.

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Townsville.

For some it’s a destination, a hashtag, a photo opportunity. But for the lucky few of us, it’s home.

LIVE IT LIKE A LOCAL Love It Like A Local

Our own pocket of paradise. A splendorous backyard of sun kissed ocean and warm sandy beaches smack bang between the dusty outback, lush rainforest and one of the seven wonders of the world.

The life and landscape of this fortuitous city of ours is one of great history, and great ambition.

The 19th century architecture that encapsulates our proud history surrounds our now young and dynamic population, one that is driving our city into a prosperous future.

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Each year Townsville welcomes over 130,000 international visitors, all of whom have travelled from far and wide, and spent thousands of dollars, to come and enjoy this glorious splendor of ours that we take for granted each and every day. It’s the spectacle of our natural assets, the kindness and generosity of our people and the endless events and entertainment on offer all year round that continues to tickle that sense of belonging that sees many of these visitors stay a little, or a lot, longer.

So, what is it about Townsville that resonates so deeply within all of us?

Tanya Roberts, owner at Michel’s Restaurant, sees the growing change in attitude saying “I’m proud to be a part of the Townsville community.

There’s a perception that we can’t do things as well as they do in the south of the State, but I believe locals are starting to stand up and say ‘I am proud to live here’.” And why wouldn’t they. With world-class health and education, phenomenal tourism opportunities, growing job prospects, increased development and a broadening movement of locals who are driving the ‘Townsville’ brand with pride. “Events such as Festival 2018 are an amazing opportunity for Townsville to show locals what can be achieved here,” explains Tanya. “As a community we need to step out of our comfort zone and take advantage of the spaces we have available to us. Townsville’s food scene keeps evolving with exciting new café’s, bars and restaurants opening all the time.” It’s this eclectic mix of modern Australian cuisine unique to the tropics that sees Michel’s, and our hospitality industry as a whole, continue to thrive. Utilising the abundance of local produce from the food bowl in which our city resides Tanya explains that “Locals can enjoy fresh local produce grown or caught in their own back yard,” adding that Michel’s is taking advantage of this growing food culture with a new Executive Chef now running the Michels bustling kitchen. “Its an exciting time for the restaurant with Chef Braden Honnery taking the reins.

Braden has been a part of the Michel’s team for over nine years and has a fresh vision that is going to ensure Michel’s becomes one of the premier restaurants in North Queensland.”

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With a (literal) sea of opportunities including swimming, paddle boarding, fishing and diving along our endless esplanade, The Strand is unlike

anything else. Adorned with alfresco dining, activity stations and grassy spots perfect for a picnic, a hot summers day is cooled with an ice cream and splash at the waterpark.

This picturesque post card place compels those with a sense of adventure. The afterglow of a sunset from the top of Jezzine Barracks, that sweeps across a pink hued sky is a sight to behold. And once the sun is settled, the glittering fairy lights that adorn the fig trees, light the way to a energized evening of joggers, socialites and families that revel in the delight and calling of this magical place.

Just a short stroll from the Strand’s edge, is the $40 million redeveloped Ville Resort and Casino. With a long history of entertaining Townsville, the new look Ville Resort and Casino is captivating locals with their fresh and enticing decor that perfectly captures our northern way of life. This rejuvenated concept is connecting with locals who are reaping the benefits of this local icon. The Ville Marketing Manager, Emily Roebuck, says the people of Townsville know better than anyone else just what we have here. “The gorgeous weather, the reef, the Strand, rainforests to the north and the outback to the west. We’re both a gateway to adventure and a laid-back tropical paradise. A small, exciting cosmopolitan city without the inconvenience and hassle of a big city. Townsville has it all, and the locals know it and love it.” The revival of Townsville’s iconic Quarterdeck Bar, is bringing back memories and bringing back locals. Newcomer, Miss Songs, The Ville’s new Asian fusion fine-dining restaurant, is also experiencing a rapidly growing reputation as Townsville’s leading Asian restaurant, and the new and improved buffet restaurant, The Palm House, (which is due for completion in June) will see our locals enjoying the benefits of another fresh and unique dining option. With all of this expansion comes jobs, 400 of them in fact, making The Ville’s resurgence far more than just ‘cocktails and dreams’.

Beyond the sand and sunsets of our Strand promenade is the heart of our city. The place where it all began and continues to unfold. A city center filled with a mix of old and new.

Urban street art, an effervescent nightlife, restaurants, bars, art and culture all meet where an endless calendar of events and entertainment continue to draw us in. With new and

“In Townsville, you meet someone once and you are no longer a stranger” RUTH PRIDEAUX Mercure Townsville

profound visions for the revitalization of our CBD, new developments are well underway, bringing hope and positivity for a thriving city center.

The resilience that our business community and community in general have demonstrated during our more challenging times, is a true testament to the heart of Townsville. That determination and never say die attitude that will see our city continue to move forward.

stunning resort-style pool, fresh locallysourced food in their award winning restaurant and a unique and professional destination for corporate affairs, it’s easy to see why both locals and visitors enjoy all that Mercure has to offer.

Ruth Prideaux, Assistant General Manager for Mercure Townsville, says it’s our local’s positive attitudes and passion towards our city that sets us apart from those in the big smoke.

Mercure allows you to wholly focus on relaxation here too – an aspect that no doubt keeps those from outside Townsville coming back – thanks to the 100 local staff members employed to cater to their guests every need.

Whether you’re relaxing in their resortstyle pool, sipping a cool drink on the timber deck or enjoying a delicious, buffet breakfast with colleagues or lunch or dinner with friend and family, you are sure to enjoy your stay. After all – it’s not just about how you explore Townsville, it’s also about how you relax and unwind after a big day in our tropical paradise.

“In Townsville, you meet someone once and you are no longer a stranger,” Ruth beams. “Everyone is passionate about all that Townsville has to offer and what it stands for.”

Like many in the industry, Ruth takes joy from the rewarding opportunity to interact with both locals and out-oftowners on a daily basis. Boasting a

“Our restaurant and pool are open to our locals so you can come for a meal and stay for a swim,” Ruth says. “Plus, buying local ensures that the money stays in Townsville.”

With the beat of our city’s heart sprawling out beyond just our cityscapes, into the tens of thousands of homes and small businesses that sprawl across this sun fueled city, this is a place that offers our locals 300+ days of sunshine and an abundance of opportunities to enjoy them. Our parks and playgrounds, retail centers, sporting facilities, swimming holes and waterways that feed a never-ending lust for fun and adventure filling our suburban streets with those young and young at heart.

It’s easy to see why Townsville is clearly a draw card on both a national and international scale, and with an estimated increase in population of over 300,000 by 2036, there’s only bigger and better things coming our way! So get out there Townsville and live it like a local, love it like a local.

www.bdmag.com.au

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Introducing

EXECUTIVE CHEF BRADEN HONNERY NESTLE GOLDEN CHEF HAT WINNER

Braden has spent the best part of the last 9 years, training and perfecting his skills at Michel’s. He has taken time out to compete in national and international competitions, winning the much prized Nestle national Golden Chef hat award. He was the chef behind the opening of Tap House in City Lane before coming back to Michel’s to take on the role of executive chef last year. Braden trained under the restaurant’s name sake Michel Flores, leaving behind a wealth of knowledge for him to pass onto his new team.

NEW MENU STARTING IN MAY – ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE

MICHELSRESTAURANT.COM.AU 7 PALMER ST, SOUTH TOWNSVILLE. TEL 4724 1460

24 BDmag

HORSE RACING AND OUR ECONOMY HOW DO WE BENEFIT?

Townsville can attribute a lot more than just good times and great memories to the Townsville Turf Club, with our local racing industry bringing in over $30 million dollars a year. We delve into the benefits our city sees from these events and look at just how much the Townsville Turf Club has had to adapt in order to advance in this new age.

Out of 120 thoroughbred Clubs throughout Queensland, the Townsville Turf Club is the 6th largest in terms of racing volume, servicing the thoroughbred industry from Rockhampton, west to Mount Isa, north to Cairns and everywhere in between.

A new committee were appointed in 2017 that would push the club into further success. Malcolm Petrofski was appointed President and Cassandra Cazzulino became the first woman in 150 years to be entrusted with the role of Chief Executive Office. Empowered with extensive knowledge across business, finance, thoroughbred racing and events the dedicated team including Ross Donovan, Natalie Rintala, Esther Slocombe, Graham Ede, Peter Malpass and Graham Nicolls have all assisted in driving the club forward. Malcolm and Cassandra worked closely with the new Committee to restructure the business so it could evolve and withstand future challenges – an essential evolution for both the club and Townsville.

So why is the Townsville Turf Club a key player in our economy? The Queensland Racing Industry annually generates more than $1.2 billion dollars of economic value, with $31.8 million dollars generated in Townsville.

Last race season, 242 races were conducted at Cluden Park Racecourse, with over 2,300 horses and 100’s of industry professionals participating. Of the 36 race meetings, the industry was awarded with over $3.4 million dollars in prize money and $726,450 in bonuses – and the benefits don’t stop there.

The Club has hosted some of the biggest and most colorful social events in the city’s history, but the hugely popular

Winter Racing Carnival which concludes with highly anticipated Mater Townsville Cup, is where our local economy truly gets a boost.

“The Townsville Turf Club engages over 50 local businesses during the Winter Racing Carnival and employs well over 100 staff not including security, catering staff and racing industry support staff. Retail outlets, milliners, shoe stores, fashion houses and stylists, hair and beauty providers and transport services all experience an influx of customers. The flow on is huge for the local economy,” Cassandra says.

However, hosting an event of this magnitude not only takes grit and determination, it also takes savvy planning and a keen insight into past events to ensure complete success and even bigger numbers next year. The club recently appointed Event Manager Sam Pascoe to help drive the Winter Racing Carnival to the next level.

“This year we really wanted to offer a fresh approach. The new carnival format will feature a collection of events over an eight-day Winter Racing Carnival period from the 20th to the 28th of July,” Cassandra says. “We have intimately reviewed the needs of last year’s guests and have reimagined our experiences with general admission, marquee precinct, food and ticketing all getting a nice overhaul. We are bursting with excitement to showcase our new event spaces, which allows us to highlight stunning Townsville and North Queensland. Just think blue skies, winter sunshine and great mates with your favourite beverage in hand – winning!”

Kicking off at the Ville- Resort Casino, guests of the Winter Racing Carnival can expect “a festival-like energy” throughout the whole event, with new and improved trackside offerings, eat street inspired food experiences, roving ‘style cams’ and much more. The Winter Carnival will culminate with the Mater Health Services Townsville Cup. Providing a fun, safe and memorable time for everyone is certainly an achievement, but to do so with an event that benefits several different industries and our local economy as a whole is truly an accomplishment. www.bdmag.com.au

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Tech in Transit Townsville based business JESI is connecting a safer mobile workforce across the globe

BD mag 26 BDmag

“Call me when you get there.”

It’s a phrase almost every person has uttered at one point or another.

However, all our gadgets are useless unless we have access to them. This is a huge problem – especially for those in the mobile workforce.

This gap in technology didn’t go unnoticed by Joe Hoolahan, JESI CoFounder, who decided to take action after his friend had an alarming accident and no way of reaching out.

“Back in about 2012 a good friend of mine was driving to Weipa. He was only five or ten minutes out when he rolled his car. He was upside down, pinned. He wasn’t able to make a phone call and wasn’t able to tell somebody that he needed help. He was stuck there for six hours and that was despite a whole lot of people expecting him to be at his destination,” says Joe. Jeremy Martin, JESI’s Customer Solutions Manager, explains what their product does. “JESI is a Journey Management Software solution for organisations that have a mobile workforce. So no matter where staff members may travel, JESI will start an escalation process if someone doesn’t check in when they’re supposed to.”

From the moment you leave until the moment you arrive, JESI goes beyond tracking movement and delves into the realm of safety check-ins, alerting predetermined contacts if you fail to check in. For those who don’t have access to their phone in an accident, this will be one of the most crucial safety tools they can have.

However, after liaising with several customers, the JESI team realised their product also went beyond just the safety benefits for many companies.

“JESI is a great tool. It takes a lot of the uncertainty and risk out of travel,” says Trevor Brown, who is a top level advisor for the oil and gas industry in Australia. “There’s an immediate benefit to the individual and then there’s a huge benefit to organisations because

they can really understand where their workforce is and who is scheduled to go where.”

This concept raised the JESI platform to a new level helping companies create efficiencies, reduce risk and make better decisions, which not only expanded the product, but also increased it’s usefulness.

“If you’re not listening to the feedback of your clients, you become redundant. We get a lot of feedback from the industry and as we made more changes, it became obvious that our tool was also helping with proficiencies and managing efficiencies and costs as well. Where are our people? Do we really need this many people travelling? How much travelling are we doing?” says Joe.

“If you’re not listening to the feedback of you clients you become redundant” With almost every employee having access to a mobile device whilst travelling, it’s easy to see the appeal in this efficient safety platform. Businesses such as Rio Tinto, ACT for Kids and Easternwell are now managing thousands of journeys with JESI hoping to make it an industry standard in the future – and for good reason. “I’ve been in the oil and gas business nearly thirty years. I’ve seen people who have not made it home. I’ve seen people with life altering injuries and I wasn’t happy with that,” says Marco Waander, General Manager and Camp Manager at Easternwell, who recently won International Awards for their efforts to keep their traveling workers safe.

JESI’s success is not just the result of a ‘gap in the market’, it’s their innovative thinking and ability to tune in to a real need and provide a relevant solution.

Safety is a key aspect that needs to be implemented with conviction but it’s also something that needs to evolve as the behaviour of both employees and companies change.

www.bdmag.com.au

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BD INSERT YOUR LOGO HERE mag 28 BDmag

OPINION - with Tam Curtis

HOW DO WE COMBAT TOWNSVILLE’S SKILLS SHORTAGE? The efforts of Townsville City Council, Townsville Enterprise and Sister City Partners has opened doors to new national and international relationships, which provide our city with an opportunity to diversify our economy and move away from our reliance on industries that have created Townsville’s economic yo-yo effect.

Our businesses will hire more people to fill vacancies and expect to compete for and win new opportunities with leadership teams and a workforce that are ill prepared and poorly led to meet the new challenges. There is potential to seriously harm these relationships and close the new economic doors before they have really opened.

There has been recent increased discussion around a shortage of leaders, managers and skilled workers; potentially a by-product of a transient workforce. These personnel generally come for higher wages and leave when the boom is over, taking important skills and business knowledge with them.

This impacts company leadership and culture and is potentially destructive to the future we are trying to create. Why? Because it is our business knowledge and company culture that gives us the ability to do what we do well and make necessary changes so that we can seize new opportunities.

What’s the answer?

This creates a big problem. With so many new opportunities on the horizon we cannot rely on the old way of thinking which has previously revolved around the thoughts that ‘the economy will supply us work’ and, ‘what we have produced in the past will be of acceptable quality to potential new clients now’. We can’t be caught behind the 8-ball, unprepared to meet the needs of, or offer a high level of quality and service to new potential clients.

Townsville needs to explore new leadership models for our region and local industries need to be proactive in securing relationships and preparing our workforce to meet the challenges in the face of declining expertise.

Our governments will assist with more funding to create more qualified people, but qualification is only part of the equation when it comes to a competent and competitive workforce. The most important factors are; time, experience, leadership, and a passion for their chosen vocation.

When the reason to educate people is to fill vacancies, and their reason to be educated is purely money; it creates a workforce that cares little about the quality of its work, or its work ethic. The problem is, many companies have now adjusted their standards to this quality.

I have long been an advocate for companies to actively recruit character over qualification. Local people with the right character are more likely

to stay when the boom of other industries inevitably die down, which then increases the likelihood of retaining their knowledge and skills in Townsville. Some of the higher-level expertise is not exactly falling off the tree here in Townsville, however there are people within our organisations who would flourish if they were identified early and the time and effort was spent to develop them. When employers develop a leadership and execution plan that focuses on selecting and developing local people with the right character, they create loyalty from their workforce, and this is the basis of good culture and high performance.

If we persist with the convenience of hiring short term transient workers we run the risk of pouring higher wages into employees who have an emphasis on poor quality and low productivity.

This, in turn, could set our industries up to be nonviable propositions for nonregional clients.

Strategic leadership planning and execution, along with development of our workforce and its culture, are cheap investments compared to the loss of potentially lucrative long-term foreign business relationships. The potential for growth in our region relies on the development and retention of the local population, it is the best way to retain the knowledge and skills that will keep our region competitive now and into the future.

www.bdmag.com.au

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april 2018 free fitness + activities For more information or to register visit townsville.qld.gov.au SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1 DIY Easter Egg Hunt Get the family active and hunt for your Easter eggs!

Hide them in the back yard or even your local park!

2 Lounge Workout Couches aren’t just for sitting! You can do push- ups with your hands on the couch, tricep dips, squat to sit.

Try 12 of each.

3 Have a Wheely Good Time Dust off your bike, scooter or your skateboard and roll the river pathways or the Strand.

4 #GC2018 Let the Games Begin!

5-10pm Jezzine Barracks Get along to the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony on the big screen.

5 Hill Walking Challenge yourself to walk a hill!

Check out Castle Hill, Mt Stuart or Jezzine Barracks.

6 Move Your Feet for a Healthy Heart 6.45am Stockland, Alfred Street Carpark Join the Heart Foundation Walkers and walk in the air conditioning.

7 Festival 2018 Cricket Action 10am-5pm Strand Park Test your cricket skills in the inflatable nets. All welcome!

8 Explore our Tracks and Trails Jump on Council’s website for a full list of Walking Tracks and Trails around the City and try one out!

9 Festival 2018 3on3 Basketball Community Day Old Bowls Club, The Strand.

Free court play, free throw competition and more. Check Council’s webpage for information.

10 Cheap Tuesday Workout Bust out the tin tomatoes and do 3 sets of 20 Squats, Shoulder Press and Sit Ups. Or do step ups with bicep curls!

11 Festival 2018 AFL Action 10am-4pm Strand Park Put on your running shoes and and get ready to catch!

Fun for all.

12 Walk with the Annandale Walkers 7-8pm Annandale Shops, corner Marabou Dr and Yolanda Dr Night walking is great!

13 Festival 2018 Beach Netball 10.30am-7.30pm Strand Park Beach Try out netball on the beach.

14 Festival 2018 Speedminton 11am-6pm Strand Park Beach Come and try Speedminton on the beach.

15 #GC2018 Closing Ceremony 4-10pm Jezzine Barracks. Walk to the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony and enjoy the festivities.

16 Come & Try Goalball 11am-3pm Townsville Stadium All ages and abilities welcome.

A fun game to test your senses!

17 Outdoor Fitness Workout Find an outdoor fitness station on Council’s website and head on down for a free workout.

18 Boxing Class 6am The Strand 5.45pm Riverway Join in on a fun, free outdoor workout – register now!

19 X-Training Session 6am Riverway 5.45pm The Strand Registrations required via Council website.

20 Active Travel Day Park further away from your work/ school and walk the rest of the way; or ride your bike and save fuel!

21 Support the Cowboys 7.30pm 1300Smiles Stadium Park away and walk to the stadium to support our team as they take on the Titans.

22 Ride to Riverway 8-11am Raintree Gr, Riverway Cycle, scoot or skate down for a wheely good morning!

Prizes & giveaways up for grabs.

23 Play time at your local park Kick a ball, throw a Frisbee or just explore in Townsville’s great outdoors. There’s so many parks to enjoy!

24 X-Training Session 6am Riverway 5.45pm The Strand Fun & free with Live Life Get Active – register now.

25 Honour the ANZAC’s The Strand/ Thuringowa Park the car a few blocks away and walk to the parade. Details on Council’s website.

26 Wheelchair Basketball 6-8pm Townsville Basketball, Murray Lions Crescent Challenge yourself and have a go!

27 Yoga 6am The Strand 5.45pm Riverway Unwind from a busy week – register now!

28 Park Runs 7am Town Square on Main Street, North Shore 7am Riverway Stadium Register online for the 5k course.

29 Nature Play Bush Garden Scavenger Hunt 9-11am, river end of Thompson St, Mburra Must register online for the tree workshops.

30 Boxing Classes 6am The Strand 5.45pm Riverway Get the week started with free boxing – register now!

198185 30 Ways in 30 Days - Calendar (ADS).indd 4

22-Mar-18 1:10:41 PM

Townsville’s New Olympian-Standard Health Hub

You’d think our tropical weather would put us locals off exercising in Townsville, yet our dedication to healthy living has skyrocketed in recent years. So much so that Geon Property have found the perfect home for The CO:UP – their new, multimillion dollar, Australian-first health and wellbeing precinct. The best thing? It’s right in the heart of our city!

“The CO:UP will be a place for people to socialise, network, exercise, refuel and relax in one of the city’s most beautifully-appointed settings” The new CO:UP precinct will be a game-changer for Townsville, with a brilliant mix of active performance and recovery facilities mixed together in a zone suited to all fitness levels.

“The CO:UP will be a place for people to socialise, network, exercise, refuel and relax in one of the city’s most beautifully-appointed settings,” says Glen Wright, Geon Property development manager. “This multifaceted precinct has already attracted a world-class climbing gym, the country’s largest swim school operator and is working to secure a dedicated mini golf centre.”

The centre isn’t just about physical

fitness either, with a commendable focus on mental health and relaxation included.

will make its Olympic debut. She says having access to Urban Climb is instrumental in helping her train.

“In tandem with these high quality facilities, The CO:UP will feature holistic practices like yoga and pilates, spaces for allied health professionals and food and beverage opportunities committed to supporting health and wellbeing,” says Glen.

“This new gym at The CO:UP is particularly unique in that it will feature the state’s first speed climbing wall,” Lucy says. “I train full-time, six days a week but currently there is no speed climbing wall in Queensland. For me to qualify for the Olympics next year it is essential that I practice on one, so for me personally, it’s a game-changer.”

Urban Climb, which currently operates some of the country’s largest bouldering venues, has also signed up as the anchor tenant.

“We are thrilled to open our new gym in this dedicated health precinct surrounded by like-minded businesses,” says Alex Cox-Taylor, Urban Climb co-owner. “Urban Climb is incredibly passionate about community and connectivity and The CO:UP combines both. It’s the perfect spot to meet up, work out, grab a juice and get connected.”

It’s easy to be jaded by the Commonwealth Games, but there’s one athlete who is further into the future – specifically, Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Games.

Lucy Stirling began climbing 11 years ago and is now in training to qualify for Tokyo 2020, where the sport itself

Geon Property is no stranger to Townsville’s tropical surroundings either, with The CO:UP marking just one of several important projects that Geon Property is developing for the city.

Glen says the visionary project is a testament to Geon’s commitment to the city and ability to reimagine environments for better living.

“Whether you’re trying out a new skill, motivated to feel your personal best or are an inspiring Olympic athlete, our vision is to create a health hub for everyone at every level.”

The new CO:UP precinct is expected to open in 2019 with an array of exciting tenants lined up, so keep your eyes peeled for announcements! www.bdmag.com.au

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BD mag 32 BDmag

LiteHaus International Brings Hope to PNG Children Creating a not-for-profit is an incredibly noble pathway to undertake.

However, as LiteHaus founder – Jack Growden – explains, it’s also a very daunting and lonely experience. So why take this path and how can a single coin change a child’s schooling experience?

After attending a United Nations-hosted conference in Bangkok, Jack Growden was inspired by the dozens of people under thirty who had started a not-forprofit and seen immense success.

Jack used the knowledge gained while studying his thesis – which looked at the difficulties that remote communities face when it comes to education – as his inspiration and chased an idea that many before him had failed to bring to life.

“My father, a successful entrepreneur and great supporter of LiteHaus, said to me at the beginning, ‘this sounds great, so why doesn’t everybody do it?’

I answered, ‘because they see the red lights and stop’. It can be a daunting and lonely experience running a notfor-profit, especially one of our nature, which is essentially an international aid

agency. Thankfully I have a wonderful team and I’m blessed with the courage to persist until the light turns green,” Jack says adamantly.

Jack recently travelled to the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea with his partner and secretary, Lauren Tenardi, who he says has been with him every step of the way. Whilst there, Jack says he was astounded and humbled by the strong intent these children had when it came to education.

“Having travelled across many developing countries, one becomes accustomed to beggars. These children had no time for begging, they were determined to learn. They did not need to read the 18,000 words of my thesis illustrating the value of education; they vocally expressed how important their education was. I guess that’s why some of them walk for three hours in the monsoonal rain over undulating terrain every morning just to reach school,” says Jack, who goes on to talk about the opportunities that await them in the future.

“If you asked the children themselves, they would tell you they are going to be engineers and doctors and lawyers. My thesis research found that around 75% of the community were not employed in the paid sector however, almost 100% of the community works on subsistence farming activities. Industriousness is embedded into the local culture, however quality primary education certainly holds the key to progressing into sectors such as nursing, trade skills and teaching. LiteHaus is not here to rescue these children, but here to help create opportunities so the children can

reach their full potential.”

Businesses such as F45 Townsville City – who contributed half of the stationery project budget to LiteHaus – Arid 2 Oasis Traffic Solutions – who contributed several laptops – Komatsu Townsville – who contributed a USB stick for every child – and many more jumped on board to provide what Jack says was a standout memory.

“Standing there presenting the masterpiece of all of our dreams, ambitions, sponsors, donors, board members and collective hard work to almost 500 people at the Kuta Primary School was remarkable. It is testament to the notion that effort defines all. We dreamed, we tried, we succeeded,” Jack says, beaming with pride.

Jack says he is incredibly excited for the future as interest for LiteHaus grows in both the public and business sector, saying that while in-kind donations such as second hand laptops and desktop computers are immensely valuable, it takes as little as one dollar to potentially change the future for one of these children.

“The smallest donation can make the world of difference on our scale,” says Jack. “A gold coin can sponsor the entire contents of a child’s stationery kit through LiteHaus – a gold coin.”

To know that the generosity of our North Queensland businesses has not only changed the schooling lives but potentially empowered the educational future of a child is astonishing and a testament to both LiteHaus and those who helped along the way.

www.bdmag.com.au

33

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RESTAURANT | CATERING

Success By Design Townsvilles emerging creatives take centre stage This May, Townsville will come alive with a fusion of fashion, style and entertainment. The Townsville Fashion Festival (TFF) has successfully fused together our local creative talents since 2012, when fashion and creative forces were brought together in our city centre

by Katelyn Aslett, an artist and designer who began mentoring emerging designers in our region. Katelyn soon opened the first pop up store in Flinders Street where designers could work and sell their creations and it went from there.

The following year would see Townsville woman, Madonna Simmons, take Townsville’s growing fashion potential to new heights. Growing and nurturing the TFF over the years, Madonna and her dedicated committee successfully grew this event into the extravaganza it is today.

Now in its seventh year, the TFF delivers so much more than just a catwalk of colour to our city, with a new focus not only on fashion, but all the industries that feed into it. “The festival creates a vehicle to identify and support our talent in North Queensland, and by invitation, the talent of Australian and International designers,” says TFF President Melissa Johns. “Townsville Fashion Festival will continue to assist in the development of regional creative industries like design, manufacturing, hair, makeup and beauty, photography and modelling to name a few. The event has grown to become a seven day programmed product in the regions calendar and now falls in line with the fashion season, events season and Townsville’s tropical winter climate.”

The TFF provides a uniquely professional platform for emerging creatives to showcase their talents.

“The festival seeks to set itself apart from your typical fashion festivals which are seen more as fashion parades,” explains Melissa. “We aim to ensure the development and mentorship of emerging designers with whatever it is they require to remain successful and sustainable in the business world. Our business

plan for next year will deliver several business development workshops on the calendar for all creatives wanting to be better entrepreneurs. The TFF not only contributes to the liveability of the city but also offers opportunities to keep young people in the city instead of leaving to follow the fashion path.”

Townsville Fashion Festival initiative ‘Textile Collective’ (a pop up store for emerging designers in Castletown) is also giving local designers an opportunity to test their product in the retail world. “Many designers who have been involved in the TFF and the Textile Collective store have been invited to showcase their designs nationally and even internationally. Several have been awarded and recognised at a national level,” Melissa explains proudly.

This 2018 TFF event will be quite different from previous years.

“With several new members on the management committee, we have a fresh take on all aspects of the event,” says Melissa. “We are very excited to be partnering with The Ville as our Runway and After Party venue this year.”

This year’s event will see guests feel like they’re sitting at New York Fashion week with Melissa saying this year is, “all about the experience”. The unique design of the catwalk, staging, audio visual creations, production, entertainment, and calibre of models and runway choreography are set to go above and beyond in 2018. The TFF after party is also a new event in 2018 along with ‘A Taste of Fusion’ cocktail gala to be held on May 18th in the middle of Victoria Bridge. Matt Merrin from JAM and Mark Brine from A Touch of Salt will collaborate with two Chefs from China thanks to the Townsville City Council’s Sister City program to create a fusion of East meets West cuisine. It’s further developing the relationship with the Sister Cities program and encouraging more international exchange opportunities that will be extremely beneficial for the development and growth of our local creative talents and continue to see the TFF and our fashion and creative industries thrive. www.bdmag.com.au

35

M EET TOWNSVIL L E ’S

Social Media

Heroes

We all know running social media platforms can be incredibly time-consuming and rarely well-paying, so why do it?

We talk to the people promoting Townsville through their social media networks and get an insight into why they do what they do and how they think it has changed and assisted our city.

BD mag 36 BDmag

Support Local TownsvilLE After travelling Australia and settling down in Townsville, Kellie Stephenson decided to create the ‘Support Local Townsville’ page. Her aim was to do her part for the community, connect to the outside world and work towards her long-term goal of creating a business consultancy firm from the page.

Support Local Townsville – which aims to only promote positive stories – has since gained incredible traction, with over 2,500 followers and 17,000 posts using the unique #supportlocaltownsville tag on Instagram alone.

Despite starting the page in July 2016, Kellie didn’t officially launch Support Local Townsville until November 2017, when she collaborated with local businesses to host a ‘VIP STAYcation’ competition marketed to ‘Townsville’s Biggest Supporters’.

“I coordinated a weekend for two lucky people to showcase just a snippet of what Townsville had to offer,” Kellie said.

The weekend included everything from a nights accommodation at Hotel Grand Chancellor, a scenic Townsville Helicopters flight accompanied by Gavin Cooper, tickets and spending money for the Flavours of Latin America event at A Touch Of Salt, spending

money for the Sunday on Flinders Cotters Markets and much more.

“The response was phenomenal from both the collaborating local businesses and from entrants. It was great to demonstrate to businesses that working together we could provide such an epic weekend and really showcase that Townsville has so much on offer,” Kellie says.

The vast majority of followers on the page are Townsville-based, which is brilliant for our city’s local businesses as it has the potential to spread a positive message to a targeted and open audience.

“Thanks to networking and meeting people through the Support Local Townsville initiative, I feel that I can now meet business owners and offer them a way to connect with other businesses to help collaborate,” Kellie says, adding that she randomly reposts images from her hashtag so that businesses can have “another free avenue to help get their name out there”.

“Support Local Townsville in itself is my business – it is my registered business name. All my posts are done for love and they are not paid for. Many local businesses will invite me to try their product or service and I always ensure I share my experiences as it is a great way to help showcase the variety of ‘fabulousness’ our region has,” Kellie says. “I find that in doing this, my professional network has expanded immensely which has assisted me consulting to businesses who might need my help further in a paid capacity.

I will continue to post and share all the goodness of Townsville simply for the love I have for our region and my passion for local businesses – both big and small – as I want to raise our children in a community that I am proud of.”

The Support Local Townsville page is a prime example of innovative and out of the box thinking. Not only is it proof that we have some exceptional people and businesses in Townsville, it’s also proof that there’s more than one way to network in a new city and chase down your dream career.

Whilst maintaining an active Facebook and Instagram page for Support Local Townsville does take up a portion of Kellie’s time, she says that she wouldn’t have it any other way.

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TOWNSVILLE NORTH QUEENSLAND “FOR TOWNSVILLE ENTERPRISE, SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE SINGLE MOST

powerful

MARKETING PLATFORM WE HAVE”

Social media is the perfect medium for promoting tourism in a region – but how do you attract visitors to our stunning slice of paradise without losing them in the marketing message? It’s a hard line to walk, but the ‘Townsville North Queensland’ page – run by Townsville Enterprise – has navigated the tightrope perfectly.

“The Visit Townsville Australia Facebook page has a following of approximately 26,000 and sees gradual growth of about 2% each month,” says the Director for Tourism and Events, Bridget Woods. “The biggest growth in our social media channels came about when we started prioritising usergenerated content – people respond much better to images and stories from real people rather than tailored marketing messages.”

Targeting the right people at the right time is hard – but with 320 days of sunshine in Townsville, we’ve got it relatively easier than others. So why is it so important to keep a healthy tourism image present? Bridget delves into this.

“It is important that our marketing messages are where the people are, and given that 96% of millennials have joined a social media network, it’s essential that our region and destination has an online presence,” Bridget says.

“Social media also plays an important role in the stages of travel. During the dreaming phase, social media can be used to inspire and influence destination choice – more than 52% of social media users said their friends’ social media travel photos have inspired

travel plans. During the planning phases social media can influence bookings and drive sales. When visitors are in the region and experiencing the destination, social media provides a platform for visitors to share their travel experiences.

For Townsville Enterprise, social media is the single most powerful marketing platform we have – it gives us the ability to reach and inspire thousands of people from across the globe and costs next to nothing.”

As many social media page managers know, video content has reigned king for a long time now, which is why Townsville Enterprise have gone above and beyond just user generated content to encourage visitors. However, their latest Visiting Family and Relatives (VFR) campaign is aimed at encouraging locals to do the talking.

“Whilst we will be showcasing the region to potential visitors in our key markets, it’s also important that locals play a role in promoting their own backyard,” Bridget says. “In order to strengthen the VFR numbers in our region, the key messages of the campaign aim to inspire locals to be proud of their home and encourage them to invite their family and friends to visit Townsville North Queensland and enjoy all the splendour our region has to offer. This could be by attending a world-class event, shopping in our unique boutiques, dining in awardwinning restaurants and bars, or experiencing our local natural assets of reef, rainforest and outback.”

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TOWNSVILLE LOVES YOUR BUSINESS

Townsville Loves Your Business (TLYB) is the epitome of positivity when it comes to social media accounts in our city. Since starting in July 2015, the Instagram-based page has gained a huge amount of traction, clocking in at over 6,200 followers and 250+ images.

Filitsa Kounias, the TLYB founder, originally created the page as a fun way to show off local businesses.

“At the time I remember feeling that everywhere I looked or whatever I read about Townsville was negative.

I wanted to change that around,” says Filitsa, who says she was met with a wave of positivity from locals when she first started posting. “Townsville really jumped on board. I’ve seen friendships begin and business being passed on because of a post I put up. I even met my business partner via TLYB. The best part is when someone walks up to you in the street and says ‘Hi, I follow you on Instagram and I just wanted to say thank you for doing what you do’.”

Filitsa’s above and beyond attitude doesn’t just stop at the ‘post’ button, either, with the TLYB founder often going that extra mile to help businesses out.

“The one thing businesses probably don’t know about the page is that everyday I get enquiries asking ‘where is this?’ ‘What is the phone number for that place?’ ‘What was the coffee like?’ ‘Where can I get my hair done 40 BDmag

when I’m in town?’ I answer every one of those questions on behalf of the businesses that I promote on the page.

If it means that I influence a sale or two for a business then I believe that is a great achievement,” Filitsa says.

As the page continued to grow, so did the interest in social media from our local businesses, many of which encouraged Filitsa to expand into the enviable world of social media marketing.

“What has been an absolutely humbling experience for me is the businesses that I have supported and promoted over the past couple of years have come back and decided that they want to give back. They have encouraged me to start a membership to the page so that they can subscribe and be featured,” says Filitsa. “That’s just Townsville for you – people get behind you and cheer you on. Occasionally I will also run a competition or a giveaway for a business or put up an influencer post for a small fee.”

Adding the membership aspect to the page has been a huge step forward in making Filitsa’s passion profitable.

However, she still goes out of her way to honour the original reasons she started the page.

“I see TLYB as continuing to grow and promote our city. The memberships I have are limited only because I believe

that the page needs to remain authentic.

You are experiencing Townsville though my eyes and taste buds and I truly want you to know that I love the businesses I show,” Filitsa says.

From there, Filitsa believes that a change in mindset could spell a change for the whole city.

“Here’s my theory. If everyone and especially local businesses started promoting themselves and our community in a positive light on social media, then that is how our city will be perceived. It really isn’t hard to find something nice to say each day. I am a believer of the power of social media.

As Richard Branson says ‘We can get an army of people through social media to bring about change’. Let’s just do it. “ Our city up and promote the amazing businesses we have in Townsville.

Whilst there is no way to tell how much money these positive, up-beat pages have generated for our local businesses and local economy in general, it’s inspiring to see such devotion to our city and our local businesses.

Next time you see the pages pop up, be sure to send them a thank you for their time and effort – you never know which business friends of yours might have benefited from their hard work.

TOWNSVILLE TIGHT ASS Promoting Townsville and all of the brilliant things our city has to offer doesn’t just stop at tourism or amazing lunch places. The hugely successful ‘Townsville Tight Ass’ page – which has a plethora of daily deals and savings – is a testament to this.

Starting just over a year ago, the Townsville Tight Ass page boomed to over 1,000 followers in its first week.

It’s now sitting at over 20,000 followers, with page numbers increasing every week.

Content creator and “official tight ass”, Allison Rasmussen says she started the page as a joke and it grew from there.

“A mate and I from work would swap specials. We joked around about how awesome it would be to have a website telling everyone where all the best pub deals were,” Allison says. “When you’re saving money, everyone’s a winner.“ Posting dozens of deals per week, Allison says that both businesses and locals can benefit from the page, with the deals “getting local brands into the market.”

Allison has also expanded her influence by getting local radio personalities Luke Lum from Hit103.1 and Minty from 4TOFM involved in giveaways and promotions.

Adding in local faces, utilising video and creating easily shareable, cleancut images are certainly the reasons behind the page’s huge success. It’s also

a brilliant example of how pages must evolve and grow with demand in the fast paced world of social media if they want to grow.

Allison runs the page on a volunteer basis, not making any money from her hard word and dedication. However, Allison says she has big plans to move the page forward, with more creative ideas on the way – but not too soon.

“WHEN YOU’RE SAVING MONEY EVERYONE’S A

wi!er

“

“I have big plans, but I also have a full-time job that pays the bills,” Allison says, echoing the thoughts of thousands of page owners Australia wide.

Taking a step back to appreciate local pages like Townsville Tight Ass, Townsville North Queensland and Townsville Loves Your Business is certainly something we should all do. They not only encourage tourism dollars, but go out of their way – often with little to no compensation in return for their hours of hard work – to build our city up and promote the amazing businesses we have in Townsville.

Whilst there is no way to tell how much money these positive, up-beat pages have generated for our local businesses and local economy in general, it’s inspiring to see such devotion to our city and our local businesses.

Next time you see the pages pop up, be sure to send them a thank you for their time and effort – you never know which business friends of yours might have benefited from their hard work.

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Is Townsville The Healthiest City In The World?

How shocked would you be if you found out that Townsville was not only considered the healthiest place in Australia – but also the world? Dr Anne Steinemann, Professor of Civil Engineering and Chair of Sustainable Cities at the University of Melbourne, and Adjunct Professor of Science and Engineering at James Cook University, studies healthy environments for a living and says that Townsville takes out the top spot. It’s a big call that we know will raise eyebrows, but Dr Anne draws on some very important points.

To appreciate just how important Dr Anne’s work is you have to delve into why she does it and how it affects the everyday person.

“I got involved in healthy indoor environments – particularly how you make healthy homes – because we all talk about a sustainable city, but unless you can make a sustainable house or building, you can’t have a sustainable city, because a city is made up of buildings and that’s where people spend most of their time,” Dr Anne says. “The motivation behind having these healthy buildings is that, even though people may not realise it, more than 90% of their exposure to pollutants occurs indoors. However, no law regulates or monitors your indoor air quality, even though it can significantly affect your health and productivity.”

This doesn’t just affect the everyday person either; it also has the potential to affect workplaces and their bottom line.

“In tropical environments, it’s important to be energy efficient because airconditioning, for instance, could be a major expense for a business. However,

the flip side of having very tight energy efficient buildings is you often get poor indoor air quality,” Dr Anne says. “For businesses, the most expensive part of their building is generally labour. If they decided to make a slight improvement to their indoor air quality, they could boost worker health and productivity, which really affects the bottom line.”

Thankfully, this is an area that Townsville excels in, with Dr Anne commending our devotion to innovation and tropical design.

“I come from the land of entrepreneurs.

I went to Stanford University, which is right in the middle of Silicon Valley, and Townsville has the same entrepreneurial spirit as Silicon Valley,” Dr Anne says. “We have really progressive, energetic, and innovative people in Townsville, such as those at Innovation House, who are very forward thinking. Then we also have people with all this wonderful tropical expertise who work with nature and use traditional construction methods and materials to create beautiful and healthy buildings. Working with nature, that’s where Townsville excels.”

Innovation and tropical design are certainly helping to push our city forward, but Dr Anne says there are several other reasons why our humble city takes out her top spot.

“There is no place like Townsville in the world – certainly not in the United States,” Dr Anne says as she recalls her twenty years of teaching in America.

“I look at Townsville and think, ‘this is where I want to live’ because it’s such a healthy place. You have clean air, clean water, and a beautiful environment. It’s not congested, crowded and polluted and it has all the amenities you could want. It is certainly a healthy city and it has great people.”

It takes a lot to appreciate just how good we have it here in Townsville, yet as Dr Anne says, “I always tell locals not to leave because they’ll spend the rest of their life trying to find somewhere like Townsville again.”

Whilst there might be those out there searching for greener pastures, at least we can say that we’ve found them right here in our city.

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Open Day

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NEW APP REVOLUTIONISES MUSIC TUTORING What if you could connect to any music teacher and learn any instrument through a handy, Australia-wide app? This is what John Ferreira from Townsville is hoping to achieve with his ‘LernIt’app music Australian-first music ‘Learn app,which whichcould couldchange changethe the It’, industry for people of all ages and abilities.

It’s a hard gig trying to learn a new instrument once you’re out of school and sometimes even while you’re still there. For those who are musically gifted, it’s even harder to share those skills and nurture potential students.

This is what prompted John to take action.

“I thought about the idea of being able to connect people from all across the country so you’re not limited to just your individual suburb, town or wherever you’re from,” John says.

“There are people out there who do Skype lessons at the moment, but you’re using loads of different third party apps or companies to communicate. You’ve got Skype, your emails, messenger and others whereas with ‘LernIt’ Learn It we’re going to condense the whole thing. The idea is that you only have one page and from there you can communicate in any way, you can connect via the weblink and you don’t have to worry about making all sorts of different profiles.”

This is music to a lot of people’s ears (pardon the pun) and will also work on a rating system so that you can filter your teachers by efficiency – but that’s not all.

“Anyone interested in teaching or learning any form of music can join.

We’ve got an endless amount of categories,” John says. “It will benefit the teachers because it’s a platform that essentially provides them a database of students all across the country. This way they can help grow their own brand and their own business. Obviously it’s similar for the students. If you’re trying to learn a specific instrument in a small town like Bowen you might not have much, whereas now you can be connected to someone straight away from say Sydney, Brisbane or any place at all really.”

city or location and have a whole world of new opportunities at their fingertips.

Thanks to the in-depth profiles, students will also be able to learn more about a teacher before progressing and connecting with them.

In a world where there are thousands of communication apps and even more gifted students, it’s great to see that we can combine the two and progress both the industry and our talent pool as a whole.

After all, it would be a sad day if we let something as small as distance discourage future musicians when we live in a world so intricately connected by technology.

Once signed up to the app, students and teachers can select the type of music they’re interested in, sort it by distance,

“Anyone interested in teaching or learning any form of music can join. We’ve got an endless amount of categories”

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DATA DYNAMICS A new Townsville-based data centre has the potential to stamp our city as the digital capital in north Australia – so what can we expect and why is it important?

When it comes to the digital world – especially in areas where disasters such as cyclones can strike – maintaining contact at all times is essential. This is especially true for online or tech companies whose disconnection affects day-to-day running, customers and ultimately the business.

This is why the North Queensland Regional Data Centre (NQRDC) – which consists of a partnership between Townsville City Council and James Cook University with a consortium made up of iSeek Communications, Optus, Dell and Schneider Electric – is essential.

Townsville City Council and JCU have committed to being anchor tenants for the centre and iSeek – an Australianbased data service – will operate it.

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said that apart from the direct jobs for operating the centre, it will also create a huge incentive for new businesses to set up shop in our city.

“The data centre will allow us to attract more high-tech business and innovative jobs to our region,” Cr Hill says. “With the speed that technology is advancing, businesses need increasingly more data storage to keep up. This generally means creating their own server rooms, which is a big expense, especially if you’re talking about a small start-up. If we can offer a world-class facility that allows high speed communications and data storage it makes Townsville an extremely attractive place to operate a business.”

The centre will also make it possible for a local wholesale internet service provider (ISP) to be created which means that new, Townsville-based ISP retail start-ups can begin operating.

“If we can offer a world-class facility that allows high speed communications and data storage it makes Townsville an extremely attractive place to operate a business” Cr Hill said it will also allow for existing local businesses to grow and thrive.

“Local businesses will be able to use the NQRDC instead of having to build their own data rooms which would be

a significant cost to achieve these kinds of speeds, uptime and reliability,” she says. “Without those extra costs they can focus on expanding their businesses without having to move their head offices to a larger city.”

We won’t have to wait years for the new technology to come to us either, with the North Queensland Regional Data Centre being built on the lower floor of Council’s new Local Disaster Coordination Centre (LDCC) on Dalrymple Road.

Construction of both the data and disaster centre is due to be completed at the end of September, with the fitout for the NQRDC expected to be finished in November.

The new data centre is rated to a Tier 3

by The Uptime Institute, which means there are guarantees on the type of hardware deployed in the data centre to ensure redundancy. It’s also the first of it’s kind outside of a capital city.

So not only will this new data centre entice entrepreneurs and innovators to move to or begin their ventures in Townsville, it will also do so in one of the safest centres in the city and potentially stamp our city as the digital capital in northern Australia.

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ANZAC DAY mLEST

WE FORGETn

WEDNESDAY 25 APRIL, 2018

Townsville City Council presents official ANZAC Day Commemorations in partnership with the Townsville RSL Sub-Branch and the Thuringowa RSL Sub-Branch.

Dawn Services and parades will be held across the city.

We extend an invitation to attend this national day of remembrance.

For the full list of service times and road closure information, visit www.whatson.townsville.qld.gov.au or phone 1300 878 001

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THE CHANGE OUR BUILDING INDUSTRY NEEDS - COLLABORATION NOT LEGISLATION What does it take to inspire industry-wide change? Martin Locke, Managing Director of Martin Locke Homes (MLH), believes Townsville’s Construction Industry has proven it has the power to achieve it, after the MLH team and over 60 of it’s trade and supply partners banded together to raise more than $150,000 to build ‘Nolan’s Home’.

After hearing Nolan and the Rooms family’s heartbreaking story they joined forces to build an all-accessible, Platinum Level forever home for Nolan and his family. Now, Martin is working with key industry stakeholders, developers, builders and all three levels of government to put together a Silver Level Pilot Program which will put Townsville at the forefront of positive change where accessibility-friendly homes are the norm and not the exception.

When Martin Locke first met Nicole and Christian Rooms, he couldn’t help but be touched by their situation.

Their now six-year-old son, Nolan, is living with Cerebral Palsy and struggled to access all rooms in their house, which meant that Nolan and his two brothers were virtually living separate lives. It was a heartbreaking story that truly touched the MLH team and further inspired them to create change – not just for the family but also for the industry.

“We didn’t think we could raise the $100,000 shortfall needed to make this home happen and some thought it was too ambitious, but the fact that we raised the $100,000 within a week, plus an additional $50,000 on top of that blew us all away,” Martin

says. “The Rooms’ family dream has become a reality because of the many local trades and suppliers who pitched in and it has changed a family forever.

The industry is made up of some real characters and genuinely good people, especially the tradies, and when they give, like they did for Nolan’s Home, it demonstrates a side of the industry that goes unnoticed. That is the character of the industry we all love, the true Aussie way of humbly giving, even when there are many reasons not to.”

Martin’s passion for accessible housing began upon building his first fully-accessible home for Cootharinga North Queensland ten years ago and seeing the impact even a small step can have on the ability of a person with physical impairment to move freely around their home. He opened his first display home with accessible living features in 2010 and all MLH new-home designs are in line with the principles of the Livable Housing Australia Guidelines (LHAG). Since then, he says he’s been very proud to see several other well established and socially conscious builders adopting accessibility-friendly features in their homes. However, Martin has also gone above and beyond to ensure that accessible design is adopted and upheld on a wider scale and not just by a select few.

“I have been working with key stakeholders within the community and building industry to put together a Pilot Program that will also involve all three levels of government. The Pilot Program will see Townsville lead the nation in how to collaborate together to achieve more accessible-friendly homes for everyone,” Martin explains.

There are several incredible benefits that come with building accessible homes – and they don’t just help those who plan to live in them either.

“There are some very basic accessible design features, which when incorporated at the time of building both future proofs a home and helps save taxpayer dollars, as it costs up to 20 times more to renovate these design features in an existing home,” Martin says. “It is a known fact that the ageing and disability sectors are growing faster than any other. For this reason alone, it makes absolute sense, both in the head and heart, to future proof all new homes to at least the basic level of accessibility. It is only a matter of time when the market will demand this as a standard inclusion because they will see first-hand that a home that has these accessible features, will sell and rent for more than a home that does not.”

With huge benefits for everyone both in and outside the industry, it’s easy to see why Martin and his team are pushing for change – so what can we do on a micro level? Martin says that, “collaboration as opposed to legislation” is a key element to creating this much-needed change.

“A large regional city like Townsville, has an opportunity to show the nation what can come from collaboration, which must be tangible action,” Martin says. “We don’t need more legislation to make us do something that saves the taxpayer money, plans for the future and improves people’s lives. To have as many new homes designed and built to the Silver Level of the LHAG does just that.”

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North Queensland Stadium project North Queenslanders In 2020 the gates of the North Queensland Stadium will swing open in Townsville in time for the start of the National Rugby League season, but the $250 million project being delivered by the Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning is already realising far-reaching benefits.

With main build works on the project set to begin in April, North Queenslanders will soon see the stadium rise from its foundations on the site located on the bank of the Ross Creek adjacent to the Townsville CBD. When appointed as Managing Contractor in May 2017, Watpac committed to targeting 80% of construction hours being delivered by locals and 80% of the value of construction being spent on local contractors and suppliers. To date the proportion of trade packages let to local subcontractors and suppliers stands at 92 per cent, with local subcontractors having delivered 95.4 per cent of construction hours. That equates to more than $37 million invested in local businesses since the project began.

The Stadium will have a 33,000 m2 footprint and contain 33,100 m3 of concrete, 4,000 tonnes of steel and

BD mag 50 BDmag

5,400 tonnes of reinforcement; with a structure of this scale there are many opportunities for local businesses to get involved.

With that in mind it is likely more local contractors and suppliers will join the 291 North Queensland businesses already engaged in the extended supply chain as the main build trade packages are progressively awarded in line with the project program.

Along with delivering a world-class stadium, this project supports the long-term diversification and growth of Townsville by positioning it as a major regional city underpinned by sporting excellence, events capability and distinct tourism opportunities.

The North Queensland Stadium is a joint project of the Queensland Government, Australian Government and Townsville City Council and is supported by both the National Rugby League and the North Queensland Cowboys. The stadium forms part of the Townsville City Deal signed in December 2016.

For more information on the North Queensland Stadium visit www. dsdmip.qld.gov.au/nqs

THE LAST

WORD

North Queensland consultants, contractors and suppliers appointed to the project to date are: · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Aecom Advantage Signs Ausco Modular Australian Indigenous Security Services Australian Reinforcing Company Brazier Motti Chubb Secure Cleaning Services Counterpoint Architecture GPB Constructions Holcim Jackson Semler James Cook University Wind Testing Station Mark Graham Electrical Markwell Demolitions Mendi Construction NQ Reo Otis Elevator Company Rapid Pre-Cast RPS Engineers SPD Contracting TFH Hire Services Thomas Steel Fabrications Toxfree

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