MEMBER PROFILE Ricey is the Managing Director of Proterra Group, a civil engineering consultancy based in Toowoomba. He is a qualified civil engineer with over 20 years local government experience. A country boy at heart, Ricey is passionate about rural and regional Australia with a vested interest in growing the number of engineers and technical professionals supporting communities and fostering collaboration between councils. Proterra Group has worked with over 45 councils across NSW and QLD and are committed to providing practical, cost-effective infrastructure solutions for regional communities. Ricey has held full-time and seconded roles with several councils including Director of Engineering Services, Works Engineer and CEO. Although based in Goondiwindi, Ricey travels widely and is in regular contact with many councils. He also provides business coaching and mentoring and loves giving back to the communities which support his business. Is your experience in the public or private sector or both? What differences, if any, have you noticed between the two when working regionally? Most of my experience is in local government although half my career has been as a consultant to the public sector with Proterra Group. I still consider myself a council engineer even though I run a business. I also worked for two years as the general manager of an irrigation and AgChem business and two years as a project manager for a civil construction company, Sudholz when I first moved to Goondiwindi. Not many council engineers get to work with scrapers and laser buckets but they are amazing. Get on it. In my experience there’s a lot more expected of you when you work in the private sector when it comes to hours, working weekends, and overall responsibility for budgets and
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profitability when compared to the local government works. The nature of the work is generally the same though, and I can say first-hand that most of the engineers I’ve worked with in local government also put in the big hours and work hard for their communities. I don’t tolerate those who insult council workers. A key learning is the knowledge difference when it comes to contracts. When I was in local government, I thought I knew contracts but it wasn’t until I moved to private sector that I really understood a contract and I’m confident you wouldn’t cause me any surprises when it comes to a contractual issue. It’s one of the reasons I now love supplying services to local government. How long have you lived and worked where you are now? I have been in Goondiwindi just over 15 years and love everything about it … except it’s in Qld; I’m from Back O’Bourke in NSW. Have you always worked regionally, or have you also worked in metropolitan areas? If so, what are the more prominent differences between the two experiences? I have always worked regionally and don’t do cities. I am glad we have city folk for the nice restaurants and weekend getaways but I could never live there. Too many traffic lights, fast walkers and people who don’t wave to me when I drive past. What first attracted you to working regionally?
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | SEPT 2021
I was born and bred in Bourke, NSW which had a population then of about 3,000. I love the bush and I can’t see myself leaving. And when you’re working you don’t specialise in anything, you have to become a generalist engineer, jack of all trades. You have to get it done and don’t have the liberty of calling on the multitude of consultants or contractors that you’d find in the cities. I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. Are your experiences similar or different to what you anticipated? I think they are exactly what I expected and at the end of the day, work is what you make it. I love what I do and don’t know what I would do if I ever leave or sell Proterra. I travel, I advise, and I build stuff. What more could you want? In the early parts of my career though I struggled with spending weeks or months writing reports for councillors and having them make a different recommendation. “No, we won’t buy that grader because a mate of mine had one and it kept doing turbos. Let’s get this other one.” Then one of my bosses said, “Ricey, our job is to research and advise. It’s their job to make the call.” I’ve never lost sleep since. What has been the impact of working regionally on your engineering skills and knowledge? I think it’s given me the most amazing opportunities to advance my career, advance my salary and ultimately start my own
