Milestones 12

Key Points

•Mangan management team, from left Chris Mangan, Michelle Corby, Michael Mangan, Suzanne Mangan, Lisa Robinson and Matt Mangan.

require specialised extraction equipment.

Mangan was the first company in the Oberon region to introduce lower, safer loads by designing and building an extended log trailer for haulage. In 2002 the company introduced the first 19m B-double, in 2013 the first 23m B-Double and in 2018 the first 25meter B-Double. Mangan was also the first in the region to add stability control to its trucking units.

Generation three take the reigns

Mathew and Chris transitioned easily into the business, both completing their apprenticeships as diesel mechanics.

As his father recalls, “Mathew always loved the bush machines.” It seemed inevitable that Matt would be a natural fit for the business. He began his apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic, displaying an aptitude that would begin to position Mangan Logging ahead of the industry pack.

Chris embraced haulage as a specialist service. “When I first started my diesel mechanic apprenticeship, we had one truck and we had never really planned to get big into trucks,” Chris said.

“But I put my efforts into the haulage workshop, and it grew from there. We started off with a couple of trucks and then we had 10, then we had 12, and now we’ve got 25 and we’re a leader in the haulage industry.”

Lisa entered the administration side of the business, spending 15 years responsible for managing The Mangan Group head office before taking on the responsibility of Store Manager for the past six years. She has the future of their entire workforce front of mind.

“We all want Mangan Logging & Haulage to succeed. Aside from making Dad and all our families proud, we’re here for our employees and their jobs,” Lisa said.

With qualifications including a Bachelor of Business (Accounting/Finance) and a Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting, Michelle has been contributing to the financial side of the business for 14 years.

Michelle said the family credits Bert and Monica, and Michael and Suzanne, for the solid foundations they established for the family.

“They’ve given us the platforms and the infrastructure for success, and we have skillsets that just compliment the business.

“We’ve got Matt who’s in the harvesting side, Chris is on the trucks, Lisa’s in the store, and me in finance.

“It’s like a puzzle that just fits together, that just works.” •Mangan Logging & Haulage was established in 1961 by Bert and Monica

Mangan. •The business has grown from one trucking unit to 25, along with numerous harvesting units, two mechanic workshops, and a 24-hour breakdown service. •It employs more than 70 staff and contractors, including six apprentices, many of whom are multi-generational employees.

In the news IFA/AFG looks to new name, future and focus

Philip Hopkins

The amalgamated group, the Institute of Foresters of Australia/Australian Forest Growers, is moving towards a revamp of its name as the organisation repositions its future as a profession.

The IFA/AFG president, Bob Gordon, said the IFA had been going through a change process over the past few years, which included the merging of Australian Forest Growers with the IFA.

“We have been doing things, such as regular webinars on topics ranging from indigenous forest management to carbon accounting to the use of drones,” he said. “Members want more networking and professional development opportunities. That’s what the webinars are about.

“We have also put a lot of effort to encourage younger foresters to join the IFA, including setting up a young group for future foresters and doing some training and providing scholarships for young people.”

Mr Gordon said that feedback showed that the name IFA/Aust Forest Growers to many younger members seemed a bit ancient.

“It does not necessary reflect all the things that we do,” he said.

Discussions with members, including an internal survey, resulted in four or five names being selected as the new identification for the group. Mr Gordon said unfortunately, one favoured name was already taken by a Commonwealth Government Department.

“They had it - no one in the world knew about it - but they had the domain name and had registered the name as well,” he said.

Following that, Mr Gordon said the IFA/AFG decided to go broader and get professional advice. The market research group Pollinate, led by Howard Parry-Husbands, was hired to get public feedback on a possible new name.

“The idea was to think deeper about what people thought about names, not just the names themselves,” he said. “We are still analysing that.”

At the same time, the IFA/ AFG also did another member satisfaction survey.

“We were really happy with the outcome - 81.9 per cent were satisfied or very satisfied, up substantially from 60 per cent in 2019 and 70 per cent last year,” he said.

“What they want us to work on, is better advocacy for well thought-out research on forest science and forest management, working to increase our profile as the rational voice of scientific forest management when there is a lot of other noise around.”

Mr Gordon said the group’s members would have to be the experts in most of their fields. This was whether it was academic members, generally professors of forest and land management or forest and environmental science, or specialist members.

“The forest fire committee has probably got seven or eight of the top forest fire mangers in Australia. Yet we sometimes struggle to get that message across,” he said, despite having people who have spent their whole lives in forest management.

These included Bill Jackson, deputy Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Geneva, and other people active in parks management and other areas. “But we get painted by opponents of sustainable forestry as an industry body,” he said.

Mr Gordon said this was one reason whether “we should refresh the name and find a name that resonates a bit more”.

The initial results were in, which would be discussed at board level.

This would be followed by more consultation with members, including meetings with divisional and committee chairs.

“We will go through what we have talking about. There is no firm timetable; we will make a decision and then put it to the members,” he said.

•IFA/AFG president Bob Gordon.