• SA Young Entrepreneur of the Year announced
• Revamp for Hallett Cove Shopping Centre
• SA reaps mining royalties windfall
• UniSA pairs with e-scooter company to create ‘Future Scooter Lab’
• New look for SA market research company
• SA Power Networks make call to public
• New forest precinct at Tonsley
• SA’s top tap water named

SA Young Entrepreneur of the Year announced

Emilia Pirone was last week announced as the South Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Business SA.

Pirone is the general manager of Goodies and Grains, an artisan manufacturer and wholesaler producing a range of grain products from its production facility in Stepney.

A graduate of the Business SA’s South Australian Young Entrepreneur Scheme, Pirone took over Goodies and Grains in 2018 and expanded the company’s product range to cater for more personal requirements.

? WINNER ? Emilia Pirone – Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Congratulations to Emilia for winning tonight’s most prestigious award. Her business Goodies & Grains is an artisan producer drawing on carefully selected ingredients to make diverse and beneficial foods. #SAYES pic.twitter.com/9C2W8FnS6n

— South Australian Business Chamber (@Business_SA) October 20, 2022

She was named Business SA’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year at an awards ceremony on Thursday night at the National Wine Centre.

Business SA CEO Andrew Kay applauded Pirone and all the SAYES graduates for their entrepreneurial work.

“These young entrepreneurs from across metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia are setting the bar high for the future of South Australia,” he said.

“We are proud to present the SAYES program and our work with budding young entrepreneurs to help them realise their business goals.”

-Sophie Holder

Revamp for Hallett Cove Shopping Centre

A computer image of the Hallett Cove Shopping Centre revamp. Image: Antunes Group and Hames Sharley

Plans have been unveiled for a “retail rejuvenation” of Hallett Cove Shopping Centre in Adelaide’s south, featuring new restaurants and an open-air playground.

New owner Richard Antunes last week revealed plans for the development, which is set to create over 100 permanent jobs in addition to construction jobs.

Hallett Cove Shopping Centre currently features a Woolworths, Aldi, and Drakes Supermarkets with the redevelopment set to introduce new restaurants, an open-air playground, and over 50 local and national retailers from

The current centre is located 24kms south of the Adelaide CBD with a corner allotment of 52,909 square metres, allowing for over 10 million passing vehicles in traffic volumes annually.

Following store closures and vacancies under previous ownership, Atunes said he hopes the centre will become the “community heart of South Adelaide”.

“We want to create a well-balanced environment that can be used every day by the community; a space that enriches everyday life, with indoor and outdoor experiences designed for convenience and connection,” he said.

“Centre analysis has provided a pleasant surprise, proving that we already have more than 3.5 million visitors to the Centre per year.

“The businesses that are already in and committed to the Centre, trade well. There is a great opportunity for future growth and ambitious plans.”

A computer image view of the North West entrance into the proposed Hallett Cove Shopping Centre revamp. Antunes Group and Hames Sharley

Design studio Hames Sharley has been appointed to facilitate this redevelopment.

Hames Sharley managing director Caillin Howard said the new centre will be “an ongoing collaboration to furthering the role of the centre from its base of convenience to adding more lifestyle, food and beverage and aspirational shopping experiences, where one cannot just come to shop, but locals can connect and meet for so much more”.

Construction is scheduled to commence in Q4 2022.

-Brad Noske

SA reaps mining royalties windfall

The state government’s coffers received a nearly $60m windfall from the minerals and petroleum sector last financial year.

The figures, published in the latest Auditor-General’s report tabled last week, show royalties receipts from the two sectors reaching $382.7m last financial year, up from $322.9m in 2020-21.

According to the state government, the result marks the fourth consecutive year of record royalty receipts from the minerals and petroleum sector.

Mining royalties contributed $240.6m to last financial year’s receipts, up from $236.8m in 2020-21.

But it was the petroleum sector that contributed to the majority of the windfall with royalty receipts increasing from $86.1m in 2020-21 to $142.5m in 2021-22.

Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said: “Oil and gas companies and their employees are important contributors to the economic fabric of our state and our community.”

“The recent SA Business Index published by InDaily emphasised this, with Santos again at number one, Beach energy at four and Cooper Energy at 16, with several growing energy resources companies also making their mark in the list.

“While we must change in a fast decarbonising world, the challenge for the industry and government is to ensure that a decarbonising world does not undermine our industrial competitiveness or leave people behind.”

UniSA pairs with e-scooter company to create ‘Future Scooter Lab’

UniSA design students learning at the new “Future Scooter Lab”. Photo: supplied

The University of South Australia has joined with e-scooter provider Beam to engage students with the real-world challenges of the micro-mobility industry.

The “Future Scooter Lab” will take students from the undergraduate Bachelor of Design, Product Design and postgraduate Master of Design (Industrial Design specialisation) programs at UniSA and provide them with problems statements they have to solve as part of their coursework.

The program will also include tours of Beam’s warehouses and guest lectures from senior Beam managers.

Beam general manager Australia and New Zealand Tom Cooper said the micro-mobility industry has progressed quickly since it was first introduced to Australia in 2018.

“As the industry continues to grow, it’s vital that we are able to educate and nurture local talent who will be able to take on the new challenges of micro-mobility as we work to make an impact on congestion in our cities,” he said.

“Students provide insights from their research process that we then incorporate into our operations strategies.”

UniSA’s Bachelor of Design program director Dan McLean said the project presents an “outstanding opportunity” for design students at UniSA.

“We have worked on mobility projects with our students including solar cars and future buses, so the micro-mobility project with Beam fits nicely with our previous projects, designing how cities of the future can facilitate accessible mobility for all,” McLean said.

“This (partnership) will benefit both our Product and Industrial Design students and staff with opportunities to work on real future mobility challenges with real-world outcomes.”

-Sophie Holder

New look for SA market research company 

Square Holes has unveiled a new logo and website on the eve of the company’s eighteenth anniversary.

Founded by Jason Dunstone in 2004, Square Holes has offices in Adelaide and Melbourne and has worked on programs ranging from reducing negative societal behaviours and creating a vibrant cultural sector to informing government policy and social welfare priorities, and development of the Riverbank and Adelaide Oval.

Dunstone said the re-launch is in part to position Square Holes as a global player in the market research industry, as reflected by its work for Dilmah tea in Sri Lanka.

“The team at Square Holes has always prided ourselves on doing things a little differently. And while that irreverence still exists in our brand, we wanted assets that really reflected the experienced and self-assured organisation we have grown into over the past 18 years,” Dunstone said.

“We feel our new logo conveys a renewed sense of experience and sophistication, while retaining the approachable warmth and friendliness that we’ve always been known for. “

Square Holes enlisted the expertise of local talent in graphic designer Jeremy DV Boyd, website developer Harley Cummins and photographer Thomas McCammon to help bring the new branding vision to life.

SA Power Networks make call to public

SA Power Networks is inviting South Australians to nominate to be part of their “People’s Panel” to help determine the content of their draft 2025-2030 regulatory submission to the Australian Energy Regulator next year.

The submission will influence how the electricity distribution network is managed from mid-2025 onwards.

Run independently by Australian organisation democracyCo, the SAPN panel will consist of 50 selected participants and 15 business representatives.

SAPN executive GM customer and community Jess Vonthethoff said it is the first time a panel has been assembled in SA to determine what services are included in the submission to the energy regulator.

“We have developed our community engagement and consultation process with our Community Advisory Board and have conducted a number of deep dive workshops with various communities to understand customers’ concerns and priorities for 2025-2030,” she said.

“Now we are looking for a People’s Panel to consider all the community and stakeholder feedback and the initial plans we have developed so we can draft our submission to the Regulator.

“This is a real opportunity for South Australians to influence our long-term plans.”

Vonthethoff said the consultation with customers and community members so far had found that the key issues are electricity affordability and equity; the safety, reliability and security of electricity supply; choice around how customers meet their energy needs; and decarbonising the energy system.

Expressions of interest can be registered at www.talkingpower.com.au/peoples-panel.

-Sophie Holder

New forest precinct at Tonsley

The new foyer forest in the Tonsley Innovation District. Photo: Renewal SA/supplied

The Tonsley Innovation District has opened its fourth and final forest near TAFE SA’s Tonsley Campus, bringing total trees, plants and shrubs around the precinct’s Main Assembly Building to almost 4500.

The new “foyer forest” is next to the “central forest”, “lounge forest” and “plaza forest”, all in the District Area.

A series of work pods and office tenancies are expected to be built around the new forest along with tables that act as a flexible study space and casual lunch area for TAFE students.

“The urban forests align with Renewal SA’s commitment to create liveable and environmentally sustainable developments, and its push toward carbon neutrality as part of our pledge to fully offset emissions by 2050,” Planning Minister Nick Champion said.

“Because it’s undercover, and open to the community, it’s become an alternative destination to the traditional neighbourhood park.”

Solar capacity is also set to be increased to five megawatts at the Tonsley Innovation District after a new array was installed on the roofs of the TAFE SA and Line 0 buildings.

Along with existing panels atop the Main Assembly Building, solar panels will account for up to 80 per cent of Tonsley’s energy demand with a 10-megawatt battery set to be installed at the District to capture any excess energy and store it onsite for later use.

-Brad Noske

SA’s top tap water named

The Murray Bridge Water Treatment Plant has taken out the top spot in South Australia’s Best Tasting Tap Water competition.

The annual contest saw judges taste water from 16 different water treatment plants in South Australia to critique the samples based on their clarity, mouthfeel and taste.

SA Water’s senior manager of water expertise Daniel Hoefel said the Murray Bridge plant had close competition from other Riverland operators.

“This year we had many high-quality tap water samples in the field, with the three finalists, Loxton, Renmark and Murray Bridge, showcasing the best water in the state,” Hoefel said.

“Sourced from the River Murray and using traditional filtration process, the Murray Bridge plant provides water to around 19,000 customers, producing 3100 megalitres of water each year.”

“This competition is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our fantastic drinking water and to recognise the efforts of operators providing our state with valuable water services.”

Murray Bridge will represent South Australia later this year at the national competition in Casino, New South Wales.

The winner of the national competition will represent Australia at the annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Competition held in West Virginia, USA.

-Sophie Holder