• Ord Minnett pens partnership with the Adelaide Football Club
• Elders and Adelaide Bank subsidiary cut ties
• Food SA develops new ESG platform
• $2.5 million grants to tackle skills shortages
• New Precision Engineering Centre at UniSA
• South Australian Food, Bev & Tech Show returns for 2024
• PhD students awarded with $35,000 scholarship

Ord Minnett pens partnership with the Adelaide Football Club

Wealth management firm Ord Minnett has signed a sponsorship agreement with the Crows in a move that will make the company an Official Partner.

Ord Minnett will sponsor the club’s Chairman’s Event on home game days, with managing director and CEO Karl Morris noting partnering with the Crows was an “easy decision” particularly as the club’s senior coach Matthew Nicks worked at the firm.

“We’re delighted to enter our first AFL sponsorship with the Crows, not only because many of us are fans of the club but you can’t ask for a stronger link when a former employee becomes Senior Coach,” Morris said.

“Being part of the Chairman’s Event is a well-aligned fit for our private wealth clients and we’re genuinely looking forward to hosting matches at the Adelaide Oval and cheering on the Crows.”

– David Simmons

Elders and Adelaide Bank subsidiary cut ties

Agribusiness Elders has agreed “in-principle” with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to cease an agreement with the latter’s subsidiary Rural Bank.

In an ASX statement, Elders said the agreement covered the pair’s relationship in connection with the origination and referral of Rural Bank’s loan and deposit products since 2019.

According to Elders, the relationship contributed $11.3 million in gross margin to its financial services business. Rural Bank will pay Elders $17 million to end the agreement.

Elders managing director and CEO Mark Allison said changes in financial services strategy both at his company and the bank meant the cessation was meaningful for customers of both organisations and would allow the agribusiness to provide a refreshed range of financial services to its customers.

“I would like to acknowledge the long and successful relationship with Rural Bank,” Allison said.

“However, as the needs of our customers have developed, so too must our business strategy.

“We look forward to building on our already successful financial services business to provide our customers with the financial products they need to improve their productivity.”

– David Simmons

Food SA develops new ESG platform

Food South Australia (Food SA) has partnered with How Sustainability to develop an online environmental social governance (ESG) platform, which it says will “revolutionise” how food and beverage companies collect and measure data in areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, water and waste.

The platform was developed with a $100,000 LEAP Grant from Green Industries SA and will provide policy and procedure guides for businesses to create ESG practices.

“This is a game-changer for the food and beverage sector in South Australia,” said Marni Cook, CEO of Food South Australia.

“Sustainability measuring and reporting can be an overwhelming area for businesses to navigate, and How Sustainability’s platform offers a smooth and fast process for setting, measuring and achieving ESG goals.”

The six companies that will take part in a pilot for the program are Almondco Australia, Olga’s Fine Foods, Pendleton Olive Estate, The Yoghurt Shop, Tucker’s Natural and Woodside Cheese Wrights.

Once the pilot is complete, Food South Australia says it will open the platform up to other South Australian businesses.

–Charlie Gilchrist

$2.5 million grants to tackle skills shortages

The state government has announced that $2.5 million in grants will be awarded to not-for-profits, industry training organisations and TAFE SA to tackle skills shortages and boost the training sector.

The grants will go towards teaching and training tools and acquiring the latest technology and hands-on equipment in sectors including health, construction, disability and agriculture.

The funding is part of the Government’s $9 million investment announced in the 2023-24 budget in equipment and capital grants for TAFE SA, not-for-profit and industry-based provided.

The State Government has also announced $7 million to go towards training for South Australian not-for-profit and industry-based training providers.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said that “a strong skills sector is imperative to ensuring a strong economy and to meet our ambitious agenda in projects such as the hydrogen plant, AUKUS and three-year-old preschool.”

“This funding means new and improved experiences for learners, greater outreach for quality training and demonstrates another clear step towards ensuring we have a well-trained workforce to meet our skills needs today and into the future.”

According to Boyer, the latest data shows that South Australia has the largest number of students enrolled in vocational education and training (VET) courses in Australia.

–Charlie Gilchrist

New Precision Engineering Centre at UniSA

The University of South Australia officially opened the Precision Engineering Centre last week, where it showcased its new $10 million advanced optics capabilities

The centre is a collaboration between the South Australian node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF-SA) and the Research Engineering team at Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG).

It houses lab-on-a-chip technology, micro and nano-machining equipment, advanced sensing and state-of-the-art precision optics capabilities and expertise. According to the university, it is the only centre of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The technology developed in the centre will be used in defence, health and medical fields, manufacturing, mining, recycling and clean energy, water security, space and agriculture.

UniSA said its recent creations include tiny sensors and the largest diamond-turned mirror in Australia, which was made with a multi-axis, ultra-precision machining system.

“Combining ANFF-SA’s expertise and capabilities with DSTG’s science and technology applications, we’ve developed a truly integrated fabrication and testing capability with the Precision Engineering Centre. This paves the way for novel technologies and significant advancements in space optics and complex rapid prototyping,” said DSTG Re Program Leader Ben Barona.

–Charlie Gilchrist

South Australian Food, Bev & Tech Trade Show returns for 2024

Food SA announced that the South Australian Food, Bev & Tech Trade show will return next year to showcase the state’s food, beverages and “cutting-edge” technologies.

The event will have over 120 exhibitors and will showcase an array of food and beverage products, alongside the latest advancements in industry technologies, equipment and solutions designed for food processing, retail, wholesale and hospitality operations.

“We are excited to be partnering with Gap Solutions once again to deliver the South Australian Food, Bev & Tech Trade Show in 2024, showcasing the quality and innovation of our local food and beverage industry,” said Marni Cook, CEO of Food South Australia.

“This event is a crucial platform for businesses to discover new ideas, products, suppliers, and technology, fostering growth and advancement within the sector.”

More than 2000 suppliers, producers, retailers, bakers, butchers and industry bodies are expected to attend the event on 7-8 May 2024 at the Adelaide Showgrounds.

–Charlie Gilchrist

PhD students awarded with $35,000 scholarship

Two Australian PhD students have been named as the inaugural recipients of the Dr Peter Woodgate Scholarship for Earth Observation by the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre and the Andy Thomas Space Foundation.

Donna Fitzgerald from the University of South Australia and Oliver Hatswell from Flinders University will each receive scholarships valued at $35,000 per year for their respective research projects.

Fitzgerald’s project involves quantifying the dieback of eucalypt forests and vegetation health changes over time using comparative remote sensing techniques to monitor health. The findings will be used to develop a remote sensing and scenario-based framework for dieback analytics in other forests.

Hatswell’s project involves the innovative mapping of archaeological landscapes in the Australian Arid Zone using satellite remote sensing. It will undertake an extensive trial of high-resolution remote sensing and machine learning methods to map key geomorphic features and inform understanding of archaeological potential, chronology, and depositional history.

–Charlie Gilchrist