Murrumbidgee Irrigation (MI) is one of the largest private irrigation companies in Australia serving over 3,260 landholdings owned by over 2,300 shareholder customers within an area of 378,911 hectares. MI's core business is delivery of water through an extensive integrated supply and drainage network. The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) is one of the most diverse and productive regions in Australia.The Business Development role has the objectives of:-- Develop new business opportunities and water-related initiatives that increase value for MI and its customers- Facilitate new investment in the MIA that increases water and network utilisation - Increase the value of our business by improving network utilisation, efficiency and cost-effectiveness

Serafin Ag Pro are a AGCO, PFG and Hardi franchise selling tractors, sprayers, mulches etc. servicing the growers in the Riverina MIA area.

Broad acre cropping farm in southern NSW. Cropping 10,000ha consisting of wheat, barley, canola, peas, vetch and lupins.

Managing the team of sales managers from northern NSW to SA. Developing sales plans and strategies for the business and and individuals. Working with key clients who have the size and capability to generate sales growth.Developing and implementing training requirements for the sales team.

BioAg manufactures biological soil and plant nutrition products, which it markets to farmers in programs to improve their soils, crops, pastures and animal health. Servicing the cotton and summer cropping area in the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Valleys along with the broadacre cropping area of the Riverina.

Leasing 2500ha of dryland mixed farming country north of Leeton. 1300ha of broadacre cropping producing wheat, barley, canola and sheep.This was a great opportunity to experience the requirements of starting and operating a farming business from scratch. A lot of valuable experience gained during this period including managing contractors, plant and machinery leasing, banking and financial management.

Southern NSW Part of the state management team focusing on growth for the network.Management of 11 agribusiness retail outlets with 45 staff in Southern NSW. These businesses include merchandise, fertilizer, agricultural chemical, livestock and real estate business, insurance, rural finance and grain marketing.Manage the change environment with new business structures and processes.Budget and Capital expenditure proposals.Negotiations with suppliers and growers.Account management implementation.Staff engagement and empowerment for successAchievementsDevelop a sales culture and disciplines within the branches including sales meetings and sales focus sessions. This included the selection of quality sales staff and engaging them with unfamiliar products but maintaining the sales practices and disciplines to be successful. Through these disciplines, I converted average performing branches to branches that doubled their budgets in 2 years.Implementation of the SAP system with minimal business interruptions. This included learning and understanding the change process and the requirements of training, coaching and mentoring of staff in the new ways of doing business and addressing their concerns. These concerns covered an array of emotions from a vast array of ages, qualifications and experience.Managing the change process with staff during restructures and the implementation of new business practices. This included the identifying people's concerns and emotions and addressing them through encouragement and empowerment.Organisation

Griffith and HillstonDuties:Day to day management of the Griffith and Hillston agribusiness retail outlets Grew the business from a $15m turnover in 2003 to $35m in 2006/7Develop and implement changeBudget and Capital expenditure proposalsNegotiations with suppliers and clientsOH&S cultural changeAnnual budget for the branches and monthly updates to the budgetStaff management - 20 staffOrganise and speak at grower meetingsAchievementsDeveloped a strong successful sales team. With the development and training of key sales staff, we were able to grow our merchandise and fertiliser business to achieve continual sales and EBIT growth year on year.Increased the branch EBIT from $450k in 2003/4 to $1.3mil in 2006/7. A key area of growth was achieved through changing the business focus from a shotgun approach trying to be everything for everyone to a model that excelled in key business areas and then look to develop into other markets.Successfully took over the Hillston branch and changed the business focus to turn around the EBIT from $50k to $450k in 2 years. This was achieved by investigating the current market they were involved in and re-aligning their sales focus to the changing environment they were playing in.Organisation

Grain accumulation from the Riverina areaGrower education on marketing options including the use of futuresField days and seminarsServicing growers and end users

Started with Riverina in 1991 as a grain and hay trader before progressing to Branch Manager in 1999. The main activities for the branch were supplying the Rockdale Beef feedlot with their hay and grain requirements which equated to around 10,000tonne of hay and 200,000+tonne of grain. We also exported Oaten Hay to the Japan dairy industry.

Research, propose, recommend and implement purchasing strategy for all grain and hay requirements for a 60,000 head feedlotOrganise and negotiate storage agreements for 200,000 tonne of grainReport writing to the directors including monthly profit and loss reportsNegotiating export contracts, foreign exchange contracts, shipping and production schedulesOrganise and speak at grower meetings, field daysAchievementsDeveloped a local export Oaten Hay industry where we were purchasing 30-40,000 tonne of oaten hay for the export and domestic market annually. This included quality control measures and assessments to meet the strict Japanese markets.Developed an accumulation, storage, handling and logistic program for 200,000 tonne of grain for a local feedlot. This program started from a zero base and grew with the feedlot development. The success of this program was to ensure the input costs for the feedlot were more competitive that those of their competitors.