Powercor AGSE Entrepreneur Hall of Fame and Annual Richard Pratt Entrepreneur Oration
Powercor AGSE Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
The Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship (AGSE) Entrepreneur Hall of Fame was launched in 2006 and is the first of its kind in Australia. The event recognises and celebrates outstanding entrepreneurs and seeks to honour Australians who have made a significant difference in their field through entrepreneurial skill and talent. The AGSE Entrepreneur Hall of Fame recognises the value of entrepreneurship not only in the business world but also in other categories such as social, government and environmental.
Annual Richard Pratt Entrepreneur Oration
The AGSE has hosted this prestigious event since 2005. The annual oration on entrepreneurship theory and practice is presented by a prominent figure in the business community and honours Richard Pratt, one of Australia's greatest entrepreneurs. In addition to being a prominent businessman, arts philanthropist and football figure, Richard Pratt was Swinburne's Foundation Chancellor from December 1992 to April 2000.
Powercor AGSE Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame 2009
In 2009 not only did we induct some of Australia's most exceptional entrepreneurs into the AGSE Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, we were also thrilled to have Andrew Demetriou present the Annual Richard Pratt Entrepreneur Oration. Andrew is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Football League and a former Australian Rules footballer.
The 2009 Powercor AGSE Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame and Annual Richard Pratt Entrepreneur Oration was held on Wednesday 22 July 2009 at the Park Hyatt Melbourne.
2009 Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Inductees:
Mr Bob Beaumont, CEO, Beauchamp Pty Ltd
Category: Legend
Bob Beaumont is a champion of “young at heart” entrepreneurs, with over 40 years of involvement in financing and investing in everything from large multinational OEMs to technology start-ups across three continents. His diverse career has seen him involved in family-based businesses in manufacturing, to rural machinery and farming enterprisers, to print media, while pursuing a career in development, resources and asset finance early with the Commonwealth Development Bank and asset financier Custom Credit Corp in Australia, to a variety of International/UK/US Investment Banks and his own involvement in US VC market.
Bob’s opportunity in Business Angeling in Australia commenced in the early 90s when he was invited by the Federal Government and the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) to commence Australia’s first Angel Network. The VECCI Business Angels Services, as it was know, ran for approximately five years. It made over 100 investments and raised over $130m, addressing all the market barriers and cultures that had stifled entrepreneurship and the lack of seed venture capital. Two evolving angels chapters followed with Tech Angels Australia.
Along with Robert Gottliebsen (Founder & Editor) BRW Magazine and Small Business Editor Amanda Gome, Bob ran for five years the popular weekly “Angels Wanted” feature that aimed at matching Angels with entrepreneurs and later, the Australian Equity Association to address risk cultures and regulatory barriers. He has also made some 11 personal Angel investments.
Bob was also the main voice in linking the COMET program and the Technology Partners Network, which expended approx $80m in grant funds in the last 10 years with 2000 start-ups.
Mr Darryl Argall, Mayor, Hindmarsh Council
Category: Politico-Economic
Darryl Argall is a farmer in the Wimmera District of Western Victoria. Darryl served seven terms as mayor of the Hindmarsh Shire council and eight years on the Municipal Association of Victoria board, serving the last two years as Rural Vice-President. He was also on the Australian Local Government board for two years.
Along with his wife Mary, Darryl has grown to love the natural environment and spends countless hours wandering the Little Desert National Park.
Darryl led the Victorian local government push for the federal Roads Recovery Program which has supplied 66 per cent more road funding to Australian councils for the past 10 years.
Darryl also led the formation of the Hindmarsh Landcare network and its national award-winning Project Hindmarsh, which has revegetated 100 kilometres of roadside between the Big and Little Desert National parks from the Wimmera river to the South Australian border, creating over 2000km of uninterrupted bio-link corridors across that region. His passion for the environment aligns with his role as chair of the Western Region Sustainable Water Strategy Consultative Committee for Department of Sustainability and Environment.
Mr Bruce McKenzie, CEO, Goodwin Aged Care Services
Category: Social Entrepreneurship
Bruce McKenzie is driven by continually trying to improve the quality of life for those who are less fortunate and more vulnerable. After a 20-year career in the public sector, Bruce ventured into the not-for-profit sector.
In 1996 Bruce was appointed as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the ACT’s first affordable housing company, Community Housing Canberra Ltd (CHC). Bruce developed many innovative solutions which improved the quality of life for people living in social housing.
In 2003, Bruce was directly exposed to the injustices of how the frail aged can be treated if they are vulnerable and unable to find appropriate aged care. Shortly thereafter the opportunity arose to become CEO of Goodwin Aged Care Services Ltd (Goodwin). During the past 10 years, Bruce has redefined how housing for the frail, aged and people with disabilities can provide them with a better quality of life. His housing and aged care projects have achieved the highest national awards possible.
Mr Greg Stokes, Co-inventor and CEO, Barokes Wines
Category: High-growth Venture Entrepreneurship
Greg Stokes is Chief Executive Officer of Barokes Wines. He is also the architect and co-inventor behind the globally patented Vinsafe® packaging system, which enables the delivery of stability and longevity in the premium quality wine canning process. Like the ‘cask’ in the 1970s, Barokes’ patented system of producing and packaging premium quality wine in an individually-sized sealed can (Vinsafe®) is a world first, and is revolutionising wine consumption and opening new markets for wine geographically and demographically, thereby increasing the overall consumption of quality wine.
The idea of producing premium quality wine that could be canned was conceived by Greg in 1996 after an incident where a glass bottle of wine accidentally fell into a jacuzzi, almost breaking. Necessity breeds invention! From this incident, the idea of packaging premium quality wine in a safe, convenient, portable, and environmentally friendly container was conceived and the research into the Vinsafe® system commenced.
Mr Pat Boland and Mr Pat McCluskey, Founders, ANCA Pty Ltd
Category:Private Company Entrepreneurship (Advanced Manufacturing)
Pat Boland and Pat McCluskey recognised that, by combining their academic and practical trade skills, they could build machines that were internationally competitive. In 1977, they formed the Australian NC Automation, now called ANCA. ANCA’s original business was industrial automation with a specialisation in computer control of machine tools. During the foundation years of ANCA, Pat Boland specialised in software and control system design. During the mid-1980s ANCA decided to manufacture complete machine tools rather than just supply control systems. ANCA’s choice of target machine was CNC Tool and Cutting Grinders - a machine used to manufacture and resharpen industrial cutting tools. The prototype machine was shown in Chicago in 1986, where its innovative software and design lead to rapid customer acceptance.
Today ANCA is a truly global company with a strong support and sales network in all major industrial countries. It still offers highly technical products that are easy to use on a factory shop floor by combining the output of talented professional engineers with skilled tradespersons. Its complex five-axis machines are considered world-leading technology and are used from small family businesses to leading companies such as Boeing, General Electric, Rolls Royce, Iscar and Johnson and Johnson. ANCA’s manufacturing facilities in Bayswater, Australia and Rayong, Thailand are world class in terms of productivity and accuracy. ANCA has exported approximately 2500 machines worth around $900m, and was named Australian Exporter of the Year in 1999. The company is also the world’s leading manufacturer of CNC Tool and Cutter Grinders. Its new subsidiary, ANCA Motion, is supplying computer controls to other Australian manufacturers and exporting to China and Taiwan.
Ms Kirsty McCarthy, Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Inference Communications
Kirsty McCarthy is one of the founders and key executives of Inference Communications, an Australian company at the forefront of delivering next-generation speech recognition solutions to Australian and overseas companies. The intellectual property (IP) behind Inference’s products was originally developed in the artificial intelligence group of Telstra Research laboratories. Kirsty and her co-founder Callan Schebella negotiated a licence with Telstra to this IP and have since refined, improved and moulded it into a series of products that are delivering improved customer service and significant cost savings for companies across a variety of industry sectors.
Kirsty is committed to the commercialisation of ground breaking Australian intellectual property (IP), nurturing these companies through their early development and driving their growth. Particularly in the information technology sector, Kirsty believes there is no reason why Australian-based companies, commercialising Australian IP, can’t compete on a global stage. She is passionate about making sure Australia provides an environment where these sorts of ventures are allowed to succeed, as these companies are vital to Australia’s future prosperity.
2009 Richard Pratt Entrepreneurship Orator
Andrew Demetriou– Chief Executive Officer, Australian Football League (AFL)
Andrew Demetriou is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Football League and a former Australian Rules footballer. Elected to the position in 2003, Andrew was instrumental in securing a record-breaking $780 million television rights deal.
Prior to that, Andrew was CEO of the AFL Players Association, and played a key part in establishing programs to look after both career and retired players. He led the implementation of the AFL Players' Association Retirement Fund, the Player Welfare Fund, as well as the Education and Training Fund, among many others. He also negotiatied a landmark five-year collective bargaining agreement on behalf of the players.
Andrew is also a qualified teacher, and has taught business, law and politics at Trinity Grammar School and RMIT.
