2020 Annual General Meeting

December 2, 2020

Annual General Meeting

The Geelong Manufacturing Council held its Annual General Meeting via live webinar on the morning of Wednesday, November 25. The meeting was attended by 50 members and guests who were presented with a summary of the work carried out by GMC during 2019-20 and a presentation from Farm Foods CEO, Greg Hughes. Farm Foods recently won the Advanced Manufacturing & Industry Category of the 2020 Geelong Business Excellence Awards, which GMC was proud to sponsor.

2020 – 25 Strategy & New Logo

We were very pleased to launch the GMC 2020-25 Strategy and new branding at the AGM. The strategy has been developed over the last twelve months through significant consultation with our members and stakeholders. We’ll be providing more information on the strategy in the coming weeks and we look forward to working with members to continue to develop the manufacturing sector in our region as an important contributor to our economic prosperity.

We’re excited to mark this new phase in GMC’s long history with updated branding to reflect the collaboration and growth that are key facets of an advanced manufacturing economy. You’ll begin to see our new logo & branding rolled out across our communications & materials over the coming weeks.

 

Chair’s Report

Lyn George, OAM, presented the Chair’s Report. Lyn reflected on the challenges faced during 2019-20 that highlighted the importance of Australian having a strong local manufacturing capability. She encouraged both State and Federal Governments to think big, with a pivot to focus more on incentivising manufacturing.

Lyn called on members to take advantage of GMC’s programs that are designed specifically to support manufacturers. She encouraged them to think creatively and advocate where possible to promote the manufacturing sector within their own networks.

Lyn said highlights in the wider manufacturing arena for the year included the announcement by Deakin University & CSIRO of the development of a Circular Economy Initiative, the announcement that Hanwha Defense Australia has been chosen to build 30 Self Propelled Howitzers for the ADF, with Geelong being the preferred base and the work of the Advanced Fibre Cluster Geelong.

Lyn briefly spoke about the work done by the Board and Management of GMC during the year to develop the 2020-25 Strategy (more detail was provided later in the meeting).

In closing, Lyn encouraged members to take up the opportunity for rebooting the Australian manufacturing sector, think innovatively, invest in R&D and create new partnerships.

CEO’s Report

David Peart, CEO presented the CEO’s Report. He reflected on a key message from the challenges experienced during the year – manufacturing is a critical and vitally important part of the economy, closely connected with notions of what comprises essential industry.

David noted positive announcements early in the year across defence and renewable energy projects. He highlighted GMC’s work during the latter part of the year as part of a number of COVID-19 initiatives including participating in an analysis of Australian PPE capability, several Geelong-based initiatives undertaken to produce PPE such as hand sanitiser and face masks and other components of the PPE supply chain. A new GMC initiative aimed at helping members to diversify their offerings and engage with OEMs was developed, seeking to maximise the opportunities in Australia for local supply chain strengthening.

David also noted the Hanwha announcement as a highlight for the Geelong region, as well as Pelligra’s purchase of the Ford Norlane facilities, to be redeveloped and comprising over 200,000 sqm of factory space.

David went on to summarise each of the programs delivered by GMC during the year, as well as key advocacy priorities (refer below).

Finally, David thanked GMC staff, Chair Lyn George and Directors for their support during the year.

GMC Board

We farewelled two Directors during the meeting:Ian Kett, Deakin University, had been a Director since 2017; and
David Sykes, who’s lengthy service as a Director and Chair of GMC, as well as the wider manufacturing community was recognised with the awarding of the Brian Backwell Award for Industry Leadership.
We thank both Ian and David for their support & contributions to manufacturing & towards Geelong Manufacturing Council’s goals.
Directors 2020-21

We congratulate the following Directors who were reinstated and look forward to working with them in 2020-21:

  • Lyn George, Austeng (Chair)
  • Bernard Brussow, FormFlow (Deputy Chair)
  • Jamie Baensch, Air Radiators
  • Peter Dale, IXL Group
  • Thys Heyns, Viva Energy