Queensland export winners shining on world stage

Sixteen Queensland businesses are celebrating after being announced as winners at the prestigious Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards at the Brisbane Convention Centre tonight.

Premier Campbell Newman said this year’s winners and applicants demonstrated the strength, quality and innovation of Queensland exporters.

“Queensland’s savvy business men and women are ensuring the quality of Queensland exports shines on the world stage, and these awards recognise their success,” Mr Newman said.

“These awards demonstrate the endless opportunities that exist in Queensland for business, trade and investment.

“I congratulate all of our winners and entrants and thank them for their enormous contribution to the Queensland economy.”

This year marks the 25^th year of the Export Awards, a silver anniversary milestone celebrating Queensland’s export successes.

Treasurer Tim Nicholls said the winners represented the broad spectrum of industries exporting from Queensland.

“I offer special congratulations to Queensland Exporter of the year Blast Movement Technologies for their prestigious win,” Mr Nicholls said.

“All the winners whether they be large companies like the Australian Agricultural Company or niche manufacturers like Aqualuma are successfully sending Queensland goods and services to the world.

“Exporters are contributing to Queensland’s economic surge with goods and exports worth almost $45 billion to our State last financial year.

“We’re Australia’s second largest and fastest growing exporter, with total merchandise exports accounting for 20 per cent of the nation’s total which is why it’s vital we continue to recognise and honour our exporters.

“We’re sending a very strong, very clear message to the world that Queensland is Australia’s foremost location for trade and investment.

“Trade and Investment Queensland’s 14 offices around the globe are helping Queensland businesses develop and grow in international markets.

“Tonight’s winners are all at the top of their game and they will inspire countless other Queensland businesses to also excel in their export efforts.”

[ENDS]  16 October 2014

Media Contact:  Treasurer’s Office 3719 7200

The winners of the 2014 Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards are:

Winners’ background:

Australian Agricultural Company Ltd

The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) is Australia’s largest integrated cattle and beef producer, specialising in grass and grain fed beef, as well as Wagyu beef production, marketing and export. The Branded Beef division of AACo supplies premium beef to over 20 countries and in 2013, sold 14.5 million kilograms of beef, a 14% increase on the 12.7 million kilograms sold in 2012. In 2013, total sales grew by $28.2 million from 2012. In 2013, AACo further diversified its operations with construction of a processing facility in Darwin. This facility represents a $90million investment designed to capitalise on the company’s close proximity to growing markets in Asia. www.aaco.com.au

PLACE Design Group

PLACE Design Group is a leader in planning and design. Australian owned and managed, our 10 offices throughout Australia, China and South East Asia offer an integrated suite of services including strategic and urban planning, master planning, urban design, landscape architecture, and revegetation and rehab strategies. 2013/2014 has seen PLACE Design Group excel in international operations with the launch into South East Asia, and international sale increases of over 32% in the two newest offices – Chengdu and Beijing. PLACE Design Group has proven to be an export leader in the small to medium design and planning business realm.

www.placedesigngroup.com

The University of Queensland

Ranked in the world’s top 100, The University of Queensland (UQ) is a comprehensive research-intensive university, with enrolments of over 48,000 students, including 11,500 students from 142 countries, and an alumni base of over 210,000 graduates. To deepen engagement with strategic countries, UQ targeted the Brazilian Government’s Science without Borders (SwB) initiative in 2011. With the aim of generating practical applied knowledge and innovation skills, UQ developed a tailored program integrating a workplace preparation program, research placement or internship placement coordinated through Australian Internships, within a 12-month undergraduate study aboard program. The program has been highly successful, injecting approximately $8.5 million to the local community in 2014.

http://www.uq.edu.au/

Aqualuma LED Lighting

AQUALUMA® began as a quest in 2004 to innovate superior lighting for the marine industry. It has since become a world-leading lighting solutions provider across numerous industries globally. Our ongoing commitment to R&D has yielded significant returns, including a growing-portfolio of premium-quality LED-lighting solutions and IP rights. Independent scientific-testing rates our products as world-best with AQUALUMA products rating as high as 20% better in energy efficiency than competing offerings. AQUALUMA has won multiple awards for innovation/exporting. We currently export LED lighting solutions for marine, commercial, industrial and high-end domestic applications to more than 50 countries across 5 continents.

www.aqualuma.com

Opmantek

Opmantek is a world leader in the field of Network Management and IT Audit Software. Opmantek software is used by over 45,000 organisations globally making the company one of the world’s leading providers, and possibly Australia’s #1 exporter/manufacturer of business software. Opmantek software is exported to 130 countries around the world, used by the world's largest telecommunications carriers and the world's most critical IT environments. Opmantek supports over 10,000 vendors and remains highly innovative (winner Qld iAwards 2 years running). Opmantek was voted Australian Company of the year for 2013 by the investment community/AAAI (overall winner in all categories).

www.opmantek.com

Halfbrick

Halfbrick is a privately owned, publicly fun Australian game development business based in Brisbane. Our team of creative gurus is respected not only because of our global impact, but because the company achieved this success building from the ground up, in an international industry worth over $100 billion. Halfbrick has expanded its global operations from a small studio with 20 employees in Brisbane, to a global business employing 110 experts with hubs in Sydney, Adelaide, San Francisco, Madrid and Bulgaria. Our journey in 2014 has seen continued success and new achievements, with our first #1 game in the United States with Fish Out Of Water.

www.halfbrick.com

Digga Australia

Formed in 1981, DIGGA is 100% privately owned and Australia's leading manufacturer of earthmoving attachments & planetary drive gearboxes for the Construction & Earthmoving Machinery Industry. DIGGA have 5 company owned manufacturing facilities and 200 staff around the world to service an extensive worldwide dealer network. Dedicated to Research and Development, in addition to the Australian R&D office, Digga have an engineering office in Canada to work closely with our clients in the field to design market-leading products. The leaders in Screw Anchor technology worldwide, Digga opened a fifth company owned facility in Iowa, USA, in 2013 to support the growing needs of the international business.

www.digga.com

AgBiTech Pty Ltd

Founded by agricultural scientists and farmers in 2001, AgBiTech is the world leader in baculovirus based biological insecticides. Created to provide Australian farmers with a cost effective alternative for the sustainable control of the world’s most damaging caterpillar pest - Helicoverpa - the company is now at the forefront of the global push to reduce chemical pesticide use. In 2013, it opened its custom built production and administration headquarters in Toowoomba, Qld. Over the last 12 months, AgBiTech has positioned its products as a mainstream alternative in the large and growing Brazilian market, and rapid uptake is expected in the USA and other key regions over the next few years.

www.agbitech.com

Blast Movement Technologies

Blast Movement Technologies (BMT) provides a unique solution to mines worldwide. Our core business is built around our patented method of measuring the movement of rock that occurs during blasting. BMT spans manufacturing, R&D, consulting, training and software development. Our market has been global from the beginning and growing quickly. BMT has achieved 50% sales growth year-on-year and sourcing new international customers drives much of this. Export revenue increased from $4.7mil to $5.5mil during FY13/14. The effectiveness of our sales and marketing is indicated increased revenue (42%), despite the global downturn in mining, new customers and quotes and 100% Customer retention. BMT has no geographic boundaries.

www.bmt.com.au

Cardno

Cardno is a Brisbane based, professional infrastructure and environmental services company, partnering with clients to deliver projects that make a positive difference throughout the world. These range from restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, business skills programs for women in Zambia to hydroelectric power in Ecuador. The firm is well on its way to achieve its strategic goal of >75% of revenue from international activity by 2015. Today, Cardno employs 8,200 staff; almost 6,200 are dedicated to international business development and project delivery across 103 countries. Over the past 3 years international revenue has increased more than three-fold to over $650m (68% of global revenue).

www.cardno.com

Magic Millions Sales Pty Limited

Magic Millions is a brand synonymous with horse racing excellence, champion thoroughbreds, royalty and prestigious racing carnivals of world-renown. Magic Millions’ sales have grown from a catalogue of 200 in 1986 to selling as many as 6,000 annually, with foreign buyers spending $37million in FY13/14 on Australia’s best bred horses. International demand for the Magic Millions product has grown significantly, with exports up 47% this year. Magic Millions’ strongest growth export sales in FY13/14 were to the United States, whilst Japan and New Zealand doubled and significant increases were recorded to Hong Kong, South Africa, Ireland and South Korea.

www.magicmillions.com.au

Alt.vfx

Alt.vfx is a state-of-the-art film and television post-production and visual effects company based in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane and with an office in Sydney. Alt.Vfx has quickly become one of the most respected and highly awarded visual effects studios globally. Alt.vfx has completed creative work for international clients in Thailand, India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, PNG, UK, New Zealand, USA and Canada. Alt.vfx has a direct partnership with international jewellery chain Michael Hill. We produce in excess of 350 television commercials per annum for the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Another strong market is Japan with Alt.vfx supplying specialised high-end visual effects projects.

www.altvfx.com

Packer Leather

Packer Leather, founded in 1891, is a fifth generation Australian family leather business and Australia’s global leader in the specialist production of highly sustainable kangaroo leather (K-Leather). We created global demand for Australian-made K-Leather, promoting its many and significant advantages over other leather and substitutes, whilst exporting Internationally from Brisbane. The global leather industry recently named Packer Leather a finalist for Tannery of the Year, 2014 Asia (Excluding China), as publicised in World Leather magazine. We look forward to another year of export-led growth and profitability in FY14/15 and expect to reap strong returns on our various investments, including in product innovations, processes and sustainability.

www.packerleather.com

CO YO Corporate Pty Ltd

CO YO is Australasia’s first commercially produced, non-dairy, yoghurt and ice cream alternatives using coconut, offering naturally delicious alternatives for people with dietary and digestive challenges. Launched in Australia in early 2010, CO YO’s domestic success attracted international investors keen to distribute its innovative products. CO YO is now produced and distributed under license in the United Kingdom and United States, with plans well underway for further expansion. The company also began exporting to New Zealand from its Sunshine Coast base in late 2013, with rapid market growth expected to facilitate the establishment of a dedicated New Zealand-based manufacturing facility in the near future.

www.coyo.com.au

Deswik Mining Consultants Australia Pty Ltd

DESWIK delivers engineering efficiency, and makes mining smarter, with customised software, consultancy and training products for the global mining industry. In FY13/14, we doubled our export markets to 40 countries and planned further entries. Our expanding international network of offices, across four continents, provides global-reach and a local-presence. As testimony to DESWIK’s international recognition for innovative product leadership, nine of the top 10 global mining companies use DESWIK products. DESWIK’s export revenues increased more than five-fold over the last two financial years alone and have grown to contribute 70% to total revenue.

www.deswik.com