May 8, 2017
Swickers workers will begin to return to Kingaroy on May 29 and all workers should be back by June 5, the Kingaroy Chamber Of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) heard on Monday night.
Swickers General Manager Linchon Hawks and Sunpork CEO Dr Robert van Barneveld told the KCCI’s latest six-weekly Meet’n’Greet the company was still working to address the consequences of an electrical fire which broke out at their Kingaroy factory on November 6 last year.
The fire destroyed the company’s boning room, chillers and export distribution centre, and forced the temporary relocation of 140 workers to an alternative site at Wulkuraka.
Mr Hawks told KCCI members that Swickers had retained all its workers through the crisis and was now back to processing 17,500 pigs per week, which was the maximum amount they could handle at the present time.
A temporary boning facility which is being built at the rear of the factory should be fully operational by the end of this month, and the company plan to bring back half the Wulkuraka workers when this occurs.
Swickers will allow a week after this to iron out any technical problems that might arise.
But if all goes well, the remaining half will relocate back to the South Burnett the following week.
Meanwhile, the company is building a new, permanent boning room on the footprint of the former one, and hope this will be completed by September or October, weather permitting.
Mr Hawks said that right at the moment, Swickers is carrying out a lot of weekend work on the site to ensure the temporary boning room is ready for Wulkuraka workers to return.
The company greatly appreciated the community’s tolerance while this was being done.
* * *
CEO Robert van Barneveld told the meeting that Mr Hawks and his team were doing “a fantastic job” restoring Swickers to normal operations.
He also believed the company will be offering more employment opportunities in the future, thanks to new contracts it has recently secured.
“Our aim is to have the best export pig facility in Australia, and once the work is completed I’m confident we’ll have that,” Dr van Barneveld said.
While acknowledging the relocation of 140 of the factory’s workers to Wulkuraka for six months had an effect on Kingaroy’s economy, as well as imposing extra stresses on the workers’ families, Dr van Barneveld said this impact had been softened by the reconstruction work taking place.
“We have 110 contractors working on the factory site at the moment,” he said.
“While not all of them are locals, we have attempted to use local contractors wherever possible and we can now see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Dr van Barneveld said Swickers intended to remain in the South Burnett and was still on track to continue growing the business.
“We are committed to Kingaroy and we will not be going anywhere soon,” he said.
* * *
Gympie-based accounting company Schuh and Co. purchased the practice of Kingaroy accountants Mortimer and Company almost two years ago because they thought it would be a good fit with their existing client base.
Cos Schuh, who was born in Eidsvold, told the KCCI he had been an accountant for 42 years and his firm were rural town accountants who looked after many clients in the North and South Burnett, as well as south-east Queensland.
The business currently employs 25 staff in Gympie and has four in the Kingaroy office, where they offer a “one stop shop” for accounting services that includes everything from taxation to financial planning and arranging finance for vehicles, machinery, commercial projects and home loans.
Mr Schuh said the business was not affiliated with any banks or other financial institutions, and their chief aim was to offer a holistic approach to problem-solving that helped secure the best deals for their clients.
The firm was also electronically driven rather than paper-based.
This allowed them to offer a fast turnaround service and keep their charges affordable.
* * *
Mayor Keith Campbell praised Swickers for the way the company had handled the results of the November fire, and said the news Wulkuraka workers would return in a few weeks was very welcome.
“This isn’t just a boost for the local economy, it’s a big boost for their families, too,” he said.
The Mayor then went on to tell the meeting a new method of tackling road maintenance that had been announced by Cr Spud Jones at recent public meetings in Proston, Ironpot and Kumbia was currently having the ruler run over it by Council officers.
“The new plan we’re looking at is being analysed by the Engineering team, who are the ones who have to do the work, and it’s also being looked at to ensure it’s financially sound and allows us to improve more roads for the same money,” Mayor Campbell said.
“Bringing this new system in is a change management process, and we’re approaching it properly.”
Mayor Campbell also tipped the Council’s upcoming 2017-2018 Budget may include some money for Kingaroy CBD revitalisation, but was unwilling to commit to anything beyond that until Budget negotiations had been concluded.
* * *
In response to a question from the floor about what the Council was doing to secure part of the $2 billion the Federal Government currently has on offer for agricultural irrigation projects, the Mayor said three cards were currently in play.
They were the Council’s own plan to see if it could introduce more irrigation in the South Burnett; a similar plan by the Wide Bay Burnett Regional Organisation of Councils, who wish to do the same in the Wide Bay-Burnett; and a third plan recently released by the State Government.
The Mayor said all three plans required a sound business case to be put forward – usually for “shovel ready” projects – and putting this together required hard data.
The process of collecting and analysing this data was underway, but it was an extensive task.
All the same, he wanted to assure the KCCI the Council was committed to supporting the region’s agricultural sector, and would seek funding for more irrigation if it possibly could.
* * *
The KCCI”s next Meet’n’Greet will be held at Southern Cross Austereo’s offices at the corner of Glendon and Alford Streets in Kingaroy at 5:15pm on Monday, June 19.
A special feature of the night will be a $1 per ticket raffle to win a $1000 advertising package from the radio network.
The Meet’n’Greet is open to anyone – whether they’re KCCI members or not – and a $10 meeting fee applies to cover the cost of drinks and finger foods.
