August 25, 2023
We all know about young people leaving town to go to uni and never coming back… but a business which has been operating quietly in Wondai for more than a year has turned that paradigm on its head.
Joshua Taylor started work as a cadet engineer at Pinion Advisory just after Easter.
Josh grew up in Nanango and studied at the University of Southern Queensland after graduating from high school.
He didn’t think he’d be able to get a job using his qualifications back in the South Burnett until he learned about Pinion Advisory, and joined senior engineer David Mohr at the Pinion office at 12 Scott Street.
The pair prepare work for clients all over Queensland and interstate, with Josh currently working on a project taking shape in Tasmania.
“Why Wondai? Why not?” David said.
He’s also a country boy, growing up in Taroom before studying at the University of Queensland.
Pinion offers consultancy and advisory services to the food and agriculture industry.
It was formed in 2020 from a merger of three companies: Rural Directions (South Australia), Macquarie Franklin (Tasmania) and Sunraysia Environmental (Victoria).
A fourth company, irrigation and water engineering firm Hydroplan, joined the business at the start of 2022.
It now operates offices in four States.
The Wondai office is the first Pinion Advisory has opened in Queensland and has a major focus on water resources.
David was working at Stanhope in Victoria when the merger occurred and jumped at the opportunity of returning to Queensland.
Pinion initially shared an office with Barambah Business Services in Mackenzie Street, Wondai, before expanding into the Scott Street address a few months ago.
Recent projects have included developing business cases for dams and irrigation schemes, and connection projects linked to the Murray-Darling water scheme.
“But we would like to work more with individual producers, not just government work,” David said.
He said Pinion Advisory could help farmers improve farm water efficiency.
“We are keen to work one-on-one with farmers on dam design and drainage design,” he said.
“Because we are relatively young in the area, people are still trying to understand who we are and what we do.”
