National

Research One Pty Ltd provides customised legal research, writing and analysis solutions to lawyers and government legal departments in Australia and overseas. The business saves clients time, resources and money by using its global network of research specialists connected by the Internet. Services include drafting legal submissions, compiling legislative histories and searching databases, libraries and archives.

Ripe Maternity Wear was established by two friends in 1996 to manufacture contemporary maternity clothes. The business currently supplies to more than 400 wholesale accounts worldwide and their clothes are sold in the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong and Scandinavian countries. Ripe Maternity Wear recently opened its first retail outlet.

SRK Consulting provides consultancy services in the mining and exploration industries in Australia and worldwide. Services range from exploration, resource estimation, mine planning, geotechnical engineering, environmental and geological support. The company has offices in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney and has a resource base of more than 500 consultants spanning six continents.

Trailers 2000 Pty. Ltd. is Queensland's largest manufacturer of box trailers with the capacity to produce 4,000 trailers per year. The business has grown from a husband and wife team operating from home to today employing 28 people. Trailers 2000 is based at Beerwah with offices in Brisbane, Mackay and the Gold Coast and has an extensive network of agents throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Whitech Software Solutions provides IT products and services to retail businesses throughout the world. It specialises in developing industry specific and fully customised management point-of-sale software and kiosk solutions. It is currently implementing a total hardware and software solution across 140 Kodak stores. Whitech Software Solution's products are sold in seven countries and it has offices in Sydney, New York and London.

APS Plastics Pty Ltd (APS) is a design and engineering company and has been responsible for the design of many high profile products, from the Willow cooler to safety binding used on snow-boards. The business was also involved in the design and engineering of Camatic's innovative æMatrix' seating used at the Portugal æStadium of Light' and the MCG extension. The company has also recently designed a world first revolutionary new medical device (the Unitract retractable syringe).

APS Plastics Pty Ltd (APS) is a design and engineering company and has been responsible for the design of many high profile products, from the Willow cooler to safety binding used on snow-boards. The business was also involved in the design and engineering of Camatic's innovative Matrix' seating used at the Portugal Stadium of Light' and the MCG extension. The company has also recently designed a world first revolutionary new medical device (the Unitract retractable syringe).

After winning her own weight loss battle, Symply Too Good's Annette Sym went on to publish three low fat cookbooks and a CD Rom menu planner. The recipes are appropriate for people with heart conditions, high cholesterol, diabetes or those who want a healthy eating regime. The business is based in a home office on the Sunshine Coast and has sold more than one million books in the last six years.

Powerdown Australia manufactures shock absorbers designed for rugged conditions, used in trucks, four-wheel-drives and trailers. Their products are sold throughout Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Pacific Islands and West Indies and are sold by more than 600 distributors. Powerdown Australia recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary.

Since 1987 Dracula's Cabaret Restaurant has been operating a theatre restaurant on the Gold Coast catering to domestic and international tourists. Up to six nights each week,the cabaret restaurant provides dinner, drinks and a two-hour show combining comedy, puppetry, music, song and dance. The unique Dracula's Cabaret Restaurant experience ranges from roller-skating parking attendants to a ghost train ride to a horror-themed dinner.

Jabiru Tropical Orchards is a mango growing and marketing business, with farms at Berry Springs and Lambells Lagoon. The business commenced operations in 1986 largely as a hobby, however the operation has grown and today maintains 30,000 trees over 260 hectares. Jabiru Tropical Orchards recently became a supplier to Japan and has exported its mangoes to New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, France and Hong Kong

Established in 1995, Footwear Industries designs and manufactures industrial safety footwear under their premium brand, Steel Blue, and a budget brand called Howler. The products are made from high quality materials with shock absorbing properties. The Steel Blue safety shoe was recently commended by a UK industry testing body as the most comfortable safety shoe ever tested.

Albury's Descend Underwater Training Centre trains divers working in the irrigation, water supply, hydropower generation and offshore oil industries. The company has worked for the Australian Federal Police, the NSW Road Traffic Authority, the Tasmanian Fisheries Department and on the Sydney Airport Link Rail Tunnel. Its training packages are exported to New Zealand and Hong Kong.

Rural Directions is an agribusiness that offers consulting, grain marketing and research and development services. Staff include agronomists, business planners, farm management consultants, project managers and accountants. Projects range from business planning and coaching to feasibility studies, grain trading and assessing demonstration trials.

Micro Forte has been developing computer games for the past 17 years. It established the Academy of Interactive Entertainment - an education institution for computer game development. Micro Forte has worked with international computer game publishers such as Microsoft, THQ, Universal Interactive and Interplay. It is currently developing the world's first Massively Multiplayer Online Game on the Xbox for Microsoft.

TAS-Saff is Australia's first commercial saffron grower. The business has been cultivating saffron for the past 12 years and marketing it for the past nine years. The business now has a network of 30 saffron growers throughout Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales. TAS-Saff is a family owned and operated business.