ACT Winners - Telstra Australian Business Awards

In 2005 passionate mountain biker Darren Stewart saw a business opportunity in the emerging and specialised track building market in Australia. Traditionally, the construction of mountain bike tracks relied on volunteers such as Darren. He established Makin Trax Australia which designs, constructs and maintains mountain bike, walking and multi-use track networks. The Canberra business has expanded its capabilities in the past year, with a sustainability management team. This provides the foundation for the creation of world class tracks through environmental scoping, planning and site and track auditing. Makin Trax has produced the acclaimed Stromlo Forest Park track, used to host the UCI World Mountain Bike and Trials Championships in 2009 which brought 750 elite riders and over 40,000 spectators to Canberra. It was also responsible for the Casuarina Walking Trail refurbishment on Mount Majura. Darren drew on his experience in franchising and as a licensed builder, where producing consistent outcomes was key, to develop a track network and building system backed by a warranty, which is unprecedented in the industry.

"Our vision is to create a legacy of sustainable track networks to be enjoyed by future generations” — Heather Stewart, Director.

Father and son home building business, Today’s Homes & Lifestyle, was developed to service a market niche for constructions priced between $300,000 and $750,000. The partnership between Brendan McCoullough, with five years experience in completing difficult construction jobs on time and budget, and father Peter, with 35 years experience in building, development and real estate, proved a natural fit. By concentrating on contract home construction, the business develops strong cash flows without being involved in speculative or high-risk projects. The business prides itself on being original, with Today’s Homes & Lifestyle never building the same house twice. The business has won Housing Industry Association Awards in custom built, small lot and ‘green smart’ categories and was the 2009 Australian Small to Medium Professional Builder of the Year. Today the business employs 12 staff and about 100 sub-contractors.

"In a market sector where relationships are critical, we place a strong emphasis on staff training, mentoring and development.” — Brendan McCoullough, Chief of Operations.

stratsec is an information security consulting, testing and research services business, established by Doug Stuart, Peter Lilley and Nick Ellsmore, to remove some of the mystery and “doom and gloom” about IT security. Their fresh perspective focused on the business needs of ICT security rather than the technology based approach to which they had been accustomed. stratsec specialises in consulting and testing services for government and commercial clients providing a level of assurance that their clients are protected from cyber threats. Launching with three staff in Canberra, the business expanded as it won a Department of Defence contract, established a licence as an Australasian Information Security Evaluation Facility and a contract with the Malaysian Government. It secured key international clients such as Microsoft, IBM, Juniper and Becrypt and now employs more than 40 permanent staff in Australia and Asia. It is now concentrating on regional expansion from its new Singapore and Malaysian offices.

“We remove the jargon that is so prevalent in cyber security and provide advice that helps business managers to make informed decisions.” — Peter Lilley, Chief Executive Officer.

Phillip-based consultancy Viridis E3 has developed innovative tools that assist in communicating, monitoring and reporting on a more sustainable design and development process. The company believes that environmental sustainability requires project design to be linked to long term business behaviour. Through the development of tailored project services combined with staff support and business advice, Viridis E3 has achieved lasting change among its clients. According to Gesa Ruge, Director for Corporate Development, the company demonstrates that integration of sustainability is practical, brings longer term efficiencies and benefits to each business and does not necessarily increase costs. Founded in 2007, Viridis E3 realises that change is gradual for established property businesses and will only occur if it can permeate the organisation and its culture on all levels.

"As our clients adopt sustainability, we also change our role - often from a technical consultant to a trusted corporate advisor.” — Gesa Ruge, Director Corporate Development.

For the past seven years, employees of ACT real estate agency Richard Luton Properties have organised a Valentine’s Day Ball to raise funds for charities. Agents also use their auctioneering skills to regularly conduct charity auctions – 20 in the past year alone – for groups such as ACT Organ Donors, SIDS and the RSPCA. All Richard Luton agents undertake volunteering roles in their neighbourhoods as part of the business’ commitment to give back to the Canberra community that sustains it. Making a positive difference in the local community is integral to the vision of the company which was established in 1999 and now employs 73 people in six ACT offices. Richard Luton Properties launched a ‘green policy’ which seeks to educate and support clients in their growing awareness of the environmental benefits of reducing the carbon footprint at home – a policy which won them the Real Estate Institute of ACT’s 2009 Award for innovation.

“We are firm believers in the law of reciprocating, that those who succeed should always give back.” — Justine Simonds, Operations Manager.