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June 2020

The saying Fat Cats Don't Hunt has been on my mind lately. Australia has had a very healthy economy for three decades, but copious resources often eliminate the need for innovation. In fact, abundant resources can inhibit innovation. That is why smart enterprises ensure independence to the innovative startups that they purchase. But it is also why many high-growth companies lose their innovative edge: comfortable amounts of staff, funding, and market share can make executives intellectually lazy.

 

COVID-19 has of course been a health crisis leading into an economic crisis, but it can also be an opportunity for innovation. This year could be a turning point for businesses that have been slow to innovate and areas of the public sector that need to modernize. Rather than remove obstacles to create the ideal conditions for innovation, perhaps we will now embrace the current constraints to inspire innovation.

 

Click on either of the examples below:

Innovation: Southwest Airlines

Drive-In Concert: Keith Urban

The drive-in events, like the 10-min turnaround, were born of tough circumstances and constraints. They were solutions that never would have been tried (or even needed) with an abundance of time, money, people and resources. We are seeing opportunities like this all over, including at AmCham. We used to have hundreds of in-person meetings across the country every year. We will eventually be able to hold those again, but in the meantime, we have set up several webinar series that connect the United States and Australia in new and exciting ways: bringing together speakers who never could have aligned their schedules to appear together in person; inviting people to tune in from New York, New Zealand or New South Wales; giving every employee at every AmCham member company free access to all of our online events, without the need to travel. Through our FinTech, Space, Wine, Business Essentials, and flagship Live From America series, among others, groups of 10-1000 people are coming together to share and learn.

Before COVID it was already becoming apparent that innovation does not stem from having bean bags in snack rooms or unlimited lattes on hand. And accepting that any team that has all the time, money and staff they want will rarely execute anything of significance, it’s time to embrace the obstacles COVID has thrown at us and use these constraints as a challenge to do our best thinking and innovating. Time to find a way – or make one.

We would like to hear from you to know how we can help advocate for your business with the state and federal government. Where do you see reform opportunity in regulation, structures, workplace, productivity, markets, foreign investment, taxes, etc?

 

Can you give us examples of reforms that are needed for your business? Can you offer examples of where any of the above is mitigating against best business practice?

 

AmCham will use the metadata we collect to advocate for our members, through doorknocks, Parliamentary submissions and testimony, national working groups, etc. The more you can share with us, the more we can support your organisations.

 

Kind Regards,

 

April Palmerlee, Chief Executive Officer

American Chamber of Commerce in Australia

E

P 02 8031 9000

Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister

Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham

In discussion with AmCham and the U.S. Chamber

National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission Executive Chairman Neville Power

Addressing AmCham Members

Missed one of our events? Don’t fret!

 

Members now have unlimited access to video recordings of past events.

 

Navigate to . In the site menu bar under Events, click on .

I’m delighted to welcome these new members and here are links to their websites:

Network News

JP Morgan and Hatch

The Hatch Exchange

The Hatch Exchange is a B2B marketplace that enables the temporary hire of workers who have been stood down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

If you're a business standing down staff, join to help your impacted employees find temporary work and monitor their placements. If your business is hiring, The Hatch Exchange will find you motivated candidates within 72 hours matched to your role based on their transferable skills, experience and motivations. This service was made possible by JP Morgan partnering with Hatch to build a consortium of large Australian employers and Government.

 

Sky News

The Alliance: Episode 3

Ticky Fullerton explores the shared culture and values that form the close bond between Australia and the USA.

 

This Sky News series looks at everything that unites us and reveals why the strength of our pacific partnership is more important now than ever.

 

In Episode 3, as tensions heighten amid the global pandemic, Ticky explores how the military partnership between Australia and the United States underpins national security. Watch it .

 

For past episodes,

Australian Frontline Solutions

Ensuring your Team is Adequately Trained

An emergency is a serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action. Emergencies often strike without warning and require well planned responses that are timely and effective. Emergency situations that can occur in the workplace often require first aid response.

 

Some businesses are currently experiencing some down time as a result of the current COVID-19 health crisis. Taking some time now to review and reflect on your business requirements will ensure you and your teams are adequately trained and compliant with all WHS legislative requirements when business returns to normal.

 

for further details on our extensive range of training and compliance services.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

Supporting our Community's Most Vulnerable

On Sunday 21 June, join the thousands of Victorians coming together to virtually step, roll or rock right around the world benefiting our community’s most vulnerable.

 

Looking for something to get those legs moving after a long lockdown period?

 

Want to give back to those most in need after COVID-19 has rocked our world?

 

Then lace up and step out with Big Brothers Big Sisters on 21 June - you can run, walk, rock or roll as TOGETHER we attempt to travel the distance of a lap of the world!

 

Find out more about this event from Eddie McGuire in this !

 

Register.

Anna Whitlam People

AWPeople Insights

COVID-19 has bred uncertainty at a scale most leaders have never seen.

 

AWPeople's Managing Director, Anna Whitlam, shares her insights to why communicating is now more important than ever in this

 

There is also a program that supports resilience and wellness in frontline corporate affairs and marketing leaders, that has been adapted to different client situations. View the document .

 

ICMI

Weekly Breakfast Bites

ICMI is hosting a new weekly online series to kickstart your Wednesdays. It’s jam-packed with generous helpings of knowledge and morsels of motivation.

 

Created to be short, sharp and light, Breakfast Bites is the perfect way to start you on your day.

 

Tune into , airing every Wednesday at 9:00 AM AEST. Watch Episode 11 on Wednesday 17 June 2020 with , and .

 


Sight for All

Dr James Muecke

Dr Muecke provided a very thought-provoking presentation with some really great takeaways for our AmCham Academy participants.

 

He also shared a story on his volunteering on sight–saving projects in Asia. By working with foreign colleagues, areas of need were identified, and by providing sub-specialty education and equipping eye clinics, a sustainable sight-saving model was born.

 

To find out more and to donate, .


Beaker & Flint

The Great Debate

Beaker & Flint will be running a 60 minute online debate at 10:00 AM AEST on Tuesday 16 June, to determine which is more important - people or process?

 

We all know the “textbook” answer, but in reality when the pressure is on - do organisations always consider the engagement and experience of their employees, contractors, vendors, partners and others involved in getting the work to “done”?

 

Join for an exciting look into both sides.

Network News

Wayne Gerard

Co-founder and CEO

RedEye

 

Wayne Gerard is the co-founder and CEO of RedEye, an Australian technology company founded in 2012 to help large complex asset owners and critical infrastructure operators improve asset safety and performance.

 

Today RedEye has 6 offices globally and helps organisations in power, water, mining, healthcare, infrastructure and government manage over $250bn of complex assets and critical infrastructure.

RedEye has two purpose cloud and mobile based solutions RedEyeDMS their Asset Data Management Platform and RedEyeWFM their Work Management Platform.

 

RedEye’s solutions complement and integrate with client’s ERP, EAM and other core business systems. All clients have solutions like SAP, Maximo, Ellipse, Infor, Oracle, and SharePoint, they adopt RedEye to make their asset data available, usable and valuable.

 

RedEye’s team and partners have developed deep domain and subject matter expertise delivering numerous asset data management projects across the world’s most complex and critical assets.

 

 

1. Most rewarding part about your job?

Being a founder and growing a company from an idea into a global tech company that solves an import problem is really cool. The most rewarding part of my role is being able to create jobs, we’ve employed 38 people direct from university giving them their first jobs, we’ve helped people from more traditional industries translate their skills and find exciting new careers in the tech sector, we employ just under 100 people across six offices globally, its nice to know where making a difference.

 

2. Who do you most admire?

I admire people who put other first. We’ve seen so many examples of this kind of selflessness this year, the first responders during the Christmas fires in Australia, the front line workers during COVID-19, people, my own team who jump out of bed to help a client solve a problem in the middle of the night. It’s one of the reasons our first value at RedEye is "I’ve got your back"

 

3. Something that your social media followers don’t know about you?

I’m an introvert, I love my personal time; running, hiking, motorbike riding and snowboarding are perfect forms of meditation for me.

 

4. Proudest moment so far?

I love getting great feedback from our clients, it makes me really proud to know we’re making a difference. The only thing better than that, is watching our team grow and develop, it always brings a huge smile to my face when I see a young project manager, software engineer or account manager complete a task or deliver a project that they didn’t think they had the ability to do.

 

5. Best advice you ever received?

Don’t give up” as an entrepreneur and founder, you’ve got to have tenacity and determination, growing a business is really hard, you are often stepping from one challenge to the next, remaining positive, remembering why we started RedEye and the focusing on the people and organisations we’re serving gives me the energy to keep pushing on when things are hard.

 

Brickworks Building Products

Announcement of New State-Of-The-Art Brick Manufacturing Facility

 

 

One of the world’s largest and most diverse building material manufacturers, Brickworks Building Products, has announced a new manufacturing plant that will be located at their Austral Bricks Horsley Park site. Brickworks have invested $126 million into the new factory plant, which is set to push the limits of brick production with its world-first equipment.

 

In light of the current pandemic that has disrupted global supply chains and impacted the Australian economy, there is no greater time to see growth in local Australian manufacturing. An overdependence of international manufacturing presents a plethora of risks and challenges, many of which we have seen over the past few months. Developing innovative ideas to strengthen Australia’s domestic manufacturing capacity is a major consideration for businesses wanting to help rebuild our economy, and Brickworks have paved the way for a new era of local manufacturing.

 

Lindsay Partridge, Managing Director of Brickworks Building Products, says the new plant is a part of Brickworks larger commitment to local manufacturing. ‘We are continually upgrading and modernising our manufacturing operations to ensure our facilities are world- class, so we can create world-class building products’, he says.

 

‘As an Australian owned and operated company, we are proud to continue manufacturing right here in Australia, with operations located in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland.’

 

A growing demand for the iconic building product- the humble brick- has led to the expansion of Brickworks manufacturing facilities across Australia. While bricks have long been acknowledged for their durable, hardwearing nature, their popularity has surged in recent years due to their incredible sustainability credentials. The ultimate sustainable building product, bricks are loved for their durability, energy efficiency, their ability to be reused and recycled, and their contribution to a lower carbon footprint.

 

At the heart of the Austral Bricks Plant 2 operation will be a JC Steele, 120 extruder. This new extruder is a world first, exclusively built for Brickworks, and has the capacity to produce 120 tonne of clay per hour, equating to 40,000 standard bricks per hour. The extruder, the machine forming the bricks, will be the first of its kind with an extra 25% production output from the previous top capacity, with high technology sensing and monitoring devices allowing total extrusion control at high output rates.

 

At 200 m long and 6.5 m wide, the kiln will include automatic gas burners and a convective heat exchange system, linked to a computer supervision system that can be directly accessed from anywhere in the world. Featuring a continuously welded steel jacket, the kiln not only ensures zero leakage and zero pollution in the plant environment, but also allows for the pressurizing required for the firing of such a high production rate.

 

With best in its class fuel efficiency, product quality and an extra 25% production output, the new Austral Bricks Plant 2 operation will be a technical revolution that will set the new standard for brick manufacturing.



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The American Chamber of Commerce in Australia

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