Chief Minister Announces ACT's Top Exporters

 Exporter of the Year Award

Canberra-based health service provider Aspen Medical Pty Ltd was today named the ACT’s 2007 Exporter of the Year by Chief Minister and Minister for Business and Economic Development Jon Stanhope.

'Aspen Medical exports the delivery of healthcare services, health consulting and E-Health to government and private sector organisations and was also the winner of the Services Award category for the second successive year.

'Aspen commenced exporting in 2003 and this Award recognises their export achievements and unique expertise in a niche market,’ Mr Stanhope said.

‘This local Canberra company has a reputation for delivery of innovative health care solutions in Australia, South-East Asia and Europe. Earlier this year, BRW rated Aspen Medical the second fastest growing company in Australia as part of its Fast 100 Companies List for 2007.

‘2006-07 was a year of incredible growth for Aspen Medical, with total revenue increasing from A$19.4 m to A$44.34 m. Export revenue represented 59% of total revenue an increase of 1611% on the previous year.’

Visit their website at: www.aspenmedical.com.au 

 Exporters' Hall of Fame Award

The 2007 Exporters’ Hall of Fame Award went to Inland Trading Co (Aust) Pty Ltd. The Hall of Fame Award is presented to a company the judges feel deserves recognition for its significant contribution to both export in the ACT and commitment to the Canberra exporting community.

Mr Stanhope said Inland Trading was a worthy recipient of this year’s Hall of Fame Award, as it was not only a strong local business committed to the Canberra community, but an outstanding role model for local exporters.

‘Inland Trading’s exporting success holds a unique record in the history of the ACT Export Awards, being the only ACT business to win five ACT Export Awards, and in consecutive years,’ he said.

From humble beginnings of one staff member in a bedroom to staff all over the world, Inland Trading now has employees in Canberra, Adelaide, Queensland, Japan, Hong Kong and the UK, and this year celebrated a 10-year milestone of wine exporting.

The company has recently made major inroads into Japan and the difficult Quebec market in Canada, placing over twenty wine brands into Japan and making massive inroads into the Quebec market—a great achievement considering the French influence in Quebec. Negotiations in Europe have led to another coup, with orders coming from Ireland, Spain and the UK.

 Other Category Winners

 Agribusiness Award: The Lark Hill Wine Company Pty Ltd

Lark Hill is a micro agribusiness located in the Canberra Wine District. Established almost 30 years ago, Lark Hill has achieved unprecedented success over the years. The vineyard is in an environmental protection zone, on the snow line at 860m, planted on a marginal and agriculturally bereft parcel of land. The vineyard has been managed organically since inception and the wines have now been accorded Biodynamic status under NASAA. Visit their website at: www.larkhillwine.com.au 

 Arts, Entertainment and Design Award: BigWorld Pty Ltd

BigWorld Pty Ltd is a leading games middleware company, focused on next-generation tools and development environments for the online game space. Formed in 2002 and based in Australia, BigWorld has a worldwide developer base and global focus. With its focus on commercial, affordable development for next-generation interactive and multiplayer content, BigWorld delivers comprehensive development solutions. Visit their website at: www.bigworldtech.com 

 Education Award: Research School of Physical Science and Engineering

The ANU Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering hosts one of the nation’s foremost university based research activities in physics, involving several hundred academics, graduate students and support staff. The campus lies within the heart of the city and is home to a huge array of major multi-million dollar experimental facilities, many serving a national role. The quality of science this environment fosters is reflected by our strong involvement in four ARC centres of excellence, a CRC and hosting of three ARC research networks. Visit their website at: www.rsphysse.anu.edu.au 

 Emerging Export Award: Noetic Group

The Noetic Group is an Australian owned enterprise with offices in Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane and in Washington DC, and is represented in the UAE, Kuwait and Singapore. Its core services cover General Consulting, Critical Path Manuals/Publications, Capability Requirements Analysis—Information Communications Technology, Structured Evaluation, Organisational Change Management and Organisational Learning. Noetic is one of Australia's fastest growing management consultancies with a proven record of performance and in 2006 was listed on BRW's Fast 100 List. Visit their website at: www.noeticsolutions.com.au 

 Information and Communications Technology Award: ContentKeeper Technologies

ContentKeeper is an internationally acclaimed software development company established in Canberra in 1999. The company specialises in developing state-of-the-art software to assist organisations in managing Internet usage through Internet filtering solutions for home users, government and large enterprise. ContentKeeper’s reach extends to 51 countries. Visit their website at: www.contentkeeper.com 

 Services Award (and ACT Exporter of the Year): Aspen Medical Pty Ltd

Aspen Medical exports healthcare services delivery, consulting and E-Health to government and private sector organisations. The company provides a unique combination of extremely flexible teams of health professionals, in areas where medical services are either at a premium or non-existent. Aspen can provide people, facilities, equipment, consumables, pharmacy products and procedures and have a presence in Australia, South-East Asia and Europe with plans to expand further into the Middle East and Africa. Visit their website at: www.aspenmedical.com.au 

 Small to Medium Manufacturer Award: Australian Scientific Instruments (ASI)

Australian Scientific Instruments is the world leader in the supply of high precision geochronology instruments to international customers. ASI manufactures sophisticated products, based on research originally undertaken by the Australian National University, with whom ASI is associated. ASI works with the ANU in ongoing research and development to keep its products at the forefront of the market, and find new applications for the technology. In 2006, ASI licensed technology for a new thermochronology instrument from the CSIRO, and is involved in ongoing research and market development with the CSIRO. Visit their website at: www.asi-pl.com

 Small Business Award: Sentinel Pty Ltd

Sentinel Pty Ltd provides monitoring expertise to the mining industry with the objective of disseminating environmental data that will assist clients in the development and operation of environmentally sustainable mining projects. They specialise in design, installation and operation of remote monitoring technologies located in difficult environments and in management of the captured data. Their services focus on gauging surface water resources and gathering climate information. Sentinel currently has on-going projects in Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, Laos, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Visit their website at: www.sentinelpl.com.au 

Category winners go on to compete at the National Export Award Gala in Brisbane on 22 November 2007.

The 2007 ACT Chief Minister's Export Awards are proudly sponsored by:

To view the 2006 ACT Export Award winners click here.