Canberra-based civil construction company, Huon, has leveraged its work on the Riverina Intermodal Freight and Logistics (RiFL) Hub to expand into the Wagga Wagga region and build on its credibility as a technically sophisticated contractor.
With one of its Directors, Adam Howard, originally from Wagga Wagga, had connections in the region and believed that Huon had the right capability to tender for the RiFL Hub Project, which would need rail, infrastructure, an industrial subdivision, electrical work and more.
“We thought it may have been a bit small to interest the larger Teir 1 contractors, and it fit our capability,” Huon Regional Manager, Liam Robertson said.
When they won the tender to work for Wagga Wagga City Council as the managing contractor on the RiFL Huon, Huon committed to using local subcontractors and suppliers as much as possible.
Which is where ICN came in. Huon got in touch with ICN’s Murray Riverina Regional Manager, Geoff Reardon and told him what they were looking for.
“Geoff went through his contacts and put some names forward that we could go to for requests for quotes. He supplied us with a number of local contacts and would also point suppliers and subcontractors to us.
“Now that project is over, we monitor the ICN website and keep in touch with Geoff to keep an eye out for new projects in the region. Once the EOIs are completed, Geoff puts those project owners and contractors in touch with us.”
Through ICN, Huon won a contract with HumeLink West and has submitted tenders for work with various other major projects.
In the wake of winning the RiFL Hub tender in 2019, Liam moved to Wagga Wagga and Huon established a regional office, employing locals and contributing to the regional economy, through a number of projects with Council and private developers.
“It was a good kickstart for the regional business. It was such a big project and projects like that aren’t always around the Riverina.
“Now we have a presence here, we can ramp up for other projects like HumeLink West and the Marshalls Creek Bridge replacement for TfNSW, as well as work on smaller local projects.”
While Huon scales up and down using subcontractors, opening an office in Wagga Wagga has led directly to local employment.
“We’ve got a scholarship program with the University of Wollongong, and we have two engineers here from Wagga who’ve gone through that program and are now working full time as Project Engineers with us,” Liam said.
“During the RiFL Hub project we employed about half a dozen locals, and it has grown from there, plus some of our staff have relocated from Canberra.”
For Huon, the RiFL hub project essentially served as a strategic entry point for the company to establish a strong regional presence and credibility in the Riverina area.
Now complete, the RiFL is delivering significant benefits to the region, and is attracting other businesses wanting to establish a presence in regional NSW.
And although Huon was not an ICN subscriber until its expansion into the Riverina, the company now sees ICN as a valuable networking platform that helps them expand their project portfolio and connect with local businesses. It sees the benefit of ICN as both a supplier and as a major contractor, using ICN and the Gateway platform to not only find work for Huon, but to identify local subcontractors.
For more information, go to Huon’s website.