Close to 300 local farmers converged on Mount Gambier last week to celebrate agricultural banking specialist Rabobank 20th anniversary in the region.
Guests – including the bank’s clients and others from the farming community in the surrounding region – enjoyed a formal dinner at the Barn Palais on November 16 and heard from keynote speakers, former CEO of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association (NTCA) Tracey Hayes and Rabobank national manager of Country Banking Todd Charteris.
Ms Hayes – who stepped down as CEO of the NTCA in September after four years in the role and 18 years with the organisation – shared insights of her time at the helm of the industry association, taking over when the northern cattle industry was still recovering from the 2011 Indonesia live export suspension.
Ms Hayes emphasised the importance of maintaining relevance and developing resilience for those involved in agriculture.
Todd Charteris spoke about the successful growth and development of agriculture in the South Australia’s south east, which had helped fuel enormous expansion in the bank’s Mount Gambier branch over the past two decades.
“This is a wonderful milestone for Mt Gambier branch, which has been one of Rabobank’s most successful locations in Australia. The growth of the branch is testament to both the calibre of clients the bank has in the south-east region and to the quality, knowledge and dedication of the branch staff,” he said.
Mr Charteris said the bank focussed on employing agribusiness banking staff who had strong knowledge and experience in agriculture and a passion for farming.
“Nowhere is this more evident than in Mount Gambier, where this has forged such a strong client relationships,” he said.
Established in 1997, Mt Gambier was the second South Australian branch to be opened by Rabobank, after Adelaide.
Today, the bank has six branches throughout the state and 61 throughout Australia, servicing the banking needs of the country’s agricultural sector.
Part of the world’s leading specialist food and agribusiness bank, the global Rabobank Group, Rabobank Australia is one of the country’s largest agricultural lenders and a major provider of corporate and business banking services to food and agribusiness sector.
Also attending the 20th anniversary celebrations were Rabobank Mt Gambier’s founding branch manager Phil Porter (who acted as master of ceremonies for the evening) and founding staff members Sam Dohle and Lyndall Vines.
All still employed with Rabobank, Mr Porter is now deputy regional manager for South Australia & North Victoria, while Mr Dohle is branch manager in Hamilton, Victoria and Ms Vines is credit settlement manager in Adelaide.
Current Mt Gambier branch manager, Bryan Hunt, also with the branch since 1999, said the “phenomenal turn out of almost 300 clients and farmers from around the region was testament of the bank’s strong presence and high regard in the local agricultural sector and our connection with the local community.”
Mr Hunt said with the quality of agricultural production in South Australia’s south east – coupled with the strong growth outlook for Australian agriculture – the bank was confident the region’s farming sector had a strong future ahead.
Also celebrating on the evening were Rabobank regional manager for South Australia and North West Victoria Roger Matthews and the other members of Mt Gambier’s branch staff – senior rural manager Sarah Martin; rural managers Mark Buckle and Joe Noonan; finance manager Gary Robinson; senior finance officers Mary Earl and Jacquiline Hardman and finance officer Amy Hawke.
Guests were also entertained at the end of the evening by local Mt Gambier singing duo Alison Newman and Emma Anderson.
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand is a part of the global Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has nearly 120 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 40 countries, servicing the needs of approximately 8.6 million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand is one of Australasia’s leading agricultural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 94 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Media contacts:
Denise Shaw
Head of Media Relations
Rabobank Australia & New Zealand
Phone: 02 8115 2744 or 0439 603 525
Email: denise.shaw@rabobank.com
Skye Ward
Media Relations Manager
Rabobank Australia
Phone: 02 4855 1111 or 0418 216 103
Email: skye.ward@rabobank.com