• SA solar innovator basks in funding boost
• CSIRO cuts magazine publishing
• Pink Shorts Press brings ‘wordshops’ to Adelaide Arcade
• SA brewers take home gold at beer awards
• Adelaide private schools fight to end period poverty
• New toolbox for hiring managers
• MetroMap cracks subscription milestone
• Kelsian extends Singaporean bus contracts
• CH4 Global’s Methane Tamer gets global attention
• New radiation oncology service in North Adelaide
• Koonenberry gets Lion Selection Group Backing

SA solar innovator basks in funding boost

Adelaide-based solar company 5B is the first recipient of the Federal Government’s $1 billion Solar Sunshot Program, targeted at expanding Australia’s solar manufacturing.

5B will receive $48 million to produce 200 megawatts of their ‘Maverick’ units, an automated, accordion-style, solar deployment system that uses prefabricated panels to upscale solar farm rollouts.

5B CEO David Griffin said the funding will reduce the company’s production costs by 25 per cent and accelerate its ability to offer large customers cheaper energy, along with safer, speedier, solar.

“It means we can further strengthen our team, creating opportunities from the factory floor, in our field deployment crews, and specialists working on gigawatts of solar farm designs,” Griffin said.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency CEO Darren Miller said the project represents the best homegrown technology and “what we need” to reach its renewable energy goal of 1 terawatt of installed solar PV in Australia by 2050.

CSIRO cuts magazine publishing

CSIRO Publishing has announced it will no longer publish print issues of Cosmos Magazine or Double Helix.

Cosmos Magazine was first published in 2005 and is SA’s biggest dedicated science publication. Double Helix is a science magazine targeted at young readers aged eight to 14. Both will publish their last print editions in June 2025.

A CSIRO spokesperson said it was a “difficult decision” that came after a review of the publisher’s magazine business.

“While five roles in Cosmos are impacted, four new roles have been created to support the dynamic news service as part of CSIRO Publishing’s digital content platform,” the spokesperson said.

The CSIRO’s new digital platform is due to launch later in the year, integrating Cosmos digital content, and publishing peer reviewed journals, e-books and fact-based science news.

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CSIRO acquired the Cosmos brand in June last year after its former charity owner struggled to secure funding and made editorial staff redundant.

Pink Shorts Press brings ‘wordshops’ to Adelaide Arcade

Independent publishing house Pink Shorts Press is promoting the importance of a brand’s voice through its new ‘Wordshops’ program.

The half-day workshops are hosted in the Pink Shorts Press Adelaide Arcade space or online, and help individuals and teams convey their branding through words more effectively.

Pink Shorts Press founders Margot Lloyd and Emily Hart want people to consider voice and narrative to be as important as visual branding within a business.

With hopes to work with fellow small, creative businesses, the duo is also keen to broaden their customer base.

“We perhaps see the most potential in businesses that don’t typically value words as much – like engineering and accounting,” Hart says.

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‘Wordshops’ also cover inclusive language, style guides and grammar tips, and Hart says, “there might be a few book recommendations in there as well.”

SA brewers take home gold at beer awards

Local brewers have been awarded a slew of gold medals at this year’s Australian International Beer Awards.

Local keystone Coopers Brewery took home gold in the Best Australian-Style Pale Ale category for both its keg and can offerings.

South Australia’s most successful category was the Best Modern India Pale Ale, with Little Bang Brewing Co, Eclectic Brewing and Uraidla Brewery all earning top scores.

Other golds were awarded for Best Porter or Stout to both Minlaton-based Watsacowie Brewing Company and Loophole Brewing Co, Best Australian Style Lager to Mismatch Brewing Company and Best Traditional India Pale Ale to Pirate Life Brewing.

Little Bang Brewing Co. was the only South Australian name to take home multiple golds, with another win in the Best British and European Style Ale for their Hopocalypse West keg.

Following the results, Mark Condi, CEO of Little Bang Brewing’s parent company Duxton Pubs, said, “Craft beer has faced its fair share of challenges, but our team has stayed focused, resilient, and committed to quality.”

SA: State Budget Lunch: The Property Council’s State Budget Lunch, a highlight on the organisation’s events calendar, will be held on June 11 at Adelaide Oval. The 3rd Australian Space Cyber Forum: The third Australian Space Cyber Forum comes to the Adelaide Convention Centre on June 23 and June 24, 2025. The 19th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: AWITC is heading to Adelaide from July 20 to 23, 2025. Held every three years since 1970, this event is a key technical forum for the Australian wine industry. Australia-ASEAN Business Forum 2025: Adelaide is set to host the Australia-ASEAN Business Forum on August 26 and 27, 2025, welcoming over 750 senior delegates, including diplomatic officials, investors, and commercial leaders from the Southeast Asian region. Foresight Community of Practice Gathering: Join the Foresight Community of Practice Gathering at MOD. on June 12, 2025. This event welcomes the new SA Water Visiting Futurist, Vaughn Tan, during his four-week residency.

Adelaide private schools fight to end period poverty

This month, private schools across Adelaide are collaborating with local not-for-profit organisation, KickStart for Kids, in their fight to end period poverty in South Australia.

Walford Anglican School for Girls, Wilderness School, Loreto College, St Paul’s College, Westminster School, Seymour College, Cabra Dominican College, St Dominic’s Priory College, St Michael’s College, and Rostrevor College are joining forces to run fundraising drives raising money and collecting donations of sanitary products for other students in need.

A 2020 survey found that one in four South Australian girls miss out on attending school due to not having proper access to feminine hygiene products.

KickStart for Kids founder Ian Steel said he was “particularly grateful that all-boys school Rostrevor are participating for the third year in a row”.

“It’s so important to get the lads involved in the cause as well and get them understanding the struggles that girls who are less privileged than them sometimes have to face,” he said.

In addition to support from schools, Kickstart for Kids is also hosting its annual SkyCity KickStart for Kids Period Poverty Fundraiser on May 30^th, with tickets available to purchase.

The public can also help the cause by placing sanitary products in donation bins located in National Pharmacy stores across the state.

New toolbox for hiring managers

South Australian social enterprise Community Corporate have developed a free online resource to support employers in hiring culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) workers.

The toolkit, commissioned by the Federal Government’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, will help employers engage with inclusive and equitable recruitment and increase the labour force.

March 2025 data shows national job seeker organisation Workforce Australia had a caseload of 684,565, including 123,480 CALD individuals on income support with mutual obligations.

“Our new toolbox is designed to help bust myths and make it easier for employers to access this pool of talent,” Community Corporate CEO and founder Carmen Garcia AM said.

The Hiring Manager’s Toolbox: attracting and retaining refugee and migrant talent is available online for free, and as part of the federally funded national project, retail employers can access subsidised pilot programs to support trialling new hiring initiatives.

MetroMap cracks subscription milestone

Mapping platform MetroMap, owned by Adelaide-based Aerometrex, has achieved a subscription milestone, surpassing $10 million in annual contract value.

The company said the achievement was a “powerful endorsement of the strategic investments made in the MetroMap platform and a clear signal of the increasing value it delivers to customers across industries”.

“We are extremely pleased to reach this important milestone of $10 million in ACV,” Aerometrex acting CEO Robert Veitch said.

“This is more than just a financial benchmark – it is a validation of our mission to empower our customers in enabling them to make smarter, faster, and more informed decisions through our innovative platform.”

Kelsian extends Singaporean bus contracts

Kelsian subsidiary Tower Transit Singapore has been awarded a two-year extension to its public bus services contracts in Singapore.

In FY24, the total annual revenue earned from the contracts was $204 million.

CEO Grame Legh said the two renewals were “testament to our operational excellence in Singapore; providing safe and reliable public transport services and reflecting the work of our entire team”.

CH4 Global’s Methane Tamer gets global attention

Adelaide company CH4 Global’s ‘Methane Tamer’ was named one of the world’s top 50 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal leaders, in a series featured on CNBC in the US.

Made from a type of seaweed called Asparagopsis, the feed additive reduces methane emissions from cattle by as much as 90 per cent, and is grown and processed at the world’s first EcoPark seaweed cultivation system at Louth Bay, just north of Port Lincoln.

According to CH4 Global Founder Dr Steve Meller, the feed additive pioneers the way forward in reducing emissions in a way that is “practical, affordable, and widely accessible”.

“We are building momentum in Australia so that we can extend our reach to other countries where cattle is a significant source of methane emissions”, Dr Meller said.

New radiation oncology service in North Adelaide

The $300 million development Eighty Eight O’Connell Street will house the new Icon Cancer Centre, providing cancer treatment in world-class facilities.

Icon Radiation Oncologist A/Prof Michael Penniment called it a “major milestone for cancer care in South Australia”.

“The new centre brings state-of-the-art technology and comprehensive care, ensuring patients receive the best possible treatment and support as close to home as possible,” Penniment said.

New state-of-the-art equipment located at the centre will include a Carian TrueBeam linear accelerator, which provides advanced radiation techniques, reducing side effects of treatment and leading to better outcomes for patients.

The centre is part of Icon Group’s broader investment in South Australia. Since 2021, they have developed a new cancer centre in Noarlunga and Windsor Gardens, delivering a wide range of cancer treatments with advanced technology across the state.

Koonenberry gets Lion Selection Group Backing

Victorian company Lion Selection Group has invested $1 million into SA miner Koonenberry Gold, with the investment firm saying the miner was “the strongest performer in Lion’s portfolio this calendar year”.

“Koonenberry took a brave step to re-interpret the geology at Enmore and develop a new target concept, which the first few holes have shown to be well-founded,” Lion managing director Hedley Widdup said.

“The discovery of a new zone of mineralisation at Enmore is an exciting time for Koonenberry, and this funding positions them strongly to put some shape around a highly compelling target.”