• Historic SA food producer enters administration
• West Australian sister to save MS Society
• Adelaide design studio takes home top gong
• VET gets a boost
• Crane activity at record high
• Spirit sector set to soar
• Alligator Energy moves to Adelaide
• Offline Campers wins award
• Former Adelaide Crows captain releases new vodka line
• Drilling approved for iTech Minerals
• AML3D lands military deal
• Winners announced for 2025 Rowe Partners Business Port Augusta Awards

Historic SA food producer enters administration

Renowned South Australian business Spring Gully Foods entered voluntary administration saying  “this week has been one of the toughest for our team, our suppliers, our customers, and our family”.

The Dry Creek-based food producer appointed James Stuart McPherson as its administrator on October 22 and the company’s 34 staff members have been made redundant.

Spring Gully told its supporters it was forced to make the decision after exhausting options as it faced rising costs and losing key contracts.

“We know we’re not alone. It’s a challenging time for many Australian businesses facing rising costs, price pressure from imports, and the changing ways we all buy food as the cost of living rises,” it said in a Facebook post.

“The support from you, the public, our customers, and our suppliers has been overwhelming. It’s creating real opportunities to explore ways to keep making the products you love.”

Spring Gully was founded in the Adelaide foothills in 1946 and produces gherkins, onions, pickles, relishes and sauces. The business also entered administration in 2013 but a surge of public support and a renewed focus on local production drew it back from the brink.

West Australian sister to save MS Society

The West Australian counterpart to MS Society SA & NT has stepped in to maintain the not-for-profit’s services for its estimated 3000 clients after the South Australian branch appointed voluntary administrators in September, citing “sustained financial pressures” as the reason for its collapse.

MSWA is working with the administrator to plan a transition under an Asset Purchase Agreement.

“At MSWA, our first priority is always the people we serve. When we saw the risk of vital services being lost in SA and NT, we felt it was important to step in,” said MSWA CEO Melanie Kiely.

“Our experience, scale and commitment mean that people will continue to receive the support they need without disruption.

“This is about putting the MS community and clients first and playing our part in national leadership to ensure people have access to support as they navigate their journey with MS.”

Adelaide design studio takes home top gong

An Adelaide-based design studio, Rodeo, has taken home Gold at the 2025 Australian Good Design Awards for its design of the Bush Music Fund’s annual impact report.

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The Australian Good Design Awards is one of the world’s longest-running international design award programs, with ‘Design for Better’ the theme of this year’s program.

The winning report, titled Sound is Like a River, was created by design studio Rodeo and featured several interviews, including one from Midnight Oil’s Peter Garret.

It featured impact data for Bush Music Fund — a long-term support fund for First Nations musicians — and included in-depth interviews, images and cultural storytelling in the second half.

“The nature of the music industry is that it’s cool, hip and irreverent, but the client also needs to communicate to corporate bodies and funds, so that informed our strategy and design,” said Rodeo creative director and founder Tobin Lush.

VET gets a boost

South Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) workforce is set for a $10 million boost to train and upskill South Australians as VET educators.

The investment is joint funded by the federal and state government, with both to invest $5 million each.

The initiative is aimed at increasing professional development to ensure SA has sufficient trainers in building and construction, early childhood, defence and health sectors.

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“There is a critical need for skilled workers right across the country, so we must support educators to continue seeing growth in students undertaking the courses we need skilled workers in,”  Education, Training and Skills Minister Blair Boyer said.

Crane activity at record high

Adelaide is the nation’s top capital city for crane activity, according to the latest RLB Crane Index, with 26 cranes currently operating on major projects across the city.

It is the highest level of crane activity in Adelaide — at 433 points on the crane index — since the index was started.

Sydney sits second with 228 points, followed by Melbourne at 172 and Brisbane at 100.

Cranes currently under operation include four at the Adelaide Central Market and two at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital as the state government looks to invest $27.3 billion for major infrastructure projects across the next four years.

New additions included at St Aloysius College (Adelaide), Flinders Medical Centre Redevelopment (Bedford Park, with two cranes) and the new Mount Barker Hospital Development (Mount Barker).

The residential sector included 399 King William (Adelaide), Arc Bowden (Bowden), Calibre Apartments (Glenelg), Dusk Glenelg (Glenelg), and Unley 108 (Unley)

“Each of the cranes across our skyline signals more jobs, more homes, more infrastructure, more hospital capacity and demonstrates the enormous amount of activity across Adelaide,” Premier Peter Malinauskas said.

Spirit sector set to soar

The state government is set to invest $250,000 to expand the global reach of SA’s spirit sector following a 24 per cent growth in exports in the past 12 months.

The two-year Spirits Expansion Program to be delivered in partnership with Distillers South Australia would help businesses expand export capabilities and offer access into priority domestic and international markets.

Since 2013, the number of SA distilleries has risen from 10 to more than 100, with exports currently worth $32.9 million annually.

“Our distillers have been producing world-class spirits for some time, and it’s long overdue that we share them more widely with the world,” Minister for Trade and Investment Joe Szakacs said.

Alligator Energy moves to Adelaide

Uranium and energy metals mining developer Alligator Energy has moved its headquarters to Adelaide to boost operations.

The ASX-listed company has multiple ongoing uranium and energy mineral projects in SA, with the Samphire Uranium Project and Big Lake Uranium Prospect.

The Samphire Project was acquired in 2020 and is a uranium mining project 20 km south of Whyalla with an estimated 17.5 Mlbs of uranium on site.

The Big Lake project is in SA’s Lake Eyre Basin and targets the discovery of Australia’s next in-situ recovery uranium field.

Offline Campers wins award

SA camper trailer business Offline Campers has won an Australian Good Design Award for its locally designed and manufactured Solitaire Hybrid Camper.

The Solitaire Hybrid Camper was awarded the International Good Design Award for Excellence in Design and Innovation.

The Camper includes a queen-size bed, kitchen, dining, heating and reverse-cycle air conditioning, heated shower and toilet.

“The Solitaire has been designed to suit people of all abilities and ages, with simple assembly, an important design feature to ensure equipment is easy to access at any time,” Offline Campers founder Sam Reynolds said.

Former Adelaide Crows captain releases new vodka line

Part-owner of Hard FIZZ and former Crows captain Rory Sloane has released a new line of beverages using Australian-made vodka.

Hard FIZZ — which has traditionally produced seltzers — has dropped Hard FIZZ vodka in a lemonade and pineapple flavour.

The release looks to capitalise on recent market research, which shows vodka consumption has risen 12.7 per cent in Australia since last December.

“All the research says spirit-based RTD’s are set to trend this Summer, so it’s exciting to be jumping on that first,” Sloane said.

The Hard FIZZ vodka range is now available to purchase in South Australian bars and bottle shops.

Drilling approved for iTech Minerals

SA-based company iTech Minerals has received drilling approvals for its upcoming gold-antimony-focused drilling program at Reynolds Range in the Northern Territory.

The company has started earthworks for the arrival of drill rigs later this month, with twelve holes to be drilled across three prospects at Sabre, Falchion and Lander.

“The company is excited to drill test beneath high-grade, outcropping antimony and gold mineralisation at the Sabre, Falchion and Lander Prospects,” managing director Mike Schwarz said.

Drilling is expected to take up to three weeks, with results expected by late November or early December.

AML3D lands military deal

Plympton-based manufacturer AML 3D Ltd has landed a $4.5 million order for two custom-built ARCEMY industrial metal 3D printing systems from the US’s largest military ship builder.

Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of US military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, would use the heavy capacity ARCEMY system for a variety of shipbuilding applications.

It would be the ninth and tenth ARCEMY systems ordered to support the US Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base.

The ARCEMY systems produce large-scale components that meet traditional manufacturing standards with reductions to waste and environmental impacts.

“It was clear AML3D had a huge opportunity to build on our success supporting the US Navy submarine program and expand into US Navy shipbuilding and munitions as part of US Government’s ‘Make Shipbuilding Great Again’ initiatives,” AML3D CEO Sean Ebert said.

The NNS custom ARCEMY system is expected to be installed and operational by the second quarter of 2026.

Winners announced for 2025 Rowe Partners Business Port Augusta Awards

Winners of the 2025 Rowe Partners Business Port Augusta Awards were announced at last week’s ceremony, with Career Co taking home the top honour of the night.

The awards celebrate excellence, innovation and contribution from local businesses to the region’s economy and community.

Career Co — a business that helps locals find work — also took home the Excellence in Large Business and Most Innovative Business awards.

“To be recognised as the Most Outstanding Business for 2024/25, along with wins for Innovation and Excellence in Large Business, is an incredible honour and a testament to our team, our clients, and the partnerships that drive our success,” managing director Emma Di Paolo said.

Other winners from the night are listed below: