40under40 News

It has been two years since Michelle Saunders' business partner, Frank Cooper, unexpectedly left the start-up tax accounting firm the pair founded to head back to a big-tier practice.

Navigating a business through Western Australia's economic boom presents enormous challenges for business, according to several leading WA business executives.

The skills shortage has forced many business operators to adopt a more flexible approach to paternity leave provisions.

PERTH businesses FX Digital, CommtechWireless Pty Ltd and WAVE Engineering have won prizes in their respective categories at the 2007 WA Small Business Champion awards this week.

The rush to consolidate the minerals services sector continues unabated, with Cardno Ltd buying Buckland Engineers Australia, while Leighton Holdings Ltd negotiates to acquire Australian Mine Services Pty Ltd.

Recognising the need to take advantage of growth opportunities was the driving force behind three significant private transactions collectively worth more than $120 million last week; yet that is where the similarity ends.

The WA Institute for Medical Research has appointed Tony Hume to the newly created role of manager of organisational advancement, with responsibility for managing the institutes fundraising activities

It's not often you get to sign off in the way that you want to, but I'm lucky enough to be doing just that.

For those within the fashion industry, a company's brand is often its most valuable asset. But for accountant Hamish Jolly, founder of online fashion business Pat Pending, there is value in the customer having brand ownership.

PERTH-BASED company Mineral Engineering Technical Services Pty Ltd has appointed Jason Stirbinskis as general manager.

With Melbourne often cited as a blueprint for cultural reform for Perth, it is with some irony that former Western Australian-based executive Sally Capp has been appointed to head the organisation credited with much of the Victorian capital's revival.

Professor Lyle Palmer, the head of the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research's Laboratory for Genetic Epidemiology, will become the first Western Australian to Chair a panel at the prestigious Bio 2007 annual biotechnology event.

Western Australia's Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry has become a much bigger issue than any observer would have predicted at the outset – or even at the start of last week.

The setting sun cast a warm glow over the decks of the imposing Osman Gazi, the impressive venue for the sixth annual WA Business News 40under40 awards held last month.

In addition to the 40under40 awards, four special prizes were awarded by the program's strategic alliance partners – the City of Perth, UWA Business School, Murdoch University and Edith Cowan University.

This week's WA Business News introduces the winners of the 2007 40under40 awards, and their first among equals, as well as Trade, Property, Not for Profit, Growing Business, Gusto and more

In 1997, gold explorer Westgold Resources bought a parcel of St Barbara shares from Perth investor, Ron Woss.

The entire team at WA Business News is proud to introduce the 2007 class of 40under40 winners. They are a remarkable group of individuals who, through sheer determination and passion, have worked hard to achieve their goals and objectives.

The venue for this year's 40under40 Awards gala has a touch of the exotic, and certainly a touch of class about it.

Title: Chief executive officerBusiness: Imaging services to regional areasTotal employees: 95

Title: Managing director 

Title: General manager 

Title: Deputy director general 

Western Australia's medical research sector is again flying the flag for the state at a national level.

Having conquered local and national wine markets since he purchased Yallingup winery Wills Domain in 2000, Darren Haunold has set his sights on capitalising on global opportunities.

The decision to leave a successful business built upon a significant financial and emotional investment is one many small business operators eventually have to take.

Perth-based PharmAust Ltd has topped the local contingent in the Deloitte Tech Fast 50, claiming sixth spot in the national league ladder for 2006 and leading three other compatriots.

Emergency management and safety training company Risktec Australasia Pty Ltd is to further expand its international client base with the company opening a training office in Angola.

Strong growth in the first quarter of the calendar year, a nationwide advertising campaign and the imminent launch of ADSL2+ has ensured 2006 has been a hectic period for internet service provider, Westnet.

Designing a new range of skin care products has been the most significant milestone for Bethany James's cosmetics company, Bethany Cosmetics, since its establishment in 2002.

Andrew Ford says franchising his business and exploring new ventures has been the key to sustaining growth in a competitive marketplace.

Daylight saving is an issue that I welcome back onto the agenda, even if I am deeply suspicious about how it has suddenly woken from its coma after more than a decade on drip-feed.

The 2007 WA Business News 40under40 Awards program was launched at a breakfast forum featuring four high-profile past winners.

It seems to come around so quickly every year, but our search for the 2007 40under40 officially started last Wednesday at the ‘Dynamic Entrepreneurs in the Boom' breakfast as part of the WA Business News Success and Leadership series.

His role as a technology leader in Western Australia was well-known when Michael Malone was crowned 40under40 1st Amongst Equals earlier this year; a far cry from when he graduated from university in the early 1990s, when few knew anything about the inter

Mining might have received all the headlines in the past year, but Tessitura managing director and founder Liddy McCall is proof that other sectors are firing as well.