Mark Beyer

Former Orbital director Ken Johnsen is leading the revival of little-known Balcatta company SafeEffect Technologies, which is aiming to relist on the Australian Stock Exchange this month after a two-and-a-half-year suspension.

Nearly three years ago, automated ticketing company ERG completed a major balance sheet restructuring and installed a new board of directors.

Wesfarmers Ltd subsidiary Energy Generation Pty Ltd, formerly StateWest Power, has been selected as the preferred bidder for five new power stations in Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley region.

Engineering and property company Clough Limited has announced a net loss of $16.7 million for the half-year to December 2005, and is cautiously positive about its future prospects.

Barry Gregory’s Alexander Education Group has made a big strategic shift this year by winding down its vocational training programs and establishing closer links with Murdoch University.

Education is one of Western Australia’s top export industries, worth an estimated $1 billion a year, but changes in the market are making it hard for the state to compete.

IBT Education completed one of Western Australia’s biggest stock market floats in 2004 and now ranks as a successful top-20 WA stock.

IBT Education is hardly a household name, yet the Perth company runs colleges across Australia and internationally that have more than 10,000 students.

New science and innovation minister Francis Logan has moved quickly to put his stamp on state government policy by identifying four industry sectors that he would target for growth.

Premier Alan Carpenter has put some substance to his declared support for the technology sector, announcing today he would travel to the United States to attend Bio 2006, the world's largest biotech industry conference and exhibition.

The long-running takeover battle for Tethyan Copper Company Ltd has produced a surprise outcome, with Tethyan negotiating an agreed $190 million offer from Chilean mining company Antofagasta plc.

Private agribusiness manager Rewards Group is budgeting for nearly 50 per cent growth this year, helped by strategic alliances with banking group NM Rothschild & Sons and miner-turned-property investor Chester Mining.

The single desk for Australian wheat exports has long been considered one of the pillars on which the industry has prospered but in the past month the push to free up wheat exports has gained surprising momentum.

The bidding for a $100 million waste processing project in Perth’s northern suburbs has taken a surprise turn after local company GRD decided it would not participate in the tender.

Oroya Mining is a small exploration company and Alcoa is one of the state’s biggest companies, but despite their size difference they have run into a very similar tax problem.

TheChamber of Commerce and Industry has completed a series of changes to its senior management with the recruitment of Diedre Willmott as its inaugural executive director policy.

Sally Malay Mining has announced that it will not exercise its pre-emptive right to acquire the outstanding 25 per cent shareholding in the Lanfranchi nickel joint venture, now to be controlled by Canadian company Brilliant Mining Corp.

Aspiring iron ore miner Gindalbie Metals Ltd has signed a project alliance agreement with engineering company Thiess Pty Ltd to support development of its Karara project in the mid-west region near Geraldton.

Business leaders in Western Australia have applauded Premier Alan Carpenter’s decision to establish a science and innovation ministry, which has been handed to up and coming minister, Francis Logan.

Western Australia’s Economic Regulation Authority has approved a nearly 20 per cent cut in “reserve capacity” prices for the state’s electricity generators, including aspiring producer Eneabba Gas.

A decisive shift in the Labor Party’s Western Australian factions has played a key role in dictating the momentous political changes of the past month.

Cutting taxes, improving infrastructure and tackling the skills crisis should be the top priorities for the Carpenter government, a survey of Western Australian business leaders by WA Business News has found.

The information and communications technology sector is worth around $10.1 billion to the Western Australian economy, much more than previous official statistics had found, a state government report released this week has concluded.

The chief executive and management team at portable accommodation builder Nomad Consolidated have teamed with the ANZ Bank’s private equity arm to complete a management buyout.

Global mining giant Rio Tinto tripled the profit from its West Australian iron ore business last year, underpinning a strong rise in the group's underlying net profit to US$4.9 billion (A$6.5 billion).

Leighton Contractors has completed the $211 million purchase of Henry Walker Eltin's Austrralian and New Zealand contract mining business and disclosed that it is negotiating to buy HWE's 50 per cent interest in Pilbara-based indigenous contractor Ngarda

Premier Alan Carpenter used the election of two new ministers, including one with links to former premier Brian Burke, to try to bury forever discussions about WA Inc and its impact on the government.

Biotechnology company Imugene said it has achieved “one of its biggest regulatory milestones” with a licence for the limited release of its poultry productivity enhancer (PPE).

Western Power is moving into the final stages of preparing for its break-up into four separate corporations, with the announcement of the chairmen and trading names of the four new entities.

Biotechnology company Imugene said it has achieved "one of its biggest regulatory milestones" with a licence for the limited release of its poultry productivity enhancer (PPE).

Technology company DDD Group plc has announced plans to raise £1.26 million ($A3 million) through a placement of 11.5 million shares at 11 pence per share.

Float hopeful Eneabba Gas, which is seeking to take advantage of Western Australia’s deregulated energy market, has caught the eye of the industry supervisor.