Special Reports

Ask any business owner what the biggest issue facing their business is and staff shortages will be the most likely reply.

Private business has had an extraordinary year, with a rush of trade sales and floats allowing a window in to owner's thinking.

If it all goes to plan, the succession process at industrial equipment supplier CAPS Australia will have taken at least eight years.

Life after Alcoa for former Australian chief Wayne Osborn will be a mixture of business and pleasure – but it hardly sounds like he’s slowing down.

The state’s new multi-purpose stadium may be getting all the headlines, but several other infrastructure projects in Western Australian sport are already going ahead, or close to being finalised.

As the debate over Perth’s new multi-use stadium has demonstrated, AFL wields the most influence of all codes in Western Australian sport, with the state’s two clubs among the most financially successful in the national competition.

Brand and profile are critical elements for any sporting club in terms of attracting corporate sponsorship.

Outside of the lucrative environment of the AFL, finding sponsorship can be tough in the arena of sport, with many clubs turning instead to private investment.

After a year of wrangling between key stakeholders, the starter’s gun has been fired on the city’s stadium project and Western Australia looks likely to have a 60,000-seat facility by 2016.

The non-forestry MIS sector is confident of a positive outcome from the Australian Tax Offices test case that would vindicate its view that investors in such schemes are carrying on a business.

Australian agribusiness stocks have performed solidly both in the short and longer term, with the Australian Agribusiness Group’s index of agricultural stocks showing strong returns over the past five years compared with the All Ordinaries index.

Western Australia is poised to become the world’s biggest producer of sandalwood early next decade, on the back of diminishing global native supplies and growing demand from India and China.

Great Southern Ltd founder John Young remains as private and modest in retirement as he was during his 20-year reign as head of Australia’s most successful agribusiness investment company.

Managed investment schemes have played a major role in the development of the olive industry in the Moore River region, which is fast becoming known as a premier location for the production of high-quality extra virgin olive oil.

There’s progress and there’s progress. The opportunities for women in business have grown significantly during the past 30 years, aided by laws, societal changes and individuals who broke through barriers.

Narelle Finch is not the first woman to sit on the board of the Western Australian Cricket Association, but she has achieved an extraordinary amount not only as a female in sport, but also as one who acknowledges she knows little about the games she works

An early achiever in breaking through the glass ceiling, Professor Leonie Still has largely retired from an academic life rich in management studies.

It’s hard to see any common ground between geology and communication, yet these two fields do share something – they both feature prominently in the career backgrounds of women now atop the corporate tree in Western Australian listed companies.

When Bronwyn Barnes met WA Business News, the stock market was in free fall and she seemed quite relieved to get away from the carnage that was taking place on the screens.

Maureen Muggeridge is not really interested in causes or making a big deal about women’s progress up the corporate ladder.

With gold production in Western Australia near five-year lows, the outlook for future production is reliant on new mines coming on stream successfully and mine expansions coming to fruition.

Finding the right people to manage Western Australia’s technology companies is like finding a needle in a haystack, according to Titan Bioventures managing director and Phylogica non-executive director Harry Karelis.

While Western Australia’s mining stocks and their investors enjoy a bull run, emerging technology companies with new ideas are finding it harder to attract investor attention.

Technology companies typically emerge from universities and other research institutions, but one WA success story that evolved away from the limelight was ThinkSmart.

Delivering big returns for investors was made to look easy this year by tungsten developer, Wolf Minerals.

The performance of WA's industrial property market during the past 12 months has more than matched the commercial sector, with record sales and rents being generated, although prices are tipped to level out as more supply comes on to the market in 2008.

Patersons Securities posted a record $1.26 billion dollars in capital raisings last year, up more than 50 per cent on the previous year and a result that has returned the Perth-based stockbroker to the top position for equity capital raisings during 2007.

Female business executives came to the fore in 2007, winning recognition in some of Australia’s most prominent business awards.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Family-owned furniture company, Burgtec Australasia, has added another accolade to its swag of award wins in recent years, taking out this year’s Western Australian best of the best furniture award for its WA Parliament refurbishment project.

Farmers in some parts of Western Australia may be still reeling from a poor season in 2006-07, but others are looking towards recovery as the 2007-08 harvest nears completion.

Although still primarily a niche market segment, indigenous tourism has grown in popularity of late, particularly among international visitors seeking a more unique Australian cultural experience.