Joe Prendergast and family at heart of Goomeri business boom

Rising Gympie region business identity Joe Prendergast has a trio of thriving businesses and is spending millions expanding his family’s thriving empire.

Goomeri Bakery, Joe’s Grand Hotel and Dusty Hill Vineyard owners Joe and Miranda Prendergast are expanding their businesses and adding to a surging economy in the western Gympie region town.

South Burnett businessman Joe Prendergast was only 16 years old when his parents took over a vineyard overlooking the Bjelke Petersen Dam “to get away”.

Now the property is one third of a trio of thriving businesses sitting at the heart of a surging empire.

Mr Prendergast, along with his wife Miranda and mother Margaretha, are the beating heart behind the Goomeri Bakery, Joe’s Grand Hotel and the Dusty Hill Vineyard about 20km southwest of Goomeri, at Moffatdale.

The vineyard is in the middle of a $6.5 million expansion, which will add a distillery, restaurant, motel and cabins to the popular tourist spot.

It is not the only major project on the cards either, Mr Prendergast revealed.

Upgrades are also planned next door to the hotel, including new accommodation and possibly a bar, he said.

This would allow the existing building to once more be a Grand Hotel, with ensuite rooms.

The Prendergasts at Dusty Hill vineyard.

There is a third expansion planned for the bakery, too, which would only enhance its already considerable effect on the town.

“We thought the bakery would be good for the town; we didn’t think it would be this good,” Mr Prendergast said.

It is a burgeoning empire built from and with family.

Mr Prendergast said he took over the vineyard from his parents when his father Frank suffered a stroke; the bakery launched after his father’s death in 2017.

He said his mother moved to France at the age of 60 to learn French pastry making following a family “debate”.

Margaretha Prendergast at the already famous Goomeri Bakery.

When she returned they launched the “French patisserie cross with Australian gourmet” venture, which has since become an icon in the town.

It is being joined by a range of growing business like pop-up wine tours, with the potential to become Gympie’s and the Sunshine Coast’s equivalent of the Hunter Valley or another Maleny.

“We’re still a working town, there’s still some farmers here,” Mr Prendergast said.

Joe Prendergast at the bakery.

“This is till the real deal, still a real country town.

“It’s a very pretty region as well.”

COVID played a big part in the town’s resurgence, with people unable to travel overseas.

“Once things opened up we were extremely busy,” he said.

He hoped that now people know what is in their own backyards they will look there more often.

“People may think ‘in three hours I can be in the South Burnett’ as opposed to a full day of travel to get to Bali,” Mr Prendergast said.