David Collard’s Geelong trade company opens first international office in New York

A successful businessman from Geelong has expanded his trade consultation company into the US.

Deputy prime minister Richard Marles, Scale Facilitation founder David Collard, opposition leader Peter Dutton and Wadawurrang woman Corrina Eccles attended the opening of a US office for a Geelong tech company alongside local indigenous leaders. Picture: Supplied

A Geelong-based company has opened its first international office in the US, marking the beginning of a planned global expansion.

Scale Facilitation is a trade consultation company founded by former Geelong businessman David Collard.

Now the founder and chief executive officer of multiple international companies, Mr Collard attended St Joseph’s College in Newtown in the late 1990s before studying business and accounting at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and relocating to New York at the age of 26 to further his career.

His latest company aims to connect inventors with investment partners in a bid to scale innovations into global markets.

Established in 2021, Scale Facilitation opened its first office in Geelong’s Federal Mills business park and has now opened its first global headquarters at the One World Trade Center in New York – marking the highest commercial full-floor lease in America.

“The principles established in our Geelong office are now global and are a great way of helping to ensure our global workforce always remains true to our mission,” Mr Collard said.

Scale Facilitation founder David Collard. Picture: Supplied

First Nations representative and Wadawurrang woman Corrina Eccles flew over to the US to be at the office’s opening in December.

She exchanged gifts and words of welcome to Mr Collard and representatives from the Indigenous owners of the land where the One World Trade Center stands, the Lenape Tribe.

Mr Collard said he was thrilled to celebrate the international expansion with “such a diverse and welcoming group”.

“We believe our work will lead to a productive bilateral and bipartisan unity, one which welcomes diversity and the flourishing of the US and Australia as close trading partners,” he said.

Deputy prime minister Richard Marles and opposition leader Peter Dutton put their political differences to the side and attended the official opening of the office.

Scale Facilitation also has plans to continue its global expansion in the UK, India and throughout Europe.

Originally published as David Collard’s Geelong trade company opens first international office in New York