Wide Bay’s biggest business bosses named | full list
The leaders behind some of the Wide Bay’s biggest businesses are also some of the richest in the region, with one generating $25 million a year and others around $5M in annual revenue. SEE THE FULL LIST
Gympie
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The Wide Bay is home to many big businesses and franchises from agriculture to fast food, with some owners taking home millions in sales each year.
Following a deep-dive into some of the most successful and influential businesses across the region, the Gympie Times, Fraser Coast Chronicle and Bundaberg NewsMail can reveal, through publicly available information, approximately how much each business makes annually.
See the full list here:
Lars Hedberg
Gympie businessman Lars Hedberg began his prominent career in Gympie when he and his late wife Madonna Hedberg famously brought the first McDonald’s restaurant to town.
The couple later sold the fast-food restaurant, and brought the first Hungry Jacks to Gympie.
Mrs Hedberg sadly suddenly passed away at home in 2019. She was 63.
According to CreditorWatch, the Hedberg’s owned several businesses over the years, including Scuzi Caffe, and Mary Valley stud farm Arnage Warmbloods.
Today, Mr Hedberg still owns Hungry Jacks Gympie as well as equestrian supplies shop Gympie Saddleworld, which neighbours Gympie Hungry Jacks.
Mr Hedberg was once a Gympie Show Society president, and Mrs Hedberg was well known in equestrian circles.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory lookup, the trusteeship which encompasses the Gympie Hungry Jacks and Gympie Saddleworld, generates approximately $4,780,000 in annual revenue.
Craig Manley
Fraser Coast man Craig Manley owns a chain of McDonald’s restaurants around Queensland, including eight across the Wide Bay.
According to Mr Manley’s LinkedIn, his career started as a McDonald’s franchisee in Brisbane in 1992.
From there, he expanded his fast-food empire to the Wide Bay, with stores in Bundaberg, Bundaberg City, Childers, Hervey Bay, Urangan, Bargara and Gympie, which was formerly owned by Gympie business man Lars Hedberg.
Mr Manley’s newest store, located in the Traveston Service Centre next to the Bruce Hwy in the Gympie region, opened in May 2021 and was the 233rd Queensland McDonald’s restaurant to open.
As of May 2021, more than 750 workers were employed at Mr Manley’s chain of restaurants.
Tom Strachan
Packhorse Investments Executive Director and Chief Storyteller Tom Strachan has a number of agricultural enterprises, including Mary Valley farm Oakwood, west of Kandanga in his portfolio.
According to its website, Packhorse Investments manages in excess of $284 million in private holdings, with an annual total return of 32.16 per cent since its creation in 2014.
Mr Strachan, who bought Oakwood from its previous owners in 2019, told the Gympie Times that same year he was thrilled to add to the legacy of Ian and Elaine Hart, who had bought the property back in 1949.
The goal was to turn the property into a food hub for Kandanga, Mr Strachan said.
While he did not disclose the exact figures for the property, he described the investment as “significant” and easily seven figures.
Greensill Family
The Greensill Family are arguably one of Bundaberg’s richest, as the biggest grower of sweet potatoes in Australia.
The farming family are also well known as a major grower of peanuts and sugar cane.
According to their website, the farm started with Roy Greensill in 1945 when he planted and cut 66 acres of sugar cane by hand on the Quanaba family farm.
Three generations on, the farm has expanded to a large-sale agricultural business spanning more than 8000 acres.
Farming notability aside, the Greensill family are also known for former successful businessman Lex Greensill, who founded the finance business Greensill Capital in 2011 before it collapsed in March 2021.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory Lookup, Greensill Farming Group generates approximately $373,447 in annual sales.
Joe, Miranda and Margaretha Prendergast
Joe Prendergast, his wife Miranda and his mother Margaretha Prendergast are the beating hearts of three big businesses across the Gympie region and South Burnett.
The trio owns and operates the Goomeri Bakery and Joe’s Grand Hotel in Goomeri, as well as Dusty Hill Vineyard at Moffatdale, 20km south of Goomeri.
Dusty Hill was subject to a $6.5 million expansion in 2021, which added a distillery, restaurant, motel and cabins to the popular tourist spot.
The Goomeri Bakery, which launched in 2017 after Mr Prendergast’s father passed away, and has since been made a quintessential business in the regional town, with a “French patisserie cross with Australian gourmet” vibe.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory, the company which encompasses all three businesses, Dusty Joe’s Pty Ltd, generates approximately $1,266,000 in annual revenue.
The Steinhardt family
The Steinhardt family, like the Greensill family, are big names in the Bundaberg agriculture business.
The family are best known for their companies Macadamia’s Australia in Bundaberg Central and FarmFresh Fine Foods in Alloway.
The Macadamia portion of the family business was established as the largest family owned vertically integrated macadamia business in the world in 2020, after a cracking plant including a tourism centre and cafe was built on the farm.
Meanwhile, FarmFresh Fine Foods, another division of the Steinhardt Corporation, is one of Australia’s premier fresh food hubs.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory, the Steinhardt Corporation generates approximately $1,891,891 in annual sales.
David Burness
David Burness began his career as a Silvo’s Dial-A-Pizza delivery driver in 1991 and 30 years later was promoted to CEO of Dominos in September, 2021.
Mr Burness, who runs Dominos in Gympie, and his wife Melissa, own seven of the restaurants in total including on the Sunshine Coast where their four children are employed and at Maryborough.
Mr and Mrs Burness have been dubbed “Mr and Mrs Pizza” for their prominence within the business.
Domino’s Gympie also underwent a major makeover in just 11 days in 2021, after the deliveries from the store increased three-fold over the years.
Carl Green
Businessman Carl Green owns a number of big businesses in the Gympie region and the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Green’s career started in 1997 when he opened his first motor vehicle retail yarn in Gympie, but today, he owns nine businesses across Gympie, the Sunshine Coast, Windsor and Melbourne.
According to the ABN lookup, those businesses exist under company names Green RV and Greenco Developments.
Under Green RV, he owns six caravan yarns including the family businesses Green RV, which include Chevallum businesses Caravan World, Goodlife RV and Trackvan RV; Forest Glenn businesses Sunshine Coast Caravan and RV Hub and Queensland Caravan Clearance Centre.
Under the same company name, he owns Sunshine Coast marketing business Tread Marketing.
However, under Greenco Developments, he owns Forest Glen campervan and caravan dealer, We Buy RV’s and Littles Wrecking in Gympie.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory, Green RV generates $6,960,000 in annual revenue, while Greenco Developments generates $5,557,000 in annual revenue.
Suzanne Lawson
Suzanne Lawson owns a number of pubs and night-life businesses across Queensland, including Bundaberg’s Central Hotel and North Burnett pub the Mundubbera Hotel.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory, Ms Lawson is the key principal of several companies, including Bundaberg Central based Kylmarc Pty Ltd.
Under Kylmarc, she owns the Central Hotel, best known as one of Bundaberg’s only sources of night-life.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory Lookup, Kylmarc generates approximately $1,654,716 in annual sales.
Bec and Chris Bee
Hervey Bay locals Bec and Chris Bee were responsible for bringing coffee franchise Zaraffa’s to Hervey Bay in 2009.
The Bee’s first store opened in the Bay Plaza complex near Woolworths but in June 2021, the couple opened a second store.
The Pialba store, located on Boat Harbour Drive, was the first of the franchise’s drive-through outlets.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory, the trust, which encompasses Mr and Mrs Bee’s Zarraffa’s franchise generates $366,348 in sales annually.
Janet Persal
Fraser Coast business owner Janet Persal owns and manages a series of businesses across the Fraser Coast, including an equipment hire franchise and a number of pubs and bottle shops.
According to online records via the ABN lookup and Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory, Ms Persal owns number of companies which encompass a series of businesses across the Fraser Coast.
Under Persal and Co Trading, Ms Persal owns and operates Scarness Esplanade pub The Beach House Hotel.
Under Persal and Co Construction Pty Ltd, which is still in Ms Persal’s late father Warren’s name, the company owns a Handy Hire and Maryborough power line contractors Persal and Co, managed by Ms Persal’s brother Brian.
And finally, under Carriers Arms Trading, Ms Persal owns the Carriers Arms Hotel and Bottle-O in Maryborough.
Ms Persal, who was previously a schoolteacher, took over the pub chain from her late father who sadly passed away in 2017.
In 2020, she was faced with letting go of more than 100 staff members across the various venues amid Covid restrictions, but successfully navigated the unrest and kept the business alive.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory, Persal and Co Trading generates approximately $26,241,037 in annual sales, while Carriers Arms Trading generates approximately $5,708,700 in annual sales.
Murray Priebbenow
Fraser Coast man Murray Priebbenow is responsible for the Fraser Coast’s public transport, school bus, and bus charter industry, which has been serving the Fraser Coast for more than 60 years.
Mr Priebbenow, who is the managing director of Wide Bay Transit, owns two transport businesses in the Fraser Coast, including Bay Bus Charter, Wide Bay Tours, and Down Under Coach tours.
Along with his wife, Linda Priebbenow, the family owned business, which encompasses Bay Bus and Coach and Down Under Coach Tours, provide essential travel services to the region including school bus runs covering Maryborough, Hervey Bay, Burrum Heads, Torbanlea, Howard, Craignish, and Dundowran.
They also provide day tours to events and attractions within the Fraser Coast and neighbouring regions, as well as tilt-train link services between Hervey Bay and Maryborough.
According to the Dun and Bradstreet Business Directory look up, the trusteeship which manages all of Mr and Mrs Priebbenow’s businesses generates $636,337 in sales annually.
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