Local innovation


Our community is full of innovation success stories.
This page shines a light on some of these tales, bringing our most innovative and creative local businesses centre stage.
The stories serve to remind us of the vast potential, and abundance of opportunities in the Wodonga region.


Lessons from Locals

Our short interviews are designed to allow people to understand key lessons and quickly implement them in their own operations. The team at WIP believe that everyone can provide an insight to their operation that can help others with the projects they are working on. If you know anyone that has a story that needs to be shared please feel to let us know!

Andy Heller - Central Telecoms

Imagine you have started in a business and it takes off.... the phone is literally ringing off the hook. While this sounds like it could be a good thing, this can create it's own set of problems. The best analagy I can muster of a fast growing business is that of a home made billy cart flying down a hill. Halfway down the hill your biggest worries are that the wheels don't fall of the cart. Andy is one of those rare people that have experienced enormous growth in his business and in this quick video shares some points that helped him get there and keep the business moving forward during periods of high growth.

Hannah Nicholls - Rooftop Media

Starting a new project, business or idea is always hard. Is the idea going to work? Will people want to buy the product? How do I get my first customer? These are all extremely challenging parts of the start of every venture.
An interesting start-up statistic is that founders who have been part of a failed venture have a 20% greater chance of being successful in thier next venture than first time entrepreneurs. If you happen to be thinking about a new business or idea, Hannah shares some great insights from a recent project her team putted together called Project Hotplate. These quick tips could be the difference between a great start with your new venture and an unsuccessful one.
If you'd like to check out Hannah's project, you can find it here https://projecthotplate.com.au/

Chris Westwood - AI Group

Chris Westwood from the Australian Industry Group went out of his way to help local food manufacturers during the COVID-19 lockdown. This experience, along with Chris's work as as an industry consultant highlights Chris as the perfect person to explain a few things everyone in business should be considering when they think about building and launching new products to market.

James Smith - Personnel Group

James Smith (Personnel Group), was kind enough to share a few of the key challenges and changes that Personnel Group have been facing due to COVID-19. James's comment "collaboration is king" is an excellent sentiment for us all to consider during hard times. It ensures that we are always thinking about who (out of all the people we deal with in our businesses/projects) we could be collaborating with to creating better outcomes.

Ross Dixon - RSM Australia

Ross Dixon from RSM, is the type of accountant I like spending time talking to. Not only very knowledgable in the things you would expect from an accounting professional, Ross has spent lots of time helping fast-paced companies that have required venture capital to grow quickly. In this quick video Ross highlights the importance of taking the time to re-evaluate the market for opportunities.


Jason Dawson - Surefire Security

Jason Dawson, was kind enough to spend some time with me discussing how his security business Surefire Security Group has had to change over the COVID crisis. While I tried my best to squeeze out the things that Jason has done directly his ability to provide security services, the real lesson I think is that you never know when lightning is going to strike. So the better prepared you are in advance for anything that could happen into the future, the better you will be able to respond.