Gary Kleyn

INFORMATION technology proponent, BusinessNews columnist, and former WA deputy premier Mal Bryce has been lured into another venture.

A SKILLED workforce is what separates Australia from the US according to Opposition Leader Kim Beazley.

PERTH-based company Cape Range Wireless has acquired 20 per cent of US company Arcadian Wireless Inc.

Building unions will target prominent government-funded building projects in the lead-up to the next State election, according to the Master Builders Association.

Monday 21 February was an active day for the South West region.It was the day when the State Cabinet met, opened, launched and shored up support from the regions affected by the Regional Forest Agreement.

THE winter harvest is in and farmers have generally had a good year with above average yields.

WHILE both new Master Builders Association president John Mitchell and prominent builder Len Buckeridge share similar ideals, one has become a household name while the other has remained relatively obscure.

BUNBURY City Council CEO Michael Whitaker’s honeymoon period looks set to end as his administration faces attacks from various quarters of the business community.

THE Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment plummeted 9 per cent to 101 in February, putting further interest rate rises in doubt.

THE downward trend in vacancy levels looks likely to continue according to Jones Lang LaSalle research analyst Frank Sorgiovanni.

THE managed funds market was valued at more than $560 billion in the December quarter – an increase of 6.5 per cent on the previous quarter.

THE Co-operative Bulk Handling Grain Silos at North Quay, will not be saved says Planning Minster Graham Kierath.

A SCHEME that rewards employers who take on more trainees and apprentices has been expanded into all regional areas.

CITIBANK has unveiled plans to turn its branch network into a retail distribution system after a successful trial of the concept in Booragoon.

HOTHAM Valley, fresh from its $10 million spending spree in the South West, is poised to raise $4 million to $6 million in a public offering.

THE bulky goods retail property market is set to be the new baby of the property industry if forecasts by investment analyst BIS Shrapnel prove correct.

A NEW $3 million fertiliser plant is being built in Kwinana by private company Valefox Pty Ltd.

WA’S biggest trade mission to India has set sail.The mission, led by Commerce and Trade Minister Hendy Cowan, includes representatives from fourteen private sector organisations.

STOP bickering and work together for the common good of Fremantle, said Fremantle Chamber of Commerce executive director John Longley in his inaugural Chamber address.

DEUTSCHE Bank is planning to set up an outlet in Bunbury.

WA IS on the move – all 2,525,500 square kilometres of it!That was the warning issued by the Department of Land Administration to land owners and leaseholders.

LATEST figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm that part of the so-called ‘Great Australian Dream’ still includes owning your own home, says LJ Hooker’s Tony Cavallo.

WA’S main barometer of business sentiment has registered another leap in business confidence.

Pemberton’s Tourism and Progress Association is working with the South West Development Commission to develop a master plan for a tourism precinct in a bid to attract more tourists.

LISTED Perth-based property developer Finbar International has forecast continued strong profit and revenue for the remainder of the financial year.

MORE than three quarters of the companies questioned in the latest Dun & Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey admit they are not GST-ready.

EVIDENCE of plantations is growing in the South West as it becomes increasingly difficult to log existing forests.

THE Master Builders Association has expressed disappointment at the way the construction union has responded to the deaths of two workers earlier this year.

MOVES by the Property Council for the centre of Perth to be recognised as a key economic powerhouse in the State economy have borne fruit.

BUNBURY’S new CEO Michael Whitaker has put his first major stamp on the Bunbury City Council since taking office by appointing four new managers to replace the positions previously held by directors.

DOMESTIC sales of wine increased for the seventeenth consecutive month.

THE Kareelya Property Group is capitalising on the growing tourism sector in the South West with a further development in Busselton.