REX Bennett’s innovation and dedication to improving his clients’ bottom line has bagged him the title of Wool Broker of the Year.
The Wangaratta-based Elders representative was shortlisted to present at the National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia annual general meeting last week, along with Rodwells Horsham’s Brent Flood and Lachlan Sutton from Elders Broken Hill branch.
It was the second time Mr Ben-nett was shortlisted as a finalist, after being pipped by last year’s winner Greg Tilbrook from Pri-maries in Western Australia.
In its third year, the competition aims at fostering and rewarding the innovation and talent of a wool broker with less than 10 years’ industry experience.
“It’s certainly a great honour to stand up with the calibre of people on the short list, and it’s a terrific initiative for young people in the wool industry,” Mr Bennett said.
After starting out in 2004 as a trainee at Elders Lara, Victoria, he quickly rose up the tree to become a district wool manager at Elders Bendigo, Vic, and Albury branches, before moving on to his current position at Wangaratta.
Mr Bennett is also involved in several key Merino benchmarking and performance testing events, including the Ovens Valley Wether Trial, which he has grown by 35 teams for next year’s incarnation.
On winning the competition, he highlighted the importance of having a mentor in the industry, and noted Elders’ national wool selling manager Simon Hogan had taken all three finalists under his wing early on.
“A lot of people in the industry are willing to help young people but they don’t always ask, so I think using your initiative and going out and asking questions is a really good thing,” he said.
Following the NCWSBA AGM, Mr Hogan replaced Chris Wilcox as the body’s executive director.
