After more than half a century serving the NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative, outgoing chairman Ian Causley gave his retirement address at Sunshine Sugar’s recent annual general meeting.
“It is with somewhat of a heavy heart I step down from the Board. I was first elected to the Clarence Sugar Executive in 1966 and have served on industry committees ever since. I thank all of the growers and staff for their support and confidence.”
Chief Executive Officer, Mr Chris Connors commented; “Mr Causley contributed not only years of farming and industry experience, but his distinguished career in politics saw him inject a very high standard of chairmanship to the Board.”
Highlights from the AGM included the acknowledgement of a solid crushing performance and industry-leading pricing for growers amidst fluctuating and at times volatile market conditions. A number of positive outcomes from the restructuring of Sunshine Sugar under its 50 per cent ownership with Manildra Group were also outlined, including distribution payments to members and shared knowledge and resource gains.
Mr Connors gave a detailed presentation covering current and future projects; “Our focus for the next 12-18 months is to optimise the businesses through good management of our core raw and refined sugar business in conjunction with development of strategic diversification projects. A number of these projects are showing great promise, and will be assessed on their commercial viability over the coming months.”
