Team
Team
Ron van Buuren
Managing Director
Ron utilises his unique background in major project delivery in global supply chain, business development, R&D and engineering supporting businesses from start-ups to multinationals to grow through improved manufacturing, teamwork, collaboration and creating effective processes to deliver.
Dr Darren Oemcke
Marketing Director
Darren specialises in growing businesses and implementing results utilising his unusual combination of skills in strategy, marketing, product development and project delivery. He is passionate about the effective utilisation of technology in business, production and customer relationships.
Colette Miels
Projects and Systems Coordinator
Colette has over 20 years' experience across a diverse range of industries, with a strong background in sales support and administrative roles. Having grown up in the state’s mid-north, she has developed an interest in the agriculture sector.
Liz Mencel
WA Lead, Export & Business Specialist
Liz has 25 years’ experience in export marketing roles, including 15 years working with SME enterprises in the wine sector at various levels of the supply chain. She owned a successful wine export business over an eight-year period, exporting to Japan and the USA.
Peter Burton
Project Supervisor
Peter specialises in construction management. He has worked on projects ranging from natural gas pipelines to pivot irrigation. Peter has experience in product development, having overseen product trials on a variety of crops across Australia, India, Mexico, Japan and the USA.
Trusted Associates
Geoff Thomas of
Axant Corporate Advisory
Geoff offers a mix of financial, business and technology knowledge, successfully delivering corporate advisory solutions. Geoff has many years of investment experience in private equity and venture capital, successfully dealing with offshore and Australian investors and acquirers, and including board experience in listed and private companies.
Zachary Bailey of James Anthony Consulting
Zac is a technology leader with over eighteen years experience and numerous large scale project successes under his belt. Zac has a reputation for achieving effective outcomes, and is often a “go-to” person for Adelaide tech professionals on topics concerning software development and training.
Robin Shaw of Winery Tourism Aust.
Tourism Associate
Robin is an independent consultant working with wineries, tourism operators and regions to maximise their destination appeal and deliver memorable visitor experiences. Robin provides customer service training to tourism operators, supports destination integration into digital operating platforms and models and targeting promotion.
Matthew Williams of Meerbusch Consulting
Strategic Comms
Matthew specialises in government relations, strategic communications and stakeholder engagement. He has worked in private consulting and at senior levels of State and Federal governments for over 10 years in South Australia and nationally. His experience in international trade and investment comes from working in Europe and with projects across Asia and the USA.
Angela Oemcke of Angela Oemcke P/L
Marketing Associate
Angela has over 6 years’ experience working across the beverage industry, including events, sales, brand management, marketing, program management and design. During this time, she has worked directly with luxury product launches, tech start-ups in the Ag-tech, Wine-tech, and Tourism-tech sector.
Amy Orange of Fourth Sector Solutions
Social Enterprise Associate
Amy views business as a powerful driver to bring about significant and widespread change. She merging her years of experience in the non-profit community services sector and profit-for-purpose social enterprise to drive the fourth sector eco-system in South Australia.
Paul van der Lee, VAN DER LEE & Assoc.
Export and Business Associate
Paul’s skillset ranges across economics and finance; marketing; management, public policy and advocacy. He has a track record of achievement in business, not for profit, and Government organisations. He has extensive experience in economic development, regional development, wine, food, and tourism industry sectors.
Mel Blondell of Red Seed
Human Resource Associate
Mel is a leader in people practices that drive productivity. She specialises in organisational development, strategic HR management and people performance systems. She delivers both effective employees and the systems to deliver both performance and compliance.
Liz Schoen of Liz Schoen Consulting
Liz is an independent wine business consultant specialising in European export, brand planning and domestic sales planning. She has a Bachelor of Wine Marketing from Adelaide University and an MBA from Sydney University. Liz spent 15 years at Samuel Smith & Son comprising 8 years managing on-premise and retail sales and 7 years managing European markets for Negociants International.
Ben Kite
Management Associate
Ben has 18 years' experience in public policy roles, with expertise in major projects implementation, policy analysis and regulation. He is currently completing the Master of Wine Business at the University of Adelaide, and was a 2023 Mentee in the Wine Communicators of Australia Wine Industry Mentor Program.
Jack Langberg
Economics Associate
Jack has been involved in a range of industry development including: a series of industry ScoreCards; strategic plans in various agribusiness industries; value chain analysis in wine, citrus and livestock; and the management of PIRSA’s Co-innovation Cluster Program. While Jack finished working with PIRSA in early 2019, he continues to be involved in a wide range of industry and community development activities.
Richard Beere of Fastrak Asian
Asia Tourism Expert
Richard Beere is a senior manager with a passion for building bridges between peoples, cultures and markets, and a proven track record of delivering business results above targets, revenue growth, successful market strategies, and profitable management of large, regional businesses.
HYDRA CLIENTS
RECENT
100 Carribie Water, Accolade Wines, Adelaide Hills Wine Region, Adelaide and Mt Lofty Region Natural Resources, Amaero Additive Manufacturing, Arnott’s Biscuits, Australian China Business Council, Australian Tourism Export Council, Australian Vintage Ltd, Australian Grape and Wine, Ben Wye Engineering, Brown Family Wines, Burge Family Wines, Cider Australia, City of Playford, Cloudsmith, Connect One Club, CSIRO, De Bortoli Wines, Defence Teaming Centre, Department for Water, Dudley Wines, Department for Trade and Investment, Elixir Himalayan Water, Epicurean Collective, Fastrak Asian Solutions, FC Coop, Fletcher & Sons Foundry, Flinders University, Goyder Institute for Water Research, Grain Producers SA, Inland Wine Regions Alliance, Invina Unique Wine Encounters, Integrape, Liebich Wein, Maii Water, Mobishear, Monadelphous Water, Mt Jagged Wines, Murdoch Hill Wines, National Wine Centre, Onside Technology, Pandura Farms, Primary Industry and Resources SA, Remarkable State Wines, Riverland Wine, South Australian Spirits Producers Association, South Australian Bottling Company, Subrosa Wines, Tasman Sinks, The Demolition Blokes, Town of Walkerville (Eastern Regional Alliance), University of Adelaide, Vinehealth Australia, Wine Australia, Winery Tourism Australia, Wines of Western Australia, Wine Industry Suppliers Australia, Yalumba Wines, Yarra Valley Water.
Through live management education programs that we have developed and delivered we have overseen student consulting projects for a wide range of clients, including: Adelaide Crows, AG Security, Australia China Business Council, Chaffey Learning Exchange, Charlesworth Nuts, Cornucopia Popcorn, Dematec, Elite Plumbing, Francis Strawberries, Kay Brothers Wines, Le Courrier Australian, Local Government Association, Marion Council, Meals on Wheels, Minda, Platform, Port Pirie Regional Council, Regional Development Australia, Robe Council, RSL, Suntrix Solar, Vale Brewing, Wound Management CRC, Zoos SA.
Mentoring
We have mentored dozens of businesses through: the FOMENT Accelerator, the Innovyz Accelerator (Medical & Environmental), Innovative Manufacturing Accelerator, the Conduit-Acel Accelerator, Venture Dorm, the Musictec incubator, Bridge to MassChallenge, the Wine Industry Mentor Program. The business cover a very wide range including: medical, advanced and additive manufacturing, environmental, water, wine production, hospitality, clothing manufacture, travel and tourism, AI, agribusiness and Agtech, marketing, biosecurity, human resources, loyalty programs, edutech, international education, software development, blockchain, marketing, creative sector, space/geospatial.
training
We have provided training, mentoring and developed training programs for a range of sectors including: agribusiness, universities (internal leadership training), universities (local and international students), wine sector, cider industry, tourism providers, exporters (multi-sector), banking.
