David B McNeil Award
David B McNeil Award Recipients
2021 - Ben Klason
Ben Klason, National Enterprise and Marketing Manager for LEADER, was the inaugural recipient in 2021. Working for a LEADER-authorised agent in a regional town, he was offered a position to join the company. Within 12 months, he relocated to Melbourne to establish a new warehouse and office, which grew beyond expectations.
After a few short years in that role, Ben relocated to Adelaide and was subsequently promoted to his current role. His innovation and development skills have been instrumental in the rapid growth of the largest Australian-owned computer manufacturer in the country.
The Board was conscious the inaugural recipient would set the benchmark for future recipients and Ben was chosen after very careful and thorough consideration.
2022 - Matthew Wilkins
Matthew Wilkins, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Venergy
Australia, has demonstrated a serial entrepreneur track record while building Venergy as his core business. He has an ability to sense when to drive forward and when to pause growth and consolidate and the ILF has high expectations for his future business success and expects a significant contribution to the SA economy to follow.
Background
The David B McNeil Award is funded through a generous “Living Bequest” donated to the Industry Leaders Chairman’s Foundation by David McNeil. The bequest will provide an additional top up to the standard grant amount that would be offered for a Scholar attending the University of Adelaide’s Transformative Leadership Program in any year, and build a corpus which could, provided agreed conditions are met, fund the grant in perpetuity.
Eligibility
All applicants for an ILF grant will be eligible for the David B McNeil Award provided they satisfy the following criteria:
- They must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
- They must be proposing to undertake the Transformative Leadership Program offered by the University of Adelaide.
- They will show the greatest potential to contribute more than others to employment and wealth generation in South Australia, and
- They should have exhibited entrepreneurial flair in their workplace to date.
Recognition
The ILF will advertise and promote the award recipients through appropriate media channels, a website honour board, the ILF brochure and in appropriate displays.
About David McNeil
David McNeil is one of the three visionary leaders, including the late Colin Peters AM and Stephen Myatt, who jointly created the Industry Leaders Fund when the Engineering Employers Association of SA Group Training Scheme ceased to operate.
As Treasurer for many years, he set the foundations for, and shepherded, the financial sussess which is the cornerstone of the accomplishments of the ILF to date.
His term as Treasurer was followed by two years as the second President of the ILF, following the retirement of Colin Peters. He is an Emeritus Member of the ILF and continues to provide valuable service, guidance, and insights as a member of the Board today.
David has had a long and highly successful entrepreneurial career in multiple businesses, many of which have seen significant growth under his leadership.
His services have also been regularly sought after to turn around businesses that are in difficult circumstances.
David has served on many government, business and educational boards and was an office bearer for the Australian Industry Group SA branch, and nationally for several decades.
