Singleton Council is encouraging local business representatives to attend their Business Leaders’ Lunch on Thursday, 19 June 2014 to hear from key industry representatives about future industries for Singleton.

The lunch will commence at 11.30am at the Singleton Visitor Information and Enterprise Centre with two special guest speakers sharing their future projections for Singleton.

The Singleton Solar Farm at Whittingham has been identified for industry expansion in Singleton. Once the largest solar farm in the southern hemisphere, the Singleton Solar Farm covers 2.75 hectares and produces 600,000 kilowatts hours of electricity used to supply public demand for Green Power.

Operations Manager of Substance Technologies, Andrew Thaler, will speak of the company’s recent successful tender for management of the facility and his vision to restore the solar farm to its former glory.

Sustainability futurist, Dr Gary Ellem, will also present at the lunch, drawing from his knowledge in the areas of transport, energy and regional innovation. Dr Ellem is a conjoint academic with the Tom Farrell Institute at the University of Newcastle where he is the Program Manager for Future Industries. In this role he initiated the Carbon Valley 2050 think tank which has gone on to develop the Hunter Valley Electric Vehicle Festival and the Diamonds from Coal initiative.

The Business Leaders’ Lunch is an initiative of Singleton Council established to facilitate open and regular communication between Council, the local business community, government departments and other relevant organisations.

The Business Leaders Lunch is a free event and spaces are limited. To register contact the Singleton Visitor Information and Enterprise Centre on 02 6571 5888 or events@singleton.nsw.gov.au