By Jane Flett, Awards Office, Queensland Regional Achievers Awards Matthew Eckford, 21, of Julia Creek is one of ten finalists selected in the 2002 Queensland Regional Achievers Awards.
Matthew has established, funded and launched an Internet website focused on improving rural and regional communication and reducing the feeling of isolation by networking people outside their immediate reach.
Through www.ruralindustryconnect.com, Matthew has harnessed his entrepreneurial spirit, leadership skills and business acumen to bring about a smarter and more cost-effective way of doing business in the regional environment.
Matthew has given the regional community an easy-to-use single point of entry to find information of interest to them and a way to use the Internet effectively. The website contains chat rooms, weather updates, news articles, suppliers of products and services, market information, reports, government feeds and links.
Matthew is encouraging farmers to use the Internet as a productive business tool to extend their network of buyers and suppliers outside their local area.
Matthew sold over 150 head of cattle to provide initial seed capital for the project. With almost 50,000 current members in Queensland, he hopes to soon extend the service to other states and territories.
After a year studying Enterprise Management at Griffith University in Brisbane, Matthew deferred his studies to research and develop his website idea and outsource technological development to a local Queensland IT services provider. Matthew currently manages administration, marketing, development and customer support for the portal.
Matthew recently won the Federal Government’s Regional Initiative Award 2002 for Queensland and was one of three finalists in Queensland for the Young Australian of the Year Awards 2002. He also won the 2002 Telstra Countrywide Rural Young Achiever of the Year Award and was a finalist for the 2002 Queensland Young Farmer of the Year. |