More global leaders touch down at SA Landing Pad
20 November 2021
Tasmanian Defence supplier CBG Systems and Spanish group Ghenova touched down in the South Australian Defence and Space Landing Pad at Lot Fourteen earlier this year, strengthening the state’s defence industry capability and bringing a promise to invest in economic and employment growth.
Operating out of Hobart for the past 45 years, advanced manufacturing company CBG Systems offers three capabilities: supplying and installing fire, thermal and acoustic marine insulation; specialist antenna systems; and mobile camouflage system solutions – thermal, infrared reduction camouflage for defence assets including army vehicles. The company has clients across Australia, Europe and the US, and now has a new base in Adelaide.
CBG Systems managing director Javier Herbon. Picture: Dean Martin
“With the momentum the defence industry is gaining in Australia and the world, it is beneficial for CBG Systems and our customers to be closer to each other,” says Javier Herbon, CBG Systems managing director. “We identified that South Australia is the Defence State, and the majority of our Australian Defence customers have offices or are based in South Australia.”
Adelaide’s moniker as the Defence State was also a drawcard for Ghenova, a multi-disciplinary engineering and consulting company that focuses on naval engineering services. “Our team takes part in large, hi-tech, complex projects working for the biggest firms in the defence sector across shipbuilding, aeronautics, energy and infrastructure,” says Daniel Martinez Cabezas, business development and operations manager at Ghenova Australia. “We decided to come to Adelaide because there are great opportunities here in terms of shipbuilding and defence.”
In addition to securing accommodation at the Landing Pad, both companies have received funding support from the South Australian Landing Pad program and have committed to helping to drive economic, employment and industry growth. CBG Systems aims to employ up to 12 full-time employees within the next three-to-five years, while Ghenova is looking to create up to 40 jobs over the next five years. “We have fantastic growth projections moving forwards,” Herbon says. “We have already a 700sqm warehouse and office facility close to Port Adelaide, which we’re planning to take possession of mid-next year. It’s the next step but we believe it still won’t be enough for what we have in terms of growth for the next two to five years.”
Ghenova has plans to develop and expand its expertise in renewables. “We have developed many projects worldwide both in solar plants and wind plants but also in waste-to-energy, so we are definitely looking for opportunities in renewables,” Cabezas says. “Hydrogen is opening up a new world for energy but the hydrogen market is still in its early days. It’s a great moment for us to be in South Australia, to get involved with the industries invested in hydrogen so we can play an important role in the state.”
Originally published on Future Adelaide on 19 November 2021.
Hero Image: Ghenova business development and operations manager Daniel Martinez Cabeza. Picture: Russell Millard
