BUSINESS has boomed in the past 18 months for Beachport Liquid Minerals with the South East company quadrupling production.
The company sources seagrass from nearby Kingston and converts it into a unique mineral and nutrient supplement that is fed to sheep and cattle in a chelated form.
Since January, it has sold about 211,480 litres of manufactured products across Australia, and achieved a 77.12 per cent turnover in growth for the past three years.
In 2012-13, the company made a turnover of $1.7 million.
On Wednesday last week, Beachport Liquid Minerals was named in the BDO Fast Movers SA Top 25 Index - the only regional business to be recognised.
Founder Kym Sutherland was one of four panellists at the awards.
"The dryland livestock industry in Australia is the best in the world and I made sure to promote that at the awards," he said.
"I have been in business for 40 years and there's no one who can compete with us for sustainability or profitability.
"I am very proud of our Australian livestock industry and where we are from."
BLM did not win an award but Kym said he and his team were pleased to have done so well placed tenth out of the 500businesses nominated.
"It was the first year we have been in the awards," he said.
"Our accountant nominated us. It was good for small businesses in SA to be recognised - especially for us as a regional small business."
The awards focused on growth in sales in a three-year period.
In recent years, BLM has also won a Westpac small business SA Innovator Award, been a finalist in the agribusiness and business growth categories at the Australian Small Business Champion Awards, and won a SA Great innovation award.
Kym, a former producer, and his wife Chris, founded the business in 2006.
While their property has since been sold as their commitments with BLM continue to strengthen, their son Jason continues the "family tradition" on his own property at Bray, also in the lower SE.
In the past 12 months, the business has relocated from Beachport to Mount Gambier.
Kym said regional SA remained an excellent place to run a business, given its central location to other states.
"SA has a stable population which means it is easy to attract and retain staff," he said.
"We sell 90 per cent of our products to NT, Qld and WA, so being at Mount Gambier means it is easy to send product to the eastern states, or on the railway line to Darwin, from then it is easy to transfer to the Kimberley or the Barkly Tablelands.
"SA is a very central spot."
Although he is proud to run a business in regional SA, Kym is disappointed at the lack of state government funding.
"It would be nice to get a bit of support," he said.
"Regional SA businesses are important but sometimes it feels like the government thinks business stops at the Toll Gate and Gepps Cross."
The company employs seven full-time staff and one part-timer. It is proudly family owned, with Kym, Chris and their daughter Kelly directors in the company.
Son-in-law Ryan also works at BLM as the factory manager.
* Full report in Stock Journal, December 5 issue, 2013.
