Hall calls out for the best

JILL Walsh and Tom Hartley are now in the company of Greater Dandenong’s business best.
Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce inducted the duo into its Hall of Fame at its annual gala dinner on 18 March.
They joined Jayco founder Gerry Ryan, bus guru Ken Grenda, industry supporter Sandra George and late entrepreneur Ron Rado.
“That’s the ilk in which they’re being held,” awards chairman James Sturgess said.
Ms Walsh is the general manager of ARM Group Australia and a partner with Actco Pickering Metal Industries.
She’s an accountant by profession, a proud supporter of manufacturing and has spent more than a decade lobbying governments to mandate local content in their purchasing contracts.
“Those who know me know I’m not often lost for words but I’m totally stunned,” she said.
“I’m sorry to add to the burden of the awards but this is a special moment in my life.”
Ms Walsh said the Hall of Fame members encapsulated and celebrated the spectrum of people who are contributing to Greater Dandenong business.
“I feel quite tearfully humbled,” she said.
She has served on government committees, is on the Committee for Dandenong and ran for City of Greater Dandenong as an independent candidate in the 2012 local government elections.
Most recently, Ms Walsh has been a vocal proponent for the Port of Hastings development, which would bring “jobs and more jobs” to the region.
“One of the really notable things that she’s done was there was a breakfast meeting back in the mid to late ’90s and (Premier Jeff) Kennett might have just been thrown out and there was going to be no local content in trains,” Mr Sturgess said.
“She stood up and spoke really well, trying to get people to recognise local content in trains as an issue.
“Warrick Heine, then-CEO of the City of Greater Dandenong, really jumped on board.
“They sent hundreds of faxes on the hour to all of the MPs and ran a really passionate campaign and actually got it changed.
“I reckon that’s 10s of millions of dollars worth of work her various local content campaigns over the years have delivered to this region.
“She’s been a fantastic supporter of manufacturing.”
Mr Sturgess said Ms Walsh and Actco Pickering had also been involved in various community events and fund-raisers.
“They’re the reasons we’re going to make her a Hall of Fame inductee,” he said.
Mr Hartley moved to Australia from the UK in 1956 as a third-year apprentice toolmaker.
He started Hilton Manufacturing in a shed in 1976 after he was twice retrenched.
Today Hilton employs about 250 people and five years ago established a factory in Queensland.
“They do all the hard work. We just take the plaudits,” Mr Hartley said.
He has handed over the reins to son Todd but still visits the factory each weekday, and his wife Margo works there most days. Their other son, Mark, is a filmmaker.
“Along with Margo, they set the pace. I just follow on,” Mr Hartley said.
He also has two young granddaughters.
“One day they’ll take over the business and be better than Todd,” he said.
Mr Hartley last year joined the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame Honour Roll, a nod reserved for individuals or organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to manufacturing excellence in Victoria.
His Dandenong South company earned Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame induction in 2008.
Mr Sturgess said Mr Hartley had been “a complete and utter gentleman for decades” and that the honour also recognised the work he and Margo did for the community through Scouts, St James’ Anglican Church, Mercy Ships and more.
“One of the great things from a business point of view is his trust in people – trust and loyalty,” Mr Sturgess said.
“He actually – on a personal level but also from a mentoring point of view – he lets people go out and try to do it their way and gives them enough room to stuff it up.
“It’s phenomenal how many people at his workplace trust him and worship him.”