Josh Hamilton – Horsham born and bred – was happily minding his own business working in spare parts with a local agricultural supplies company.
When out of the blue he got a call from O’Connors about joining them at Birchip as spare parts manager.
That was about 10 years ago, and Josh thought he might give it a try – on a sort of trial basis.
Instead of pulling up stumps in Horsham and heading off into the wild blue yonder 120km down the road, Josh spent the first 12 months commuting, making sure the job worked for him and giving O’Connors the chance to see if he would prove to be more than just a spare part for them.
Turns out it was a good fit for everyone, and Josh was joined in Birchip by wife Stacey and their children Kobe, now 14, and Addison, now nine.
“It’s one of those mate stories,” Josh laughs.
“I had a good mate living in Birchip and he recommended me to the branch manager at the time to fill that spare parts role and the first I knew was when I got the call,” he says.
“But it has been a good move for me, and for the whole family, and the past 10 years have been great.”
Well, enthusiasm aside, those years have also certainly had some serious lows as well as the employment and lifestyle highs.
Two years ago Josh was diagnosed with cancer, and that, he says, is when you realise just how good things can be when you work in a country owned and operated enterprise.
“I was going to need some extended time off while I was going through treatment and then chemotherapy and O’Connors did not hesitate and gave me four months off, no questions asked,” Josh recalls.
“It was obviously a pretty worrying time for us, but my family and I will always be extremely grateful for the support,” he says.
“I doubt I would have received the same level of support from another employer and while I was off work, the company made sure the Birchip branch was running smoothy, to alleviate the stress I had about leaving the team at such short notice.
“Then when I was better, I was welcomed back with open arms – it was fabulous.”
Josh says he has been clear since then and is due for another checkup with his oncologist next week.
In the meantime he is now busy running the whole branch – and its team of 20 – as the overall manager as his career progresses.
But that doesn’t mean he is stuck behind the desk as a pencil pusher, there’s no way Josh as giving up the interaction with his branch’s clients, it’s what he says he really loves about the job.
“We’re pretty lucky here, we have a strong, loyal customer base, and have had for the past 60 years and most of them are in broadacre, so the core of our business is the big-ticket items such as the Patriot, Steiger and Magnum, along with headers of course.
“The Patriot especially has been huge lately with the group selling 120 just in the past 12-18 months.
“Which doesn’t surprise me, I reckon the past two to three years have been some of the best I have ever seen, it’s really cooking.”
Originally the Birchip branch serviced a radius of around 150km but with the aggressive expansion of O’Connors in recent years that has been cut back some as locations such as Swan Hill, Mildura and Echuca have been added to the stable.
But Josh says he and his team still have clients far and wide, and once harvest gets into gear there are a lot of long days on the horizon as Josh says the offer rapid-response support for any kind of breakdowns or equipment needs.
Which he says is a no-brainer because once harvest starts people want to get everything off and in a bin.
“And that means no time wasted waiting for that urgent part, if necessary, we can have a mechanic in your paddock, or I or one of the team, will bring the part to wherever you and your header are,” he says.
“Underwriting that is the exceptional knowledge and experience which we have, not just in our team but across the network.
“This is a really exciting time to be in the farm machinery industry, the role technology is playing today is incredible and keeping up with all the advances in challenging and rewarding.”
Josh also concedes the success of his move was just about him and O’Connors.
Since moving, Stacey has opened her own Birchip based business, Mallee Branded, specialising in graphic design, printing, embroidery, workwear, and promotional items – cementing the family’s Birchip connection.
It’s also been a bit of a celebration of late – Josh, his father and a nephew all share the same August birthday and his children Kobe and Addison share October 1 as their birthdays.
