The MAC Is Cooking On Gas
08/02/2011
NEW MAC accommodation villages in central Queensland will be built faster - and taller - now the family-run company has been taken over by a US-based multinational.
The Texas-run Oil States International (OSI) bought The MAC late last year, and local projects can now expect an injection of some serious capital.
Ron Green is the CEO of the PTI Group - the accommodation arm of OSI - and has just spent three weeks in Australia meeting staff and clients and setting out the year’s priorities.
“There is always concern when a company is bought by another company, and so our first priority is our people,” Mr Green told the WINO.
“It was important for me to come out here and hold what we call ‘town hall’ meetings.”
Mr Green said in the foreseeable future there were no plans to fundamentally change how The MAC is run, or re-brand the business.
“The MAC is a wonderful brand and that will not change in the near term.”
“We had great expectations about how this business was run and by enlarge they have been met and in some circumstances they have been exceeded.”
What will change is how quickly new projects get off the ground.
The MAC already has plans for an expansion of its Moranbah village, a new facility at Wandoan and another at Calliope to service the burgeoning coal seam gas industry.
“We are now a multinational as opposed to being a family-owned and operated business,” said Mr Green.
“We [OSI] bring a broader depth of experience to the table and we can accelerate projects basically because we have better access to financial resources.”
“We are five or six times the size of The MAC so we just bring it into a whole new level that will mean more growth, more clients and more operating models.”
“So, yes, you can expect to see things happen more quickly.”
Mr Green said the Moranbah expansion continues to be the top priority for the company, and Calliope village is also high on the agenda.
“Moranbah is certainly a hub for a lot of opportunity and clients.”
“We don’t want to choke people with success, so while we want to grow rapidly we also need to balance that growth.”
Another change will be the layout of the villages.
“A lot of our lodges in Canada are three-storey buildings and that will become more prevalent here,” said Mr Green.
Mr Green said one of the exciting parts of the takeover was the ideas-swapping between Australia and Canada.
“We really like The MAC model, they call them villages but they may as well call them resorts.”
Mr Green will be back in Australia in another four to six week’s time to continue bedding down the company’s plan for the year ahead.
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