Board Members
Paul Tomlinson
Chair
Following careers at the Stock Exchange, real estate and the media, Paul's involvement with the Wheatbelt and Avon Valley date from 1989.
Passionate about regional development and related pressures on social infrastructure, Paul understands sustainability, the need for diversification and the importance of infrastructure provision to attract industry and growth. Skills development and training are critical in this mix.
Varied community service includes chairs of the committee establishing the Avon Valley Residency (aged care facility) and Northam Tourist Bureau. He is currently chair of Central Area Region Training Scheme (Directions) and Northam Chamber of Commerce and is on the Board of the Wheatbelt Development Commission and the C Y O'Connor Institute Governing Council.
Paul is a champion of the Avon Industrial Park both as chair of the Avon Industrial Park Advisory Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Avon Community Development Foundation.
Darren West
Deputy Chair
Darren is currently the Chair of the Wheatbelt Development Commission and is involved with several community groups.
His interests include sport and public affairs.
Geoff McKeown
Geoff currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer for the Shire of Narrogin. Having spent most of his life in Narrogin, he is keen to see the community and the surrounding districts continue to grow and prosper.
It is important that Directions WA has a strong presence in this region to support employers and encourage employment opportunities as well as assisting people into work.
Geoff’s aim is to bring to the Board of Directions his experience in public administration and a desire for good governance.
Kevin Taylforth
Kevin has a Diploma of Metallurgy and has lectured in the science following many years in the industry which included managing operations and developing equipment designed to reclaim metals by heat separation and producing refined ingots – mainly aluminium and zinc based metals.
His work in the Business and Administration service assisted up to 80 small to medium businesses operating a range of manufacturing and wholesaling business in metro and country areas. For the past five years, Kevin has been involved in the Bentley Community Branch of the Bendigo Bank with the past four years as Chairman. His emphasis for the past two years has been on community engagement.
Kevin believes Directions has a tremendous scope for service to the wider community. He has extensive experience with a range of committees and, in his role as Treasurer for Directions on the Board, he brings with him knowledge and expertise which will be an asset to the organisation.
Finally, Kevin a love of cricket and has been involved in the WACA for many years at different levels including Chairman of the Cricket Council. He has been instrumental in the redevelopment of the WACA as the Project Coordinator.
Caroline Robinson
Caroline Robinson joined the board in 2010. She has a Bachelor of Commerce and Diploma of Middle Years Education and has held positions in tourism promotion, administration, community and economic development as well as teaching, both in Perth and the Wheatbelt.
Caroline runs her business from her husband’s farm in Mt Walker, Solum Wheatbelt Business Solutions and is also the Executive Officer of the Wheatbelt Business Network, as well as President of the Roe Tourism Association.
Alan Lord
Alan graduated from Murdoch University and followed careers in international trade, the diplomatic service and education; ending up as the Principal of Cambridge International College. This College is a Registered Training Organisation offering Diploma courses in business, multi-media and hospitality as well as English language training for international students.
As well as his knowledge of the education and training industry, Alan brings extensive governance experience having served as a board member for Curtin University School of Social Sciences and Asian Languages (Alan is a speaker of Japanese) and a board member for Loreto Convent School, Treasurer and also Secretary for the WA Private Education & Training Industry Association, as well the Ministerial Advisory Board of the Department of Education Employment and Training (DEET) Canberra.
Wendy Newman
Wendy has been an outstanding contributor to the Wheatbelt in various roles and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Wheatbelt Development Commission.
She is on many advisory positions including the Ministerial Task force on Wheatbelt Aviation Strategy, the Regional Development Council and the Regional Indicators Task force. Wendy is also currently on the Board of Regional Development Australia – Wheatbelt and the Avon Industrial Park Advisory Board as well as Directions, to name just a few.
She has a Masters in Commerce (Management), Grad Dip in Business, a Bachelor of Education and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Peter Weatherley
Peter has been a local Northam businessman for the last 20 years. Prior to that, Peter spent 28 years in the Commonwealth Public Service in a management role.
He has a Bachelor of Economics degree from UWA and Post Graduate Diploma in Administration from Curtin.
Peter is a founding member of CARTS as well as a funding member of the Avon Valley Environmental Society, the Australian Constitution (member of the Samuel Griffiths Society), a Member of Rotary and a member of the Northam Heritage Forum.
KT Lim
KT is a qualified Mechanical Engineer with a proven track record in process design and engineering and operations management. He also has formal qualifications as a Master of Business Administration which he gained in California in 1985.
KT’s background in engineering and productions as well as business management motivated him to venture into a small business in 1990 and three years later established a second midsized company. The success of both these businesses culminated when he won the Ernst & Young Enterprise 50 Award for both of these businesses and inspired him to establish himself in the sustainable and renewable energy field.
Since 2002, KT has been a principal and shareholder of ‘Greener Electricity Management Company’ in Western Australia and he has succeeded in managing a variety of projects involving the use of green technology. His aim has been to expand the scope of the company and he has recently commenced an additional business activity as a home assessor for Green Loans.
The abundance of clean energy sources in Australia provides a solid base for the development and implementation of environmentally friendly technologies which is KT’s company’s prime objective.
Shayne Lucy
Shayne started as an appentee automotive spray painter at Badgers Motors. On completion of this apprenticeship, he then worked in numerous places until he operated his own successful business for 16 years.
Since then, Shayne worked for Directions WA for more than 6 years as an Employment Coordinator reaching Field Officer of the Year in 2009 for Western Australia. Shayne is currently employed by Wheatbelt Steel as the Workshop Manager.
Shayne is also the President of the Northam Club and on the board of the Northam Country Club.
Main achievements
- Best Customer award 2001 from the Northam Chamber of Commerce
- Life Member of the Association of Apex Clubs
- Field officer of the year
