Three new apprentices have joined the Costa Tomato operations in Guyra.
Neil Ashman, Andrew Pearson and Marty Ryan, who all come from the Guyra region, have started boilermaking apprenticeships, giving them a broad range of skills required in the maintenance of the glasshouse operation.
“Costa is very proud to support Neil, Andrew and Marty in the development of their careers and their skills are very important to the smooth operations of our Tomato glasshouse business,” Scot MacDonald, Costa State Manager, said.
“We hope this is the start of a long and successful career with the company. Facilitating training and jobs in Guyra for the upcoming generation is a win for these men, the Guyra community and the future of agriculture.”
Neil, Andrew and Marty, will be attending TAFE in Armidale as part of their Certificate III in Engineering and Metal Fabrication.
Marty Ryan, who went to school at Ben Lomond and Guyra schools before boarding at Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in Tamworth, started working full-time with Costa towards the end of last year.
“I had wanted to get into the workforce but there weren’t a whole lot of opportunities in the region. Then I was offered an opportunity to do work experience with Costa. I did two days’ work experience and that sold me. Ever since I was about four years old I have wanted to build things and work with my hands,” Marty said.
“Joey Mills and Michael Fowler are an absolute pleasure to work for. It’s pretty amazing to have this opportunity to work with a leading producer in the food industry. We are getting lots of opportunities working in this field as it is a very diverse company.”
Costa Maintenance Manager Joey Mills said he was honoured to have the new apprentices join his team.
Photo courtesy of Guyra Gazette: from left Brett Ryan, HR Manager, Andrew Pearson, Marty Ryan, Joey Mills, Maintenance Manager, Neil Ashman and Scot MacDonald, State Manager.
