About Us
Constance Woodberry
Chief Executive and Principal Consultant - Regional Breakthroughs
Connie Woodberry has been Chief Executive of Regional Breakthroughs, for the past five years. Following a diverse and satisfying career working across the community, business and education sectors Connie and her business partner established Regional Breakthroughs as a way of helping communities find the solutions they are looking for in workforce development; transport infrastructure planning; future casting and social and economic development through the formation of community led initiatives.
She works closely with all aspects of the community including the local business community, the education sector, federal and state governments, local government and some of the world’s largest and most dynamic businesses. Connie specializes in bringing people together to solve complex and sometimes seemingly intractable challenges.
Mark Woodberry
Managing Director - Regional Breakthroughs
Mark’s background encompasses business and community development and business start ups as well as Web based business strategies and all aspects of the aviation industry. Mark is the development and management services arm to Regional Breakthroughs and regularly works with industry, local, state and federal governments and urban and regional communities.
Mark has led his own businesses, has advised government, has assisted communities and industries to emerge from the most challenging circumstances and has flown for a major international airline. With experience in Australia and the US Mark brings a wealth of understanding to any challenge and has been a key player in all of the regional success stories which Regional Breakthroughs has been involved in.
Some Regional Breakthroughs Success Stories
SA Aviation Industry Development
Parafield SA Airport Training Facility
Mark worked with the SA State Government over four years to develop and support the aviation industry in the State. During this time the South Australian aviation industry became more viable through the upgrading of trade and professional development training, increased the domestic and international air services by 10 and 20 % respectively and brought new airlines and jobs to SA.
Northern Advanced Manufacturing Industry Group (NAMIG) Industry/Education Engagement
C2C Students Demonstrating one of their projects
Connie worked principally on this one. She developed, guided and managed the formation, implementation and management of the C2C program, one of the most successful regional industry/education engagement programs in the world. This program started off with the vision that a few hundred students would benefit from an intensive and integrated problem based learning program that would help students develop their understanding of how to apply their knowledge along with the development of their employability and entrepreneurial skills and their awareness of the opportunities in their region. By the time we withdrew from the project in mid 2008 over 3000 students had taken part in the program and it continues to grow.
We have recently conducted two further projects around the C2C initiative:
- A comprehensive BAE Systems/C2C Scholarship program that prepares Year 12 students for tertiary education as well as the awarding of 3 annual BAE Systems Scholarships which along with the cash assistance includes work experience and mentoring at BAE Systems.
- A report for the South Australian State on the Framework for an Effective Industry/Education Engagement Model. – Will release this soon on the web site.
Lobethal Grand Carnival Community Consultation
Mark and Connie and associates conducted the community consultation process for the committee which has subsequently re-established Lobethal, SA as a historic racing destination. After some initial community resistance Regional Breakthroughs worked with the community and local council to ensure community acceptance, involvement and input. The historic racing Grand Carnival was staged in 2008 and will now be an annual event with increasing community support.
Wide Bay Burnett Projects
Seabird surveillance aircraft manufacturing
Regional Breakthroughs along with Enterprise Innovations has assisted the Wide Bay Burnett region on a number of projects including the Wide Bay Burnett Aviation Investment and Re Investment Project which led to the region becoming the Centre for Aviation Enterprise. We went on to develop and implement a Business Attraction Strategy for the region and have carried out a number of other consultancies on the regions airport and airpark developments. The region has gained national and international attention as a key aviation hub.
Waikerie and Barmera Community Capacity Building
Waikerie River Front
Over the past few months Mark and Connie have worked extensively to assist and guide the reinvention – through community leadership – of these two small communities within the Riverland Region of South Australia.
It is early days but the communities are already emerging from the hopelessness many felt and which was so evident just a year ago. The local irrigation industry has been the economic driver of the region for decades but is now suffering the effects of prolonged drought and over allocation of irrigation upstream that means the farmers in SA are have only a fraction of the water needed to support their crops. Regional Breakthroughs is assisting the community to identify its future, without water surety, to forge a new beginning while retaining what they value in their communities.
Watch this space as these communities reinvent themselves!
