Update: June 25 event gains guests from Quickstep, Harvest B for an important “missing middle” conversation

New guests have been added to @AuManufacturing‘s upcoming Spotlight on Scaling Up event, with Quickstep Acting CEO Demi Stefanova and Harvest B Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer Alfred Lo announced as panellists.

Stefanova and Lo, leaders from a composites specialist and food technology startup respectively, will appear in conversation with Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Chair Paul Cooper at the June 25 seminar.

Their 10 am session is titled Addressing the missing middle. A summary follows.

With over 90 per cent of Australian manufacturers classified as small businesses employing fewer than 20 people, the session will delve into the barriers and opportunities in growing these enterprises to medium-sized, sustainable operations. Contrary to common belief, Australia does not face a capability problem – it has a scaling problem. This discussion will unpack this from the perspective of highly capable Australian manufacturers.

Tickets are $44 and selling fast for the event at UTS Building 8, 14–28 Ultimo Road. The project is being delivered by @AuManufacturing in partnership with BDO, the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, and the Australian Business Growth Fund.

More information is available here.

Panellist biographies for Addressing the missing middle are below.

Paul Cooper 

Chair 

AMGC

Paul Cooper is Chairman of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Ltd (AMGC) and, Owner and Executive Chair of Rinstrum Pty Ltd. Paul was appointed to the AMGC Board in 2015 and is tasked with overseeing the implementation of AMGC’s strategy and its alignment with the overall Federal Government’s Growth Centre Initiative.

Paul has over 30 years’ manufacturing industry experience as owner and Executive Chair of Rinstrum, an industrial electronics manufacturing company. Rinstrum is based in Brisbane and actively exports to global markets with subsidiaries in the United States, Germany, India and Sri Lanka.

Demi Stefanova 

Acting CEO 

Quickstep

Demi Stefanova is a dynamic C-level executive with a distinguished track record of leading global businesses through major transformations. With over 20 years of experience, she has successfully built and scaled organisations that drive industry growth, competitiveness, and job creation.

Her career spans 10 industries across four continents, giving her a unique global perspective and the ability to navigate complex, cross-cultural business environments. Demi holds an MBA, a master’s in engineering – Project Management, a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering, and a degree in Applied Arts. Multilingual and internationally experienced, she brings a holistic, results-driven approach to leadership and transformation.

Alfred Lo 

Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer 

Harvest B

Harvest B is focused on developing a plant-based meat ingredient system. He has a rich background in investment and innovation, having served as the Chief Investment Officer at Cicada Innovations and the Head of AMP New Ventures. With over two decades of experience in operational and management roles at PwC and EDS, he has also been involved in both hardware and software startups.

Alfred holds an MBA from AGSM and NYU-Stern, a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales, and is a Chartered Accountant and MAICD. He is also a Partner & Mentor at Startmate and a mentor at various other programs, including the USyd INCUBATE Program and CyRise Cybersecurity Accelerator.