Rotary Mentoring Program

Mark currently works part time in an economic development role for Renmark Paringa Council (2017). He started his working life in the NAB (1976) and then went on to join the family fuel business several years later, which then evolved into Bell Petroleum in 1985 in partnership with his brother Tony.

Bell Petroleum started with 5 employees operating an Ampol branded service station and wholesale on-farm distribution service that grew to 28 employees by 1996. In 1996 the business was sold to Mobil and relocated from 21 street in Renmark to Renmark Avenue overnight. Both the Ampol and Mobil sites underwent significant upgrades during Bell Petroleum’s tenure.

Mark continued to work for Mobil for the next 5 years as the Retail Operations Manager in charge of 13 Mobil branded sites across the state.

Post the fuel industry Mark has run several businesses including the Office Choice franchise and Photocopier business in Berri, has been the Business Development Manager for both a Business Consulting, Employment and IT firm as well as for the Riverland Development Corporation and Regional Development Australia.

Mark was awarded the 2013 Australian Institute of Management Churchill Fellowship while employed by Regional Development Australia -

To study business cluster development and facilitation from European Leaders in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Spain & Italy.

Mark is passionate about assisting the town develop its potential, along with helping its small businesses and innovators fulfill their plans and dreams. Over the last 20 years, Mark has coached more than 300 business owners or potential business owners looking to pursue their dreams.

Prior to his recent retirement, Phil Rosenthal was Joint Managing Director of his family Motoring Business for 40 years.

They operated 4 New Vehicle Franchises of Holden, Mazda, Mitsubishi & Hyundai and also ran service, parts and panel shop divisions.

In 2010 Phil and his brother Jim built the new dealership in Berri, where they combined the two Berri & Renmark businesses into one, Rosenthal Automotive. This was an enormous challenge, the build, combining two groups of staff into the one location.

Phil and Jim also built & opened Berri Bubble Wash in 2009 adjacent to the new facility in Berri. This also represented enormous challenges building and operating a brand new business.

Phil enjoyed his time with Rosenthal’s, the managing of up to 45 staff, the New Car Franchises, our customers, and the general day to day running of the businesses.

He is happy to see Jim’s family (4th generation) continue the business, now in its 113th year.

Paul has been involved in primary production for all his working life. Initially in the livestock business and then as an almond grower. He with his older brother developed 127 Hectares at Lindsay Point starting in 1973, and then 5 other orchards over a period of 15 years. Two of these orchards were corporate investor orchards and Paul went on from Horticultural Director to Managing Director and then 5 years as Chairman of the board for both companies. The investor orchards employed around 20 permanent staff each and had approximately 35 investors each.

Paul sat for his exams and was accepted as a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

However, it is working closely with people and empowering them to grow their business that interests Paul the most. Business today is very broad and demanding and so often in private enterprise we are challenged to be experts in so many fields it can be tough.

It is helping people to meet those challenges of finding the right staff, enabling them to give their best to the business, making your business always known in the market and complying with regulations that Paul can assist.

Following the completion of his university education, David commenced his working life as a lab technician, and then spent 7 years as a department head with a production focus of an iconic Australian brand.

In a complete change of direction, he entered secondary education and spent 32 years there, including 10 years as deputy principal and 12 years as the principal of 3 schools. These positions involved executive control of global budgets up to $8M and staffs of 80 and he had a strong interest in the application of business principals in the educational sector.

Through this he developed skills in personnel management, organisational culture, continuous improvement, management of change and financial management in the government sector.

His interests include the production and processing of dried fruit and the direct marketing of this in the “Farmers Market” environment. He is currently a member of the Board of the Renmark Paringa Network and President of the Rotary Club of Renmark.

Born and bred he has a very strong sense of community and a strong desire to see Renmark develop in sustainable ways to meet the needs of its citizens.