In 1991, after 16 years working in his family’s company, Sean McMonagle took over as Managing Director of Sun Engineering. Sean’s mission was to keep the strengths of a family business, yet turn it into an international player. He was particularly keen to develop global manufacturing and delivery capabilities. This would not just provide new avenues for growth but, by accessing different development cycles, would allow the company to level out the historical ups and downs of the contracting market. Sean’s strategy was to take Sun’s ethos and work ethic into overseas markets. To this end, while continuing to build the Australian business, in 2005, Sean established a manufacturing plant in China, creating competitive advantage and enabled the business to reach as far as Iceland, Israel and Madagascar. Similarly, in 2008, Sean strengthened alliances in the Middle East, giving Sun access to projects in an important growth market. In the same year, the company secured a $50 million contract for PNG’s Hidden Valley Gold Project. This project served to cement Sun’s track record in delivering projects in PNG. During this time, Sun’s Australian operations won the $12 million Suncorp Stadium roof contract and became an accredited supplier for Main Roads Queensland. Today, Sun has the alliances and capabilities to deliver projects anywhere in the world. It also has a global reputation for delivering ‘impossible’ projects on time and on budget. Despite the current economic conditions, Sun is continuing to deliver strong growth. Sean’s vision for the next five years is to continue to build Sun’s global profile by developing additional overseas capabilities in manufacturing and construction, new strategic alliances and delivering more overseas projects. He credits Sun’s success with teamwork, out-of-the-box thinking and a ‘can do’ attitude. | 
