Sometimes a career can turn on a single moment. For Rod Mitton, Manteena’s Design Manager anddirector, that moment came in 1987 when he was spotted working hard on site while others were slacking off.
He was a chippie subcontracting on a Manteena job at the Lyneham shops. “John Hailey (the company’s founder) turned up one day and I was the only one working. He sacked the others on the spot and said to me ‘come and see me in the office tomorrow.’ So, I did, and he offered me a job. I’d never worked directly for a builder before but I talked to my wife and we decided, what did I have to lose? That was my sliding doors moment,” Rod recalls. It was the start of a career with the company where he would eventually become a director, and go on to play a leading role in Canberra’s building industry.
Rod grew up on a farm in rural Victoria. “From a very early age I’d set my goal to be a carpenter,” he says. “It was about working with wood and making things that really inspired me. I got an apprenticeship and I worked for a number of different small builders in country Victoria and in Melbourne. Then I moved to the Riverina and pursued a semi agricultural farming/building career there, working on a farm. I built the farmer’s blue stone house and worked on other projects around at the time. There was a mix of shearing and planting crops and building. Then I moved to Canberra in 1984.” Initially, Rod intended to get a job working on the new Parliament House, but he ended up buying a milk run. “They were big in the day,” he says. “I thought that’d be good because it was a nighttime thing, and I could still work during the day.”
Fate intervened, and under John Hailey’s mentorship and with guidance from long-time manager (and now Manteena director) Lou Agnello, he learnt what it meant to be a builder. “Lou really showed me the ropes. If I hadn’t had Lou, I reckon John would have sacked me in the first month. John was terrific, very forgiving, but he called a spade a spade. That culture shaped me, and shaped Manteena.”
By the mid 1990s, another young talent had joined the company. Mark Bauer was a construction cadet from the University of Canberra, placed on site at the Barton Police College in 1994. “I was so green, but on my first day I met Rod. At the end of my cadetship, the PM had left, so as a 21-year-old I had to finish a $15 million project. It was daunting, but it taught me to take responsibility early. That’s the Manteena way,” says Mark.
Also having grown up in a farming family in country Victoria, Mark had wanted to be an architect. “I was encouraged to do something other than farming as the youngest of seven, but my dad wasn’t so sure about architecture. I didn’t love farming the way my brothers did, so university felt right for me. And Canberra felt right because, being a country person, it was not too big. So, I did the construction economics degree.” For the compulsory six month practical in third year, Mark went to see Manteena, and John tookhim on as a cadet. He was given a permanent job at the end of his degree. Thirty years later, he is a director and CEO of Manteena.
From modest beginnings in a small Geelong Street office with just 16 staff, Manteena has grown into one of Canberra’s most respected homegrown commercial builders. “John always had an ethos, and we still maintain it to this day: building for people who have a long-term interest in their buildings,” Mark explains. Their portfolio includes refurbishments and upgrades at the Australian War Memorial, Parliament House, and greenfield projects at the National Gallery, ANZAC Parade and aged care facilities like Goodwin Village in Downer. “We’ve always been about quality. We take on jobs where the detail matters.”
There have been challenges along the way. Rod recalls one project vividly: “Two days before handover, they repressurised the sprinkler system and a head let go. It flooded the whole thing, and we had to rip it all out and start again. It was a disaster, but you learn resilience in this game.” Mark adds: “We’ve had a few obstacles over the years. It’s not unusual that it happens the week before handover. The key is you can’t hide. You face it, fix it, and move on.” Out of those experiences, Manteena has continued to build improved processes and policies. “And insurers now are a lot more helpful around the data in terms of saying, these things have happened across the industry, how can you prevent them?” Mark says.
The Master Builders Association has been central to Manteena’s journey. Manteena has had someone on staff actively involved in service for the MBA for virtually the life of the company. John Hailey served as Treasurer and was elected as a Life Member, while Rod has chaired the MBA’s Group Training Committee, and Mark has chaired the Commercial Sector Council and served on the board. Lou Agnello has been a trainer for the MBA, and former CEO Simon Butt served as both Treasurer and President. Simon, like John, has been recognised as a Life Member. “The MBA has been our backbone. They support training, deal with industrial relations and provide a voice for builders. You can’t underestimate the value of that,” Rod says.
Both Mark and Rod are encouraged by the growing number of women in construction and believe the industry must do more to present itself as a professional and inclusive career path. “We have a massive opportunity if we can turn the narrative,” Mark says. “Construction is an engine room of the economy, but it’s also about building communities. We need to show young people that this is a profession, not just a job. That’s part of our legacy – giving young people the same chances we were given.”
From modest beginnings in a small Geelong Street office with just 16 staff, Manteena has grown into one of Canberra’s most respected homegrown commercial builders. “John always had an ethos, and we still maintain it to this day: building for people who have a long-term interest in their buildings,” Mark explains. Their portfolio includes refurbishments and upgrades at the Australian War Memorial, Parliament House, and greenfield projects at the National Gallery, ANZAC Parade and aged care facilities like Goodwin Village in Downer. “We’ve always been about quality. We take on jobs where the detail matters.”
There have been challenges along the way. Rod recalls one project vividly: “Two days before handover, they repressurised the sprinkler system and a head let go. It flooded the whole thing, and we had to rip it all out and start again. It was a disaster, but you learn resilience in this game.” Mark adds: “We’ve had a few obstacles over the years. It’s not unusual that it happens the week before handover. The key is you can’t hide. You face it, fix it, and move on.” Out of those experiences, Manteena has continued to build improved processes and policies. “And insurers now are a lot more helpful around the data in terms of saying, these things have happened across the industry, how can you prevent them?” Mark says.
The Master Builders Association has been central to Manteena’s journey. Manteena has had someone on staff actively involved in service for the MBA for virtually the life of the company. John Hailey served as Treasurer and was elected as a Life Member, while Rod has chaired the MBA’s Group Training Committee, and Mark has chaired the Commercial Sector Council and served on the board. Lou Agnello has been a trainer for the MBA, and former CEO Simon Butt served as both Treasurer and President. Simon, like John, has been recognised as a Life Member. “The MBA has been our backbone. They support training, deal with industrial relations and provide a voice for builders. You can’t underestimate the value of that,” Rod says.
Both Mark and Rod are encouraged by the growing number of women in construction and believe the industry must do more to present itself as a professional and inclusive career path. “We have a massive opportunity if we can turn the narrative,” Mark says. “Construction is an engine room of the economy, but it’s also about building communities. We need to show young people that this is a profession, not just a job. That’s part of our legacy – giving young people the same chances we were given.”
