Ventia, in partnership with Johnson Controls as a joint venture (JV) company called Venture Smart, commenced work on the Statewide Electrical Infrastructure Services Contract for client Main Roads Western Australia in 2018.

Main Roads Western Australia is responsible for one of the largest and most spread-out state road networks in the world, covering 18,400km of highways and main roads across 2.5 million square kilometres, as well 30% of the state's electrical assets including traffic signals, street lighting and more.

Venture Smart are proud not only to be helping Main Roads WA maintain this vital network, but to be creating jobs and opportunities for local communities along the way. 

Today, Venture Smart handles planned and reactive maintenance for all Main Roads WA's electrical assets across WA including street lighting, traffic signals, speed limit signs, help phones, CCTV, variable message signs, vehicle detection systems, fibre networks, bluetooth travel time units, bores and pumps, and warning signals.  We also manage repairs to damaged assets, electrical upgrades and capital works where they're required.  

We manage assets from Broome through to Esperance and Kalgoorlie, including:

• 1000 traffic signal intersections
• 350 street lighting installations
• 3900 electronic school Zone Signs
• 500 roadside assist help phones
• 517 CCTV cameras
• 46 variable message signs
• 310 vehicle detection systems* 
• 534 blue tooth travel time units
• 250,000m optic fibre network

*This data is gathered to provide travel time calculations, ramp signaling and incident detection

Our track record of service delivery, value proposition and strong stakeholder relationships were key factors in winning the contract.   

But equally important was our commitment to making a positive economic and social impact for WA.  

Venture Smart's community impact

Venture Smart is proud of creating new jobs in regions across the state through the development of local manufacturing capability for the assembly of traffic signal heads.

The team is also upskilling local subcontractors to win and perform more electrical capital works. This involves training smaller businesses in how to meet pre-qualification criteria for large contracts, how to fill out tender applications and what information they will need to provide in order to participate in this work on a larger scale than they currently are. 

We're also taking on apprentices to develop young engineering talent and our team is engaging closely with Indigenous communities to create opportunities for Aboriginal workers and suppliers.

Through all these activities, Venture Smart's long-term goal is to help develop a quality supply chain capable of supporting all aspects of electrical infrastructure design, installation and maintenance across WA.  

In collaboration with Main Roads WA, we will leave a legacy of skills and opportunities for WA that extends beyond the life of any one project - and which everyone involved can be proud of.  

Lance Pickett (pictured below) is a fourth year apprentice, working on his Certificate 3 in Electrotechnology Electrician. Lance forms part of a team of more than 80 engineers, technicians, electricians, designers and adminstrators delivering services for the community in WA. Also pictured below is Dwin Rynski who undertook a year of his apprenticeship with us.

Our target for the contract is to achieve 3% direct Aboriginal employment and source 5% of subcontracted services from Aboriginal businesses.

Lance Pickett, Venture Smart
 

Dwin Rynski undertook a year of his apprenticeship with Venture Smart

Venture Smart is customer driven

Delivering value to a client with such a large area of responsibility requires insights born from long-term strategic relationships in the region, and the ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences and solutions. We win when our customers win.