Sunshine Sugar has announced its intake of apprentices for 2017. The company’s CEO, Chris Connors, met with the new apprentices at the Ballina corporate office last week “to welcome them to the business” to introduce them to the company’s values: “teamwork, integrity, excellence, accountability and safety.” “As a proactive supporter of employment-based learning for local youth, Sunshine Sugar takes on multiple apprentices and trainees across its three sites each year,” Mr Connors said. “These young people are the future of local business and industry. “As one of the largest non-government employers in the Northern Rivers, we feel that it is both a responsibility and a privilege to provide hands-on, technical and practical skills needed to become qualified and prepared for the challenges of working life.” Taylor Roberts (business administration traineeship) and James Brown (apprentice fitter) have been employed at the Harwood sugar mill. Citing the federal government’s ‘Australian Apprenticeships’ Mr Connors said: “Completing an apprenticeship or traineeship provides a unique insight into the business world, allowing first-hand experience of how a business operates. “For Sunshine Sugar, having a team of motivated and skilled people, now and in the future, is the lifeblood of a competitive and sustainable business.” The Condong mill in the Tweed Valley has employed three apprentices and the Broadwater mill in the Richmond Valley has employed two.