Dubbo is emblazoned on every box sent by Fletcher International Exports to customers across the globe.
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Such is managing director Roger Fletcher's respect and affection for the city from where he has built an empire.
On Saturday Dubbo will reciprocate when the name of the largest private employer in the city appears on the Australia Day 2019 Honours List.
The former drover, who ignored doomsayers when building an abattoir in Dubbo, has been awarded an Order of Australia medal (OAM) for service to the primary industry.
While Fletcher International Exports became the largest and most integrated sheep meat processor in Australia, its founder shared knowledge and expertise on a national level.
Mr Fletcher is an active member of the Australian Meat Industry Council, Australian Wool Innovation and Infrastructure NSW.
The OAM is a “surprise” for the self-made man who learned about hard work and business from his parents.
“When I was six or seven I was minding sheep on stock routes, picking up deadwood, picking up lemonade bottles and catching rabbits to sell,” Mr Fletcher said.
His passion for the sheep industry took him from drover to entrepreneur and the decision to stop using council and government-owned abattoirs and build one of his own on a greenfield site in Dubbo in the late 1980s.
“No one had built an abattoir in 20 years ..and everyone told me I was mad,” Mr Fletcher said.
“We had a vision and a dream and that’s never stopped.”
Mr Fletcher, whose enterprise includes large properties in Western NSW, a second abattoir in Western Australia and an intermodal terminal in Dubbo, will accept his latest accolade with gratitude for his family and “great team”.
He feels lucky to have them and to have been “born in Australia”.
Community has not missed out as Mr Fletcher’s star has risen.
Apart from employing 1000 people, he sponsors agricultural shows, sporting teams and organisations, and donates meat to Foodbank.
Mr Fletcher was a driving force behind the Get Real program in Dubbo and is a patron of Westhaven Industries.
“We have an obligation to the town,” he said.
