Colin McKenna is widely known as the owner of the Midfield Group – a multi-faceted meat processing company and one of Australia’s most successful exporters, but he is equally known for his generosity in providing financial support to hundreds of organisations, projects and individuals within the local community.
The son of a soldier-settler family, Colin is a CBC boy through and through and remains in touch with the friends he grew up with. Colin attributes his strong work ethic to growing up on the farm. “There was no money. People now would not understand. We had no money, and lived in a single car garage for three years – Mum, Dad and the three kids with no running water or toilet.”
Midfield is about the local community and the community has been very good to Midfield.
“My intention was to own my own farm. That was my dream,” Colin said. "There was never any plan to be big - that isn’t what motivated me.” Ranking 47th in the top private Australian companies, the Midfield Group has definitely become big by any standard and Midfield was a major donor to the Emmanuel Centre – amuch-needed facility that opened last year in 2016.
About his involvement Colin said, “The commitment from Midfield to the Emmanuel Centre project goes back a long way. I was a student of Emmanuel, or CBC as it was then. For Emmanuel to have twelve hundred plus students I think is incredible. When I was a student there was around two hundred and sixty. Midfield is about the local community and the community has been very good to Midfield, so when Emmanuel people came to see me and put the case forward about the project I felt it was important that we gave a contribution. Midfield gave $250,000 towards the project. We have donated to a number of facilities and groups in Warrnambool. We contributed towards getting Peter’s Project (Warrnambool’s Cancer Treatment Centre) up and we felt it was also important to get the Emmanuel Centre Project going. I think Emmanuel is a great College.”
Colin approaches his interests with the same passion he applies to his business. A love of racing was passed onto Colin by his horse trainer Grandfather. Colin’s horse Jameka was victorious in the prestigious Caulfield Cup last year, sparking celebrations in Warrnambool and providing a thrilling day for the McKenna family. The win was also another great success for Jameka’s trainer, Class of 1998 member Ciaron Maher.
Colin’s commitment to giving is an ethos that has been encouraged in students of Emmanuel College (and its predecessor schools, St Ann’s and CBC) since its inception and one that is exemplified time and again by our Alumni.
