In this section we explore the stories behind the people. Whether they are running a successful sustainable business, have an esteemed academic background, or simply approach life in a way that considers the planet and the community around them; we want to share their story. In Up Close we promote the positive stories of the people that make a difference.

This month we look at Klaus Langner and his successful Caloundra business, Latronics.

In an era when we are witnessing Australia’s electronic and renewable energy manufacturing base rapidly retreating to China, here on the Sunshine Coast a local business is showing the way forward.

When considering the questions I wanted to ask, at first I was thinking about his past and where in Germany, Klaus Langner was from. After all, having lived in the German speaking part of Switzerland in the early 90’s I thought I might be able to relate to his homeland in some small way.

But, it quickly becomes obvious once we meet that Klaus is a man of the future. His blond shoulder-length hair, angular features and warm smile seems matched to the industry and coastal location he works in. His manner of speaking portrays an open-minded person who is certain of his direction in life, as well as the direction of his business.

He takes me behind the front reception area and right away I notice how open and light the place is.

“Every desk faces a window so everyone can look outside,” he points out.

No cubicles to be seen, which all too often give that familiar rabbit-warren appearance, typical of most offices. Klaus feels it is vital that everyone gets the opportunity to gaze outside towards native plants and have reflected sunlight instead of uninspiring blank walls and fluorescent lighting.

Just metres away is the electronics assembly area where a small team puts together the circuitry necessary for the range of inverters Latronics have become famous for around the country over the past 22 years. For most of us an inverter is a ‘black box’ that changes the steady currents of a battery, or photovoltaic panel, into the alternating currents we rely on for our electricity.

At Latronics it is more than just a box. Their inverters are a complex arrangement of circuit boards, put together meticulously by human hands. No machines, no automation. Klaus explains how machines are prone to errors as they simply don’t know when they are doing something wrong. The money he saves on avoiding automated mistakes goes into paying people instead.

And it’s people he truly cares about. When thinking of assembly lines and electronics, I think of impersonal factories, noise, heat in summer and cold, dark areas in winter. But this is no ordinary workplace. The work areas are quiet and clean, and in my short visit it appears Latronics is more like one big family.

Sixteen people find employment here — mainly local youth who live in the Caloundra area. It becomes obvious that Klaus’s philosophy and calmness is rubbing off on his workers as they quietly go about their business.

Family and community come first and work and money come a distant second, he explains while stretching his arms apart to emphasise the point.

“It is important we have local people, so we don’t place stress from travel on the families of our workers,” he adds.

On the way to another large assembly shed we pass ponds, built to take the over-flow from water tanks, neatly grassed lawns, compost bins, outside decked areas for workers to relax and even chickens in a small coop under a tree. As we enter the building he points to the Styrofoam collected from packing boxes, lining and insulating the tin walls.

He also proudly displays the new solar-cooker. Looking more like a satellite dish than a barbeque, it uses the sun’s heat to quickly cook your preferred plat du jour. It appears that those who dedicate a life to the renewable energy industry are always looking for ways to use the abundant free energy from our nearest star.

At Latronics they not only use the sun passively for outside cooking and inside lighting, they use it for electricity generation as well. Klaus takes me up some stairs and points to a large bank of photovoltaic panels on the shed we’ve just walked from.

Workers are on the roof of the main building installing more panels and, by the time they’re finished, there will be 21 kW of electrical energy generated courtesy of the sun. This is impressive when considering the average solar-powered house can get by with as little as 1 kW. Some of the rows of panels ingeniously slide on tracks so that whilst they pump out power in the hot midday sun, they also shield sky-lights and the people below.

As I leave I’m impressed with the entire site, the way everything is integrated and how it reflects a man who cares for the local environment, the people he employs and their combined futures.

It may at first appear like something that belongs in an ABC documentary about a futuristic European or American eco-industrial site. But it doesn’t, and the Sunshine Coast is better for it.