Brain Industries was incorporated in 2016 by Newcastle businesswoman Gillian Summers and her husband Tony Lobb, a former group general manager of iconic Hunter shipbuilder Forgacs, which was sold in 2015.

Ms Summers is the managing director of Brain industries and describes her husband as the "force and ideas" behind it.

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Brain's bread and butter trade is manufacturing conveyer pulleys and pumps used in mining, tunnelling oil and gas industries. Its "silo" business of hot cast polyurethane coating products is rapidly growing.

Its move to acquire Queensland-based boat builder Moda came after the two companies worked on a major boat building tender for the Rural Fire Service.

Ms Summers said Brain Industries, which recently won the small manufacturer category at the Hunter Manufacturing Awards, hoped to "reignite" boat and, eventually, ship building in the region.

"As we build our investment in boat building we hope to build bigger vessels for Customs and Defence," she said. "The way we have evolved each of our products and our industry groups is just by building and building."

The marine focus aligns with the experience of senior staff and her husband's background (Mr Lobb has completed two global yacht races, multiple Sydney to Hobart races and is an ex-board member of the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.

"We hope to build up into ship building because we have done it before and know what's involved and really we hope to build that part of our business to be as strong as the traditional parts of our business and we believe there are big opportunities in marine build," Ms Summers says.

She says Moda's operations were previously mainly for recreational vessels however Brain hoped to extend that market to include contracts with government agencies, including emergency services and defence.

Over the years, Brain has diversified to ensure revenue streams and had grown from one factory to four at its Young Street base. One of its silo businesses is the manufacture of safety refuge chambers for gold and uranium mining sites.

The company accessed government incentives during the worst of the pandemic and retained its 28 staff and Ms Summers says the company was a firm believer in the might of local industry to kickstart the economy.

When COVID delayed supply of a product overseas, Brain turned to a Central Coast company for its manufacturing services.

"We think more is coming back onshore - it's been a bumpy ride but I think things are coming back now," she said.

"If government has the projects here and awards them here in Australia, you keep things like payroll tax in the country and people employed and you up-skill locals. All we do sending projects offshore is up-skill other countries."

"There does seem to be a re-awakening about manufacturing and the value of those skills."

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