For more than a decade, businessman Darran Wells has been right behind one of Cobar’s biggest annual events, the Cobar Races, continuing a family connection to both business and horseracing that stretches back generations.
The business itself, Wells Ventilation, was established by Darran’s father, Allan Wells, in Railway Parade almost 60 years ago.
Alongside the business, Allan also passed down a passion for horseracing, while Darran’s grandfather was well known as a keen horseman.
Continuing the family tradition, Darran joined the business in 1989, helping grow the company, which manufactures and supplies underground ventilation products to the mining and tunnelling industries.
Darran purchased the business from his parents 18 years ago and has since expanded the operation to include overseas manufacturing.
He also established a second business, DJW Contracting, and in recent years added a rigid plastics facility to the enterprise.
Along with servicing the local mining industry, the Cobar workshop supports customers in Parkes, Tomingley and Nymagee.
Darran now has managers based in Newcastle, Orange and Cobar overseeing the day-to-day operations of the various arms of his business.
While Darran and his family now live in Pokolbin, he still maintains strong ties to his hometown.
“I love to see Cobar prosper, and it does,” he said.
“It’s had its ups and downs, but it always bounces back.
“That’s a test of its resilience.”
Darran believes that same resilience is reflected in the history of the Cobar Miners Race Club, which is why Wells Ventilation came on board as a major sponsor of the club’s first spring race meeting in 2015.
“The race club was starting to prosper again and there was a solid belief that Cobar could support two race meetings a year,” he said.
“It’s a good thing for the town and the community and brings in crowds from all over the place.
“In the last 15 years, the club and the races have gone from a good thing to a great thing.”
Darran makes sure he returns to Cobar each year for the races, saying the event gives him the chance to reconnect with friends and catch up with customers.
He has also enjoyed bringing his family back to Cobar, giving his two now-grown children the opportunity to experience the lifestyle he enjoyed growing up.
His son Nick, now 18 and studying for his HSC, has spoken about one day continuing the family business tradition, although his immediate plans involve pursuing a career in the Air Force.
“Preferably I’d like to see him go out and see the world, and do a few things, and then see how he feels about coming into the business.
“He just needs to see how other people do things first,” Darran said.
Darran thinks his father would be proud to see the business he built is still continuing to grow and prosper and that horseracing, another passion they shared, is also still thriving in Cobar today.
