Raymond Spencer (b. 1950) is a South Australian businessman, chairman of South Australia's Economic Development Board and chairman of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Spencer grew up on a farm in Clarendon in the 1950s where he witnessed the economic progress made under the leadership of Premier Thomas Playford.
After studying law at the University of Adelaide, Spencer left South Australia at the age of 18. He lived and worked in the USA, India and Europe for 35 years before returning to Adelaide in 2009. He worked in the not-for-profit sector before starting an IT business in 1989. That business was acquired by Capgemini twenty years later. While abroad, Spencer was inducted to the Chicago Area Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in 2003 and was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year for the Illinois Region in 2005. Raymond is a Laureate of the Computerworld Honors Program, which recognises use of information technology to produce and promotes positive social change.
Following his return to South Australia, he was appointed Chairman of South Australia's Economic Development Board on 1 January 2011.
In 2013 he received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Arizona.
Spencer has consistently expressed pride in his South Australian heritage and has described what he calls the "South Australian DNA" as containing "innovation, creativity and industriousness." He has encouraged South Australian businesses to think globally and aggressively add value to existing products and services. He urged for investment in ports in 2013, and was buoyant about agricultural, mining and manufacturing sectors. He has encouraged the state to take on debt to build critical infrastructure and said that if he were able to, he would take state debt to 20% of Gross State Product and invest in infrastructure immediately. He also advocated for planning system reform in order "to force economic growth and improve our quality of living" and said "we need to sell South Australia."
Spencer believes that "value adding" to support growth in the resources sector presents economic opportunities for South Australia. He said in 2013: "Building businesses in the value chain that is going to support the resources industry. That's where the really big bang from the resources industry really comes." In 2013, Spencer also stated that he believed there was no future for the automotive industry in South Australia without subsidy, and that subsidies should be extended for a period of years while the state builds its advanced manufacturing capacity. He suggested that South Australia should "work like hell to create more and more advanced manufacturing, expand the defense industry [and] get the services businesses to the resources industry in place that will attract a lot of those skills."