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CLIENT NEWS: Local leaders recognised by Dairy Women’s Network

Two women with generations of farming experience behind them are finalists in the 2018 Dairy Community Leadership Awards. They are dairy farmers Kylie Leonard, from Taupo and Lorraine Stephenson, from Dannevirke. The Dairy Community Leadership Awards are a Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) initiative recognising the unsung heroes of rural communities. This year’s award will be presented at an awards ceremony during the Network’s conference in Rotorua, Thursday 22 to Friday 23 March. Sponsored ...

CLIENT NEWS: Top dairy women announced as finalists for Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award

A dairy consultant, a district mayor, and a leadership coach are finalists in the 2018 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year awards. Hawke’s Bay dairy consultant Rachel Baker, Tararua district mayor Tracey Collis, and Southland dairy leadership coach Loshni Manikam are in the running for the coveted dairy award, which will be announced at an awards ceremony during Dairy Women’s Network’s conference in Rotorua on Thursday 22 March. Dairy Women’s Network CEO Zelda de Villiers says the three fin...

HMC NEWS: Waikato business leaders discuss sexual harassment in the workplace

A group of senior Waikato business leaders gathered this week to discuss the implications of the Weinstein scandal and #MeToo movement on business in New Zealand. Experts from legal, human resources, governance and communications spoke to a room of CEOs, GMs and business and social services executives about sexual harassment in the workplace and how businesses and organisations in New Zealand must do more to plan for and better manage these situations. HMC Communications Director Heather Claycom...

CLIENT NEWS: Heating up: New Zealand Innovator of the Year finalists taking on the world with heat detection device

A low-cost device designed to detect when cows are ovulating and ready to be inseminated has earned two Kiwi entrepreneurs a spot among the finalists in the 2018 New Zealander of the Year Awards. Fraser Smith and Matt Yallop of Farmshed Labs are finalists in the New Zealand Innovator of the Year category for their product FlashMate. FlashMate is a small plastic dome, housing touch screen electronics that accurately detects the activity associated in cows that are in heat and ready for inseminat...

CLIENT NEWS: School health clinics making a difference in Waikato communities

Annually, thousands of youth in communities across the Waikato region struggle to access health care services, restricted by barriers such as cost, lack of transport and fear of talking to a health care professional. Thankfully, as they begin to walk through the doors of their high schools, wharekura, alternative education facilities and teen parent units this month, there's a team of 11 registered nurses and 19 general practitioners (GPs) ready and waiting to fight this access impasse. These he...

CLIENT NEWS: Down to the wire: Fieldays’ humble beginnings celebrated

In 1969, the first New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays was held at Hamilton’s Te Rapa Racecourse. The Town and Country Fair, as it was known then, aimed to bring rural and urban audiences together to celebrate New Zealand’s farming industry and lifestyle and the contribution it makes to the economy. Fast forward 50 years, and Fieldays is a staple on many agricultural people’s calendars, with hundreds of thousands descending on Mystery Creek each June. This year, it celebrates its 50th year o...

CLIENT NEWS: Strong start to the year for Hamilton residential property market

Lodge Real Estate’s managing director Jeremy O’Rourke says Hamilton’s residential property market experienced strong sales in January and a positive start to the New Year. The Real Estate Institute of NZ released its residential property data yesterday [15 February] showing there were 156 homes sold in Hamilton during the month. This compares to 141 sold during January 2017. “Hamilton house sales were strong in January and up on last year. Plus, we’ve also had a good number of quality ...

HMC NEWS: What’s all this engagement buzz?

A few years ago, one of the business buzz words on everyone’s lips was, “sustainable.” Businesses were sustainable, products were sustainable, strategies were sustainable, packaging was sustainable. What wasn’t sustainable was my tolerance for the word. In fact, I went through a short period of boycotting it entirely. Fast-forward to 2018 and one of my current bugbears is the word, “engagement.” Particularly working in public relations, I hear the word engagement many times each day....

CLIENT NEWS: Genetics helps Taranaki farmers with facial eczema (FE) in cows

Facial eczema (FE) is a challenge for many New Zealand farmers. Affected cattle can suffer with skin irritation and peeling, internal damage to the liver and other organs, and it sometimes results in death. FE also leads to a drop in milk production. For farmers in regions prone to FE, it can be extremely frustrating – but genetics can offer a long-term solution, as one Taranaki farmer found out. “We are highly prone to facial eczema here in North Taranaki,” says farmer Gary Phillips, who,...

CLIENT NEWS: Michelin purchases 25% share in Tyreline and Beaurepaires

International tyre manufacturer Michelin has purchased a 25% stake in two Hamilton companies, Tyreline Distributors Limited and Beau Ideal Limited, which trades as Beaurepaires. Both Tyreline and Beau Ideal are owned by the Rushbrooke family, who now retain 75% ownership in their businesses. Michelin, headquartered in France, is one of the world’s most well-known brands and is on the 2017 Fortune 500 list. Tyreline Distributors Limited is a tyre and lubricants importer and wholesaler headquar...

HMC NEWS: Five foundations for building a personal brand

This article is about building a personal brand. Now, you might think, “This is not relevant to me. Building a personal brand is something celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Richard Branson do, right?” Well, yes, that’s right, many celebrities spend every day building their personal brands. And many like Kim and Richard do it really well.  What might surprise you, however, is that building a personal brand has a lot of advantages for normal, everyday people like you and me. And by �...

CLIENT NEWS: Momentum Waikato Community Foundation announces new CEO

Momentum Waikato Community Foundation has announced its new CEO is Kelvyn Eglinton, currently Hamilton City Council’s General Manager City Growth. Mr Eglinton will take up the role at the community foundation in mid-March. Founding Chief Executive Cheryl Reynolds has left after four years at the helm to establish a new social enterprise for generosity. Momentum Waikato Chair Leonard Gardner is pleased the foundation’s board has appointed Mr Eglinton. “We are grateful Kelvyn is joining us. ...

CLIENT NEWS: Search begins for Dairy Women’s Network CEO

The Dairy Women’s Network has begun its recruitment campaign for a new chief executive. Applications for the role are now open, and board chair Cathy Brown says the new CEO will be the face of the 10,000-strong membership organisation with responsibility for leading it to the next level. “The CEO represents our organisation and its members at the highest level,” Brown says. “The Network has become an increasingly influential participant in the industry, and we’re looking for someone wh...

CLIENT NEWS: New spray dryer planned at Waikato Innovation Park to cope with high demand

A $45 million new food spray dryer is being planned for Food Waikato at Waikato Innovation Park, to cope with an increase in demand from the sheep milk industry. The existing open access development spray dryer, which came online just five years ago, is already at capacity, says Waikato Innovation Park CEO Stuart Gordon. He says the growth in the sheep milk industry in the Waikato region requires extra capacity, hence the need for the new dryer, which could be online by June 2019. Currently the ...

HMC NEWS: Facebook is changing its News Feed – here’s why you don’t need to worry

You may have heard Facebook’s recent announcement that it will change the algorithm that runs its News Feed, which shows a selection of posts from other users and pages. The algorithm is complex and decides what users see in their news feed based on many different aspects of their behaviour – from what they click on to who they’re friends with and the types of businesses and groups they choose to follow. Facebook is now changing its algorithm to help its users have “more meaningful expe...

HMC NEWS: PR agency warns Harvey Weinstein harassment fallout will impact on all businesses

Business leaders in the Waikato are being encouraged to learn how to prevent the Harvey Weinstein scandal impacting on their businesses. Hamilton PR agency HMC Communications is running a learning lunch session on Tuesday 20 February with speakers from the legal, human resources, public relations and governance realms. “Managing reputation in the post-Harvey Weinstein world”, is designed to help senior leaders consider how they might be able to act differently in the wake of the scandal. HM...

CLIENT NEWS: Private investor buys Waikato Innovation Park’s property assets

The property assets of Waikato Innovation Park, a unique business park that leverages collaboration around the agribusiness industry, have been bought by investor Neil Foster. The sale of the property assets of Waikato Innovation Park to Mr Foster was finalised on December 15. Mr Foster says he sees the purchase as an opportunity to continue supporting innovation and economic development. Hamilton City Council announced earlier in 2017 that it was seeking an investor who could progress the next ...

HMC NEWS: Words alone can’t save you

“You can’t communicate your way out of a situation you’ve managed yourself into.” This is a great quote uttered at PR Institute of NZ’s annual conference earlier this year by a senior PR colleague, Sarah Fraser who is the Communications Manager at NIWA.  When she said it, I quickly scribbled it down and I’ve been repeating it at every opportunity.  It’s brilliant. Basically, the premise is: if your company has made decisions that have put you into a situation where your ...

CLIENT NEWS: KGL Property set to refurbish Hamilton East site

KGL Property today revealed its plans for a $6 million refurbishment of the 1970s-built 1 Clyde St in Hamilton East to start in mid-2018. Renovations will create what is thought to be the largest modern, shared office space in Hamilton. The sale of the property to KGL Property was announced in May 2016 when former owner and tenant, Hill Laboratories, announced it would vacate the building and move to their new headquarters on Duke Street.  With all Hill Laboratories staff now out of the bui...

CLIENT NEWS: CRV Ambreed supports Ohaupo farmer to breed excellent heifers

Mathew Karl left his job as a bricklayer to become a dairy farmer seven years ago, and it was one of the best decisions he’s ever made. The 38-year-old currently milks 300 mixed-breed cows on 100 hectares at Ryburn Road, in the Ohaupo area, between Hamilton and Te Awamutu. “He’s had fantastic results,” says CRV Ambreed Field Consultant for Te Awamutu/Te Pahu Debbie Young, who has been working with Mr Karl. “A lot of it is done to the effort he’s put in, he’s grown his cows beautifu...

CLIENT NEWS: Waikato business thriving, says local expert

Business in the Waikato and Coromandel regions is thriving, according to a local business growth expert. “It’s an exciting time to be doing business in the Waikato and the region is buzzing,” says Waikato business growth manager Craig Purcell. In particular, there is strong growth in technology, food and tourism, says Purcell. “Food is really important to the region right now, and dairying as a subset of that,” says Purcell, who leads a team of six business growth advisors based at Wai...

HMC NEWS: Sticking to key messages

“If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra I once had a client who had a story to tell, but when it came time to tell it, he lost his way. We’d gone over everything in advance. Prepared some key statements. But the journalist grilled him, for more than an hour, and at some point he went off script. When the story came out the next day – front page news – he was mortified. He came across negatively, and a few comments had been taken out of cont...

CLIENT NEWS: Buyers and sellers get active in Hamilton housing market

Lodge Real Estate’s managing director Jeremy O’Rourke says during November Hamilton’s residential property market became more active after a slower than normal spring. “The word to describe November is: lubrication. Some grease has been put on the wheels of the market which were a bit slow moving in the spring and both buyers and sellers in Hamilton are out in force,” says O’Rourke. The Real Estate Institute of NZ released its residential property data this morning [note: 13 December...

CLIENT NEWS: Charitable donation to enable community wildlife education in Waikato

Waikato wildlife reserve Sanctuary Mountain has been awarded $300,000 from Trust Waikato to enhance its popular community education programmes. Sanctuary Mountain is a pest-free plant and animal reserve on Maungatautari Mountain, near Cambridge in Waikato. It is the largest ecological restoration project in New Zealand, developed to remove all non-native pest mammals and predators and to restore endangered native flora and fauna to Maungatautari. It has 47km of fencing, making it the largest pes...

CLIENT NEWS: Refuge calling for children's gifts this Christmas

Waikato Women’s Refuge – Te Whakaruruhau is calling on the Waikato community for donations to help support families affected by domestic violence this Christmas. The refuge, which has helped more than 4000 Waikato women escape violent and abusive relationships during 2017, is asking for new, unwrapped toys and presents for children aged 0-16 to give to the children in their service. Waikato Women’s Refuge co-founder and CEO Ruahine Albert QSM says domestic violence rates increase signific...