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CLIENT NEWS: New naming rights sponsor for school technology challenge

Central King Country REAP's annual schools technology challenge will go ahead next month thanks to new sponsorship from local energy retailer, King Country Energy (KCE) Many thousands of primary school students (years 6-8) within the Central King Country region have participated in this annual event since it was established more than 20 years ago. However, Central King Country REAP's education manager Jenny Gawith said the organisation has struggled to find an ongoing sponsor for the event s...

CLIENT NEWS: Hamilton needs help: customer experience more important than brand or price

Hamilton retailers need to focus on the quality and consistency of their customer experience if they want to compete in today's market, according to Waikato customer experience expert Chris Bell. Bell, who moved his 12 year old business consultancy from Christchurch to Taupo a year ago, spent six months looking for a Hamilton business he could use as a shining example of a great customer experience but had difficulty finding one that stood out from the crowd. In one visit to a Hamilton depar...

CLIENT NEWS: Nominations open for Farmax Consultant of the Year

The New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management is playing a bigger part in this year's Farmax Consultant of the Year awards. The Institute, which will announce the winner alongside Farmax, at its national conference on Monday, August 8, is helping Farmax organise the awards and chairing the judging panel. The organisers of the award are broadening the criteria for the Consultant of the Year awards making it achievable for any rural professionals to enter the awards alongside farm c...

CLIENT NEWS: KCE Tree of Light to shine for ANZAC Day

The KCE Tree of Light on Te Kuiti's Rora Street is set to shine red this ANZAC Day (25 April) to commemorate all New Zealanders killed in war, and to honour returned servicemen and women. And although many locals will flock to see the Tree glow as the sun goes down, the tree's colour has extra special meaning to 87-year-old local man, Leo Dempsey. Leo's connection with ANZAC Day is decidedly personal. "In 1941, during the Battle of Britain, my brother went to England as a pilot in the Ro...

CLIENT NEWS: Dairy Community Leadership Award Finalists

Three finalists for the Dairy Women's Network's Dairy Community Leadership Award have been announced. They are Tracey Collis from Eketahuna, Lisa Hicks from Ohakune and Katrina Simpson from Hokitika. Collis, a first term elected member of Tararua District Council, will contest the district mayoralty in the local body elections on October 8. Tracey is passionate about dairy farming, business viability and community resilience. She is a first term District Councillor with numerous portfolio...

HMC NEWS: Maternity-cover position available with HMC!

If you're up for a PR challenge and love variety, let's talk! HMC has a maternity cover position available from 1 July 2016 to 15 March 2017. We require a mid-level, all-rounder to manage one of our team's largest accounts. You'll sit within the client's leadership team 28 hours a week, providing advice on all aspects of communications – both internal and external. You'll be providing comms advice... AND getting your hands dirty doing the work. You could be advising the CEO on an issue in t...

CLIENT NEWS: Dairy Woman of the Year Finalists

Three finalists for the prestigious Dairy Woman of the Year have been announced by the Dairy Women's Network. They are Westport based Landcorp business manager Rebecca Keoghan, Central West Coast dairy farmer Renee Rooney and Waihi based LIC farm solution manager Michelle Wilson. Dairy Women's Network chief executive Zelda de Villiers said judges had a hard time selecting the finalists for the fifth annual awards. "Our nominees personify all that is good about the many and varied roles wom...

CLIENT NEWS: Farmers lent a helping hand

Rural businesses are responding to the plunging dairy payout by offering nearly 30 dairy farming women two-day passes to the Dairy Women's Network annual conference in Hamilton. Dairy Women's Network chief executive Zelda de Villiers said the rural businesses that serve the dairy industry had bought the tickets to offer in competitions. "This is an example of the conference theme United to Succeed in action," de Villiers said. "Rural support businesses have bought thousands of dollars' wor...

CLIENT NEWS: New Tetra Pak office opens at Waikato Innovation Park, Hamilton, NZ

New Zealand Prime Minister, The Rt Hon John Key, today officially opened a new office for Tetra Pak, the world's leading processing and packaging company, at Waikato Innovation Park in Hamilton. The Prime Minister unveiled a plaque at the purpose-built facility in front of an audience of VIPs and Tetra Pak staff. The Prime Minister was joined at the ceremony by Her Worship the Mayor of Hamilton, Julie Hardaker, together with Waikato Innovation Park Chairman, Earl Rattray, and Tim High, Tetr...

Dairy Women’s Network appoints new board representative

Te Kuiti dairy farmer Alison Ferris has become the first Dairy Women's Network regional convenor to be elected to the organisation's board. Ferris, who with her husband Nick farms 500 dairy cows at Rangitoto between Te Kuiti and Otorohanga in the King Country, will attend her first board meeting in April. Her election follows the suggestion that one of the network's more than 70 regional convenor's should serve on the board to represent members. "A working group of convenors came together and...

Fast growing Waikato firm goes international

One of the Waikato's fastest growing companies has expanded into Canada. Waikato Innovation Park based LayerX Group, who consistently appear in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and are award winners in the NZ Fast 50, is offering its vGRID stack of high performance cloud services in Canada after building its own server platforms in Calgary and Vancouver where it has staff. "We already have some good traction in the Canadian market but it is early days, and a big market," said LayerX Group c...

Two new faces at Hill Labs’ Food and Bioanalytical sector

Food and bioanalytical clients of New Zealand's leading analytical testing laboratory, Hill Laboratories, will be working closely with some new faces, following two recent company appointments. Sam Marengo and Ili Tulagi have been appointed as key account managers within Hill Laboratories' Food and Bioanalytical sector. Together the women travel the country to liaise with Food and Bioanalytical clients. "In short, we guide clients on the best testing to meet their needs. Key industries for u...

Discerning renters put the squeeze on supply of Hamilton rental properties

Lodge City Rentals General Manager, David Kneebone, says there's been a noticeable shift in Hamilton's rental market with the city's renters now prioritising quality over price. "For years Hamilton renters have typically had a value conscious mind set. When choosing a rental property, most renters were looking for the best deal within their chosen suburb. The quality of the rental property was a secondary consideration. "However, we've seen a considerable shift since the start of the year. Ha...

Vision College trains record number of male Early Childhood teachers

Men are lining up in record numbers to become early childhood teachers. They are swapping traditionally 'male' jobs, like a career in the building trade, to train as early childhood teachers at Vision College campuses in Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton. Early childhood education students David Mason and Corey Moore, 19, both set out to become builders but changed their minds to study Early Childhood in Hamilton. Caleb Goulsbro, 17, is studying alongside them. They are among six men tra...

Herd information helps farmers save money in tight times

Tough economic times are causing farmers to analyse every aspect of their business, right down to the performance of individual animals. That's why the Dairy Women's Network and LIC are working together to host workshops to help dairy farmers learn how to make better herd management decisions. Dairy Women's Network chief executive Zelda de Villiers said she was excited about the partnership with LIC, a first for the organisations. "Not only will those attending the module be given tools...

Riding the milk roller coaster

Dairy farmers are being urged to take a second look at their budgets against the background of a plummeting payout. Fonterra now is forecasting a $3.90 payout per kg of milksolids, $1.75 below the average cost of production, and there's fears that next season may be just as bad. Farmers, who have already gone through their budgets to make savings, are being urged to get together with one another and farm consultants, to see what else they can trim. Dairy farmers who move now stand more of a c...

New trustees appointed to Dairy Women’s Network board

Matamata and Atiamuri based dairy farmers Tracy Brown and Karen Forlong have been appointed to the Dairy Women's Network trust board. "My vision is to provide support to women in the dairy industry, in order for them to reach their potential," said Tracy who farms with her husband Wynn at Tiroroa Farms near Matamata. The Browns milk 700 cows producing 260,000 kgs of milksolids per year. They were 2010 Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Awards Supreme Winners, leading Tracy to become Regiona...

CTC Aviation seeking aspiring flight instructors

CTC Aviation has wished 14 flight instructors 'clear skies' in the last six months as they take up new airline jobs, so the Hamilton flight training organisation is launching a national recruitment drive. "In the past six months 14 of our experienced flight instructors have secured jobs with airlines," said Peter Stockwell, Chief Operating Officer for CTC Aviation in New Zealand. Such departures are part of the normal flight instructor career path and something CTC Aviation is proud of. "They h...

Waikato Innovation Park contribution increases by 66 per cent

The combined turnover of Waikato Innovation Park's 33 tenants has risen by 66 per cent to $300 million in the last year. The tenants of the Hamilton City Council owned initiative in Ruakura Road turned over a combined $300 million in 2015, the latest tenant survey showed. That figure was up from a $180 million turnover in 2014. Waikato Innovation Park chief executive officer Stuart Gordon said: "These numbers reflect the feeling of the place of growth and the opportunities that we have. A lo...

Rapid growth for New Zealand Educational Trust

Six years ago, and at just 24 years old, Rick Fourie's dream of owning and operating an early childhood centre (ECE) was just budding. Today the 30-year-old Waikato man is founder and managing director of Creators Educational Trust, a not-for-profit organisation which boasts roughly 600 kids and 60 staff in centres and home-based childcare programmes across the Country. Such swift growth in just a few short years spurred by someone so young is rare in the New Zealand early childhood indust...

Milestone for aircraft manufacturer

Pacific Aerospace has manufactured its 100th P-750 aircraft - a tough, reliable, high performing aircraft for the world's toughest environments. The P-750XSTOLIII, with extremely short take-off and landing capabilities, is the latest flagship model to take off from the Airport Road, Hamilton, manufacturer. The new aircraft will be on display at the Singapore Airshow, Asia's largest such event, from February 16 until 21. The P-750XSTOLIII has a long lineage. The first P-750 model was develope...

November was highest month in 2015 for million dollar house sales in Hamilton

Lodge Real Estate's managing director Jeremy O'Rourke, today said six (6) houses sold above the million dollar mark in Hamilton during the month of November 2015. This was a record month for sales at this level for 2015. "Throughout 2015, the Hamilton market has averaged just over two homes a month sold above the million dollar mark. Last month there were six. "That's a significant jump and is a good reminder that the Hamilton market is quite strong at both ends of the property scale –...

CTC Aviation grows to train aspiring pilots from 25 nations in New Zealand

Hamilton, New Zealand - When world-leading airline pilot training company CTC Aviation opened its Hamilton Crew Training Centre in 2005, it trained primarily UK and European airline pilots. However, with the recent recruitment of its first-ever Kosovo citizen, the airline training organisation now has 25 nationalities in training in New Zealand. "Our New Zealand Crew Training Centre has grown from strength to strength with new major airline partnerships being signed regularly over the past t...

Waikato Innovation Park given Government’s vote of confidence

The Government announced today that Waikato Innovation Park's contract to provide support and assistance to Waikato-wide small and medium-sized businesses is renewed for a further five-and-a-half years. From 2016, Waikato Innovation Park will add the Business Mentors NZ programme to its portfolio of services. This was previously administered regionally by the Waikato Chamber of Commerce. The Park is one of 14 regional business partners, which are centres of business development know-how and ...

Waikato farmer’s trust contributes $3 million to students’ study

36 of the region's secondary school leavers have each been awarded a $6000 scholarship to put towards their tertiary fees or accommodation costs at the University of Waikato or Wintec next year. Their windfall comes from the David Johnstone Charitable Trust, which awards scholarships to Waikato secondary school students embarking on a science or teaching qualification at the University of Waikato or Wintec. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the scholarship programme with over $3 milli...