Business Central February 2021

10 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Waikato Business Awards - Civtec Civtec keeps building on fibre roll-out Sue Russell Civtec has a team of more than 270 operating across the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Canterbury regions. “We made deliberate choices to offer a great service, use the right tools and meet the needs of our customer All these things have kept the work flowing.” to page 12 R enae Smart, co-founder of infrastructure construction company Civtec, knows the key reason why the company blossomed at this years Westpac Waikato Business Awards – a team of great people focused on delivering for our customers. The business began in 2014 and through a combination of timely opportunism and sound business practice has grown today to a team of over 270 operating across the Wai- kato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Canterbury regions. “We were thrilled to take out the Supreme title at this year’s awards, this is a real nod to our team that they are getting it right” says Renae. It’s not the first time that Civtec has shined at the event, with Renae taking out the Emerging Leader Award in 2018, a hint to the fact that this was a business intending on going places. Renae’s passion for the industry she operates in is apparent as she describes how proud she is of Civtec, a sentiment shared by co-founder and husband, Shane Smart. Like any starting business, Shane, a civil engineer, and Renae, who has a profession- al background in software and consulting, worked hard in the company’s formative years, seizing the opportunity when the na- tional fibre roll-out began. “Shane literally started out as a man in a van, there was massive demand and our busi- ness quickly expanded.. “We made deliberate choices to offer a great service, use the right tools and meet the needs of our customer All these things have kept the work flowing.” Understanding that fibre connections are not a repeat type of business activity, Shane and Renae know where the transferable skills and equipment are in their business.