| 19 “The awards are really important, as they celebrate those companies that go the extra mile to encourage and promote their staff to acquire qualifications and progress in the industry.” T T Sue Russell Staff support integral to company’s success Odlum Group services a wide range of industries within the three waters civil infrastructure and civil construction sectors. 2024 CCNZ Awards: Odlum Group REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Morrinsville-based civil works company Odlum Group reached a milestone year last year, celebrating 40 years in business. That success has continued into this year with the industry recognising outstanding standards achieved at the Connexis Civil Training and Development Award, presented during the annual Civil Contracting NZ conference held in Invercargill in August. For Jennie Odlum Bale, daughter of founders Jack and Raewyn Odlum, the award is testament to the dedication the company puts into daily expressing its care and support of staff, who she says, are integral to Odlum Group’s reputation, forged over the decades. The company took out line honours in Category 1 – companies with turnover up to $10 million – against strong opposition. Judges noted Odlum Group’s commitment to going beyond the normal to create a strong workplace culture and nurturing team development through internal training. Jennie knows that her late father would have been enormously proud of this recognition and of what it represents about the business he worked hard to establish all those years ago. “The awards are really important, as they celebrate those companies that go the extra mile to encourage and promote their staff to acquire qualifications and progress in the industry. That’s always been a focus for us since Dad’s days.” Jennie says full credit for the award must go to one of the company’s project managers, Shayla, who has dedicated many hours to helping the crew pass qualifications. “She’s worked alongside them when they may have struggled with understanding the written question presented, but absolutely know, from experience, what the answer is. This can often be the case with staff working in the civil space.” Many of the staff have been loyal to the company for a number of years, something Jennie says comes down to working cohesively as a team. Today, Jennie and brother Mark, as co-directors, are responsible for the day-today operation of the business. Continually evolving, two years ago the company shifted the headquarters to a new site in Morrinsville, leaving the old site vacant. This prompted them to think of ways to make use of that space, and today a busy machinery rental and landscaping entity occupies the site, adding another string to the bow. “We had already established Odlum Hire at this time,” Jemmie says. “In Morrinsville there is a major housing development, Lockerbie Estate, so having the equipment to hire for developers and builders just made sense. Previously, businesses had to hire out equipment from Hamilton and now its right here on their doorstep. The aggregate side of our business has also certainly grown, so there’s plenty on to keep us busy.” Meeting the needs of customers, the landscaping business has also recently brought in native plants and shrubs, decorative rock, sleepers. “We do a weekly focus on one particular area of our hire business, which keeps customers up to date with what’s on offer.” Odlum Group services a wide range of industries within the three waters civil infrastructure and civil construction sectors. It concentrates on working in the Matamata, Morrinsville,and Hauraki/Thames areas, and has accrued significant experience working in civil works across several council regions. Jennie and Mark make a great team, Jennie says, with Mark being very much like their father, out there delivering innovative thinking and problem-solving on often very challenging projects. “I look after what’s best for the business now and going forward, looking after the numbers, the people and the strategic planning. We put our different strengths into the business and it works very well.” While Mum Raewyn has stepped back from daily involvement in the company, Jennie says she’s still there acting in a mentoring role. “Mark is also still progressing restoration of Dad’s first-ever truck, which we found and bought. It is our way of marking our history as a family business.” Waikato | Thames/Coromandel | Bay of Plenty All results guaranteed 100% 0800 268 632 surveyingservices.co.nz SUBDIVISION SPECIALISTS SITESURVEYSAND BOUNDARIES Check out our Google reviews SURVEYORS We guarantee our work LAND Hautapu Hire Ltd are proud to support Odlum Group For all your heavy machinery hire needs, contact: 027 473 1266 Thanks to a true passion for the drilling industry ADNZ provides honest, quality, reliable support to the drilling industry. ADNZ is proud to provide you with HDD tooling and drilling fluids from our valued partners. Providing you with the right tools for the right job anytime, every time. We're the specialists when it comes to all things drilling in New Zealand... 027 853 7456 john@alldrill.co.nz www.alldrill.co.nz John Familton
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