46 | Kenai T T Richard Loader Firm committed to positive change Complementing Kenai’s success at the CCNZ awards, the young company was also a finalist in Auckland City Council’s Amotai Supplier Diversity Awards 2024, which recognised performance in a number of projects undertaken with Auckland City Council. CONTRACTING Auckland-based civil construction company Kenai Ltd may be the new kid on the block, but its presence is already being felt within the industry, with acknowledgement at the Auckland CCNZ Hynds Construction Awards. Kenai was named Finalist in the Under $1M category for its work on the Woolworths Ponsonby: Sewer Damage Maintenance Repair project, for which it was also awarded Highly Commended. Cadet Keana Teinakore was named Finalist in the Women in Contracting Category. “Our success at the awards has set a foundation for Kenai that we’ve undertaken some challenging projects, approached them with a mindset to work with the client and successfully deliver within tight timeframes,” says Kenai’s managing director and founder Caleb Male. “The Woolworths’ project was quite challenging technically and logistically. It was a three-week project and the store had to remain operational with a constant stream of logistics trucks supplying the store. The area is also multi-tenanted, so we also had to manage noise levels and our own traffic movements. Stakeholder management and keeping the store BAU was key to the project’s success,” Caleb says. Keana Teinakore started with Kenai as a cadet bid writer about 18 months ago and quickly demonstrated a talent for the role. Caleb says her talent was also put to use developing an application and presentation for Air New Zealand’s Ka Rere accelerator programme. “Out of 250 applications, Kenai was one of three businesses that were selected to take part in the programme, and that was in no small part due to Keana’s skills.” Complementing Kenai’s success at the CCNZ awards, the young company was also a finalist in Auckland City Council’s Amotai Supplier Diversity Awards 2024, which recognised performance in a number of projects undertaken with Auckland City Council. An environmental scientist by profession, equipped with a Masters degree, Calab established Kenai Ltd as a proudly Māori-owned, Amotai-registered civil construction company in early 2021, born from the desire to do good in the environment, and improving the land and waters in which we live, work, and play. “Civil construction in general is reasonably destructive, and while we fix things and build nice shiny things, I believe we can do that better. We’re guided by Environmental Social Governance (ESG) principles, and committed to using our position to drive positive change for the people of New Zealand. Our approach to ESG is not just a strategy, it’s part of our identity.” Over the three years Kenai has been operating, it has grown from just Caleb to now encompassing team members in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson, and Central Otago. “Our current model is that we subcontract a lot of our projects, but as we grow we will be looking to take more of that work on internally. Currently, we have 10 full-time permanent employees, with another 15 subcontractors employed on a fractional basis making up five full-time equivalents. T “hat approach enables us to employ highly skilled people, and scale up and down in terms of hours as required. We have really focused on getting our senior management and foundation in place, so that our business processes and systems enable us to grow into bigger projects and a higher head count.” Caleb says the success of Kenai is forged around its vision, attracting people who believe in its purpose and who are happy to jump on board and grow with the business. “While I have this vision of being a 100-year company, I won’t be doing that on my own. It will require other people to get on our boat to keep navigating in the right direction, with a shared belief that the industry is lacking in a social and environmental lens. We will be at the forefront of that and show others how it will be done.” CONCRETE SPECIALISTS 25 years of experience in the concrete industry. We provide services all over New Zealand. Residential Commercial Driveways Repairs Parking Foundations Civil works Concrete Grind Polish PROUDLY SUPPORTING KENAI LIMITED 027 506 8236 www.swcrete.co.nz swcrete.nz@gmail.com PROUDLY SUPPORTING KENAI LIMITED Connect with us for all your personal and business insurance needs. dawson.co.nz | 0800 32 00 32
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