28 | Northland Forestry Awards: Forest Protection Services Richard Loader ‘Forest Family’ making a difference Forest family - Nathan, Robyn, Kieran and Sully (Mike) Sullivan FORESTRY Twenty-two years ago Mike (Sully) Sullivan, took a rare drive into town from the coastal forest in the Wairarapa that he was managing for the Wellington Regional Council, and by chance glanced over the New Zealand Herald, setting in motion a life changing experience. The Herald’s ‘situations vacant’, advertised for an Operations Manager for Forest Protection Services (FPS), a recently established Silviculture and Fire Protection operation based in Whangarei, owned and operated by Kevin Ihaka. Following discussions with wife Robyn, the family picked up sticks and moved to the other end of the island, with Sully commencing his new role and a relationship with FPS and Northland forestry. As time has shown, the move was highly successful and in 2021, the Sullivan Family received the Forest Family of the Year Award, at the Northland Forestry Awards. While the 2021 awards evening did not proceed due to the impact of Covid, the judges noted that the Sullivan’s are celebrated as a family whose strong desire to do things differently has been the driver behind their success in the industry. Kevin, who nominated the Sullivans for the award, says Sully has had a very long, valued career in forestry and was one of the last woodsman to go through woodsman training at the New Zealand Forest Service. “It took courage to bring his family the length of the North Island to start a new job. After twenty-two years, Sully and I are like two halves. When Sully first came to work for FPS we both agreed that we were going to be different, professionalise the workforce, be dedicated to training our people and helping them grow. We’ve kept that vision the whole way through.” Sully has continued in the role of Operations Manager, and Kevin praises him for possessing a very good practical view of the world and being an excellent organiser of work and people. “He’s a guy who can organise fifty people in a morning. I watch the chaos in the morning as everyone arrives. There’s vehicles everywhere, chainsaws and fuel all over the place. But by 6.30am everybody’s heading out the door to the right place to do the right job thanks to Sully. It takes a special skill to get that done.” Over time the whole Sullivan family, including Robyn and their two sons Nathan and Kieran, have ended up playing key roles in the business. “We both agreed that we were going to professionalise the workforce, be dedicated to training our people.” “Nathan is the younger brother, and started with us straight from school about eleven years ago and is now our Silviculture Field Supervisor. Kieran is our workshop manager, and has been with us for thirteen years. “Both Nathan and Kieran recently received the Australian Emergency Medal from the Australian Government for services to fire-fighting, during the New South Wales fires. They also did an exchange for a summer, flying in a fire helitack crew in Ontario.” Since coming to Northland, Robyn gained qualifications in health and safety, taking on the role of health and safety coordinator at FPS, along with administration and training support roles. Kevin says the Sullivan’s nomination for the Forest Family of the Year reflects their collective dedication to the business. “We employ a lot of families within our business, but the Sullivans all share the same values around the business. They treat it like their own, they really care about everything and the results. They’re first here in the morning and last to leave at night. Nothing is too much of a bother after hours. They really are part of the business. I think it’s also the professionalism that they bring, and they never let that slide. “It’s pretty special to have that kind of dedication, particularly with their boys coming through into those positions — it’s a privilege to have them. \FPS also won the 2021 Contractor of the Year Award, which Kevin says builds a great amount of pride within the team. “Winning portrays our business as a serious professional operator in the industry. It gets our name in front of a lot of people. “It builds trust and recognition when people are looking to work in the industry, and as a business that they want to come to. We’ve always strived to be different. We want to make sure all our people are getting formal training, being paid well and legally, being treated well and that we provide work for people all year round.”
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