Business South July 2023

Volume 32 | Issue 4 | July 2023 www.waterfordpress.co.nz Anchored In Nelson’s Ground Anchor Systems is a leader in the field of specialty civil works.  PAGE 16

2 | Contents 20| Cherry picked The hills around Tarras in Central Otago are home to some of the world’s best cherries. 44| Golden progress Federation Mining’s Snowy River Gold Mine near Reefton is showing encouraging results. 74| Southern style Dunedin’s TGC Homes is providing modern inner city living options in the southern city. 44 74 20 These conditions are prescribed for the sake of understanding between the Company and its clients. Advertising is charged for on the basis of space taken up using a standard tabloid page. Actual space may be reduced during the printing process but this will effect all advertisers equally so no credit will be given for any reduction in size due to processing. The Company reserves the right to alter, change or omit entirely any advertisement or article that it considers to be objectionable or which may contravene any law. In the event of a failure on the part of the Company to insert advertising as instructed the Company may publish the advertisement at the first available subsequent reasonable date unless the advertisement features date sensitive material. Every care shall be taken to publish the advertisement in accordance with the advertisers instructions as to page and position but the Company reserves the right for whatever reason to place advertising in a different position and in doing so shall incur no liability whatsoever. Advertisers must advise Business South immediately of any error or omission in advertisements and shall work constructively to remedy the situation which in the first instance shall be a rerun of the corrected advertisement in the next available issue of Business South. Where advertisement proofs have been faxed or mailed to the client 48 hours prior to the nominated printing cutoff time acquiesce shall be taken as confirmation and acceptance. Corrections made by telephone shall be accepted but the Company reserves the right to decide whether a further proof should be faxed or mailed to the client. Accounts for advertising are due for payment within seven days of publication of the newspaper. Accounts not paid within this time may incur a penalty of 3% per month until the account is paid. Any debt collection costs incurred by the Company will be added to the account of the debtor. Views and opinions expressed in Business South are not necessarily those of the editors, Waterford Press Ltd or publisher. Business South welcomes contributions from freelance writers & journalists. All articles published at editors discretion. Business South accepts no responsibilty for loss of photos or manuscripts. #businesssouth #yourstory www.waterfordpress.co.nz   YMCA Christchurch �� 03 Warren and Mahoney Architects �� 04 Marian College �� 08 UCSA - Haere-roa �� 09 Aurora Energy �� 10 Genia �� 14 Ground Anchor Systems �� 16 Waimea Group �� 17 Ignite Wanaka �� 18 Freeman Roofing �� 19 Hortinvest �� 20 Optum Plumbing �� 22 Shackleton Building �� 24 Gore District Council �� 25 Fulton Hogan - Southland �� 26 Ballance Agri-Nutrients �� 30 Saavid Diving �� 33 Talley’s Group �� 34 Clutha District Council �� 42 Rangitata Diversion Race Management �� 43 Federation Mining �� 44 Birchfield Coal Mines �� 50 PW Engineering �� 54 Classic Gates �� 57 Custom Made Garage Doors �� 58 Contrax Central �� 60 Southern Furniture Movers �� 61 Mike Hurring Logging & Contracting �� 62 Steve Jones Logging �� 63 Clearwater Construction �� 64 Meadow Stream Styx Mill �� 65 Gibbons Developments �� 66 Mainland Capital �� 68 Sanderson Group �� 70 St Lucia Properties �� 72 TGC Homes �� 74 Absolute Homes �� 78 Tao Homes �� 79 Latitude Homes - Canterbury �� 80 Orange Homes �� 82 Trident Homes Christchurch �� 84 Trident Homes Wanaka �� 85 Westside Building �� 87 Ajax Building Contractors �� 88 Exceed Homes �� 90 Interior Construction �� 92 Gecko Interiors �� 93 Iconic Architecture �� 94 Walker Architecture �� 96 Sorted Architecture �� 98 Redcliffs Medical Centre �� 99 Summerset Group Holdings �� 100 Qestral Corporation �� 102 Mercy Hospital �� 105 Southlink �� 106 Belleknowes Golf �� 108 Empire Chicken �� 110 Night’n Day �� 111 OUR PARTNERS: Christchurch Office 112 Wrights Road, Addington, Christchurch Phone 03-983 5500 PO Box 37 346 www.waterfordpress.co.nz Queenstown Office 70 Glenda Drive, Queenstown 9300 PO Box 2581, Wakatipu MANAGING DIRECTOR James Lynch james@waterfordpress.co.nz CO-MANAGING PARTNER Chris Pearce chris.pearce@waterfordpress.co.nz EDITORIAL Editor Nick Gormack nick@waterfordpress.co.nz Sub-editors Paul Mein, Randall Johnston Journalists Ange Davidson, Kelly Deeks, Hugh de Lacy, Russell Fredric, Richard Loader, Kim Newth, Sue Russell, Karen Phelps, Virginia Wright RESEARCH & MARKETING James Anderson, Sam Dart, Chris Graves, Megan Hawkins, Colin Morais, Annie Patrick, Chris Pearce, Danielle Percival, Adam Shirra, Leo Smith, Alasdair Thomson, Jane Watson sales@waterfordpress.co.nz PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT General Manager Luke Lynch luke@waterfordpress.co.nz Graphic Artists Connor Gosnell, Anton Gray, Francesca Hildawa, Sophie McCleary, Liki Udam art@waterfordpress.co.nz CONTENT COORDINATORS Alissa Crosby, Ann-Marie Frentz, Josie Villa OFFICE AND ACCOUNTS Helen Bourne accounts@waterfordpress.co.nz Jill Holland reception@waterfordpress.co.nz Lyn Barlow lyn@waterfordpress.co.nz

| 3 T T Richard Loader ‘Big Box’ to provide a unique space YMCA’s new Christchurch facility will provide a range of spaces for a very diverse array of users, from babies to the elderly, cutting across all genders, cultures, and needs. DEVELOPMENT YMCA Christchurch Prominently located opposite Christchurch’s iconic botanical gardens on the corner of Rolleston and Cashel Streets, the YMCA’s new facility currently under construction will provide a range of spaces for a very diverse array of users, from babies to the elderly, cutting across all genders, cultures, and needs. The location has been a key driver for what was built on the site, says Y Christchurch CEO Josie Ogden Schroeder. ‘The Board have a desire to activate more community engagement with the central city and provide facilities and services that are easy to get to from wherever in the greater Christchurch area people reside, particularly young people, older adults, and people with disabilities.” Designed by Architects New Zealand and embracing a total floor area of 4000 square metres over three levels, the new facility is internally referred to as the ‘big beautiful box’ by the delivery team, says Josie. “We know of no other building like it — one that includes spaces for learning, artistic creation, recreation, and wellbeing. It is a big beautiful box with a lot of architectural ingenuity that creates a sense of space and light within.” The spaces include a black-box theatre with capacity to seat 200 people theatre-style and will be available for hire. There will be a licensed early childhood centre for the children of Health New Zealand Waitaha Canterbury staff, and a fitness centre designed with older adults and people recovering from injury as the core users. It includes a fulltime elite dance training academy for young people, and a fulltime ‘second-chance’ education centre for young people looking to gain school leaving qualifications, confidence and employment skills. There will be a physiotherapy clinic with sports doctor/podiatry sub-tenants, meeting spaces for the wider community and spaces for a broad array of other Y-delivered programmes such as holiday programmes and youth development, youth leadership, mumsand-babies pre-natal and post-natal classes. Along with office/admin space for Y staff, volunteers and Board, hospitality spaces will include a café and bar. A key design feature is the façade across the Rolleston Ave frontage — large windows with fins that captures light without creating glare on the interior. “The design has been carefully considered to minimise operating expenses, so it’s highly energy efficient maximising the use of the natural ventilation, solar gain and loss,” explains Josie. “With so many different activities going on inside the building getting the acoustics right was another key design consideration. Also, an important part of the brief was that the building feels like a Y, which is about community. We didn’t want all the activities hidden behind walls; we wanted any visitor to the facility to be immersed in the vibrancy of the activities going on without it being overwhelming or too noisy. There has been a lot of effort put into getting this balance right.” Through the Matapopore Charitable Trust, Ngai Tahu have created a cultural narrative based on the story of Tāne Mahuta — God of the Forests and Birds. Tāne Mahuta is an inspirational figure in Māori mythology, and was felt to be fitting due to the location and the importance of the whenua to iwi, as well as the link to the Ys core purpose. “Tāne was an inspirational leader with character traits of determination, caring, responsibility and service to his community. The way the building has been arranged is built around these ideas. The ground floor is themed around the forest floor — groundedness, connecting; the middle floor is themed around the branches of the forest — action, creativity, participation; while the top floor is themed around the over-story of the forest – aspiration, learning.” The new $40 milion dollar facility is due for completion in September this year, and will be officially opened in October. Delighted to support YMCA Christchurch and to provide RMA Planning Services for this exciting project. Contact Graham Taylor 03 943 4112 or 027 231 5164

4 | DEVELOPMENT Warren and Mahoney Architects: Te Kaha stadium Christchurch T T Kim Newth Te Kaha - ‘much more than a stadium’ T T to page 6 Christchurch was promised a new stadium in 2012 as part of earthquake recovery plans. In fact, the central city will soon have something much better: a multi-use arena, designed to open up a whole new era for sports, concerts and other events. With construction of the new $683 million Te Kaha multi-use arena now taking shape, anticipation is growing about what this new facility will bring to the city once completed in 2026. Project architect and sports and recreation specialist Matt Body, of Christchurch’s Warren and Mahoney Architects, says it is an exciting “It has been designed to be used through the week and will really help kickstart activity on that side of the city.“ time for all involved. Warren and Mahoney is part of the Kōtui consortium, which is delivering the design and build contract. Other members include Australian-based stadium construction experts BESIX Watpac, global stadium designers Populous and Mott MacDonald and local companies Southbase Construction and Lewis Bradford. “We have a very clear understanding of what each party brings and have developed excellent working relationships,” observes Matt. “It has worked really well.” Having been involved with this project since early 2021, Matt is thrilled that construction is now gathering pace, following site preparations and excavation works for the foundations. The long-awaited new arena will be impressive: at 232m long, 195m wide and 47m high at its apex, Te Kaha will have a 30,000-seating capacity and hold up to 37,800 in full concert mode. The strong fixed roof, partially made of lightweight metal and a durable, transparent material called ETFE, will span 31,500sqm. “Te Kaha will be a game-changer for the city. What’s really special is that it’s fully enclosed and that’s what enables multi-use; it’s not just for big games and concerts but also for conferences and e-sports. “It has been designed to be used through the week and will really help kickstart activity on that side of the city. It’s all about providing different ways to bring people together.”

| 5 DEVELOPMENT Warren and Mahoney Architects: Te Kaha stadium Christchurch The long-awaited new arena will be impressive: at 232m long, 195m wide and 47m high at its apex, Te Kaha will have a 30,000-seating capacity and hold up to 37,800 in full concert mode. Auckland / BOP / Christchurch

6 | ‘Much more than a stadium’ Te Kaha has been designed to give everyone a great experience. T T from page 4 DEVELOPMENT Warren and Mahoney Architects: Te Kaha stadium Christchurch For big sports events, Te Kaha has been designed to give everyone a great experience, whether it’s sports fans who just want to sit and watch or people who want to soak up the atmosphere with friends and family. “You’ll be out of the rain and weather and that brings an elevated level of comfort. The main raised concourse is on Level One. “You’ll be able to walk around while still being connected with the field of play and there will be cool places for people to gather and hang out. “You’ll be able to grab a burger or drink while only being a few steps from the action and there will a wide range of locally sourced food and beverage options available from pies to ice-cream and craft beer.” Over the past 25 years, technology has evolved in leaps and bounds. Te Kaha will be fitted with advanced sound and lighting and will offer technological convenience such as ‘click and collect’ on food orders. Considered acoustic design that aims to balance sound inside and out is good news for future gigs. Along with the big concerts, Te Kaha will be able to host mid-range gigs for up to 14,000 people. “That’s really important as it means we will be able to attract another category of performers that Christchurch has not been able to draw before.” The corporate area includes a large function room (1150sqm) and social terrace, with 23 corporate suites on the level above. On the next level up again will be another general admission level with city views and craft beer available. Warren and Mahoney has played a large role in most of the city’s earthquake recovery anchor projects, such as the Justice and Emergency Services Precinct. The practice also has considerable experience in sports and recreation design. Principal Richard McGowan assisted with the design of the then-new stadium at Lancaster Park some 25 years ago. “There is this immense experience and knowledge going way back. Richard and I are working quite closely together on Te Kaha. Some of our industry partners are the same as we had 25 years ago. Those strong working relationships have endured.” Wellington’s Sky Stadium is another prominent stadium shaped by Warren and Mahoney, whose team has also provided design services for the Western Springs oval, the redevelopment of Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, a proposed new Tauranga Stadium, as well as multiple aquatic and community sport facilities, including the 2026 Commonwealth Games aquatic venue in Geelong, Australia. www.faulks.co.nz 661 Buchanans Road Christchurch, 7676 P: (03) 325 7266 F: (03) 325 7366 M: 021 386 794 • Earthmoving • Siteworks • Demolition • Subdivision Development • Lifestyle Block Development • Underground Infrastructure • Roading • Driveways PROUDLY SUPPORTING WARREN AND MAHONEY ARCHITECTS.

| 7 DEVELOPMENT Warren and Mahoney Architects: Te Kaha stadium Christchurch Construction is now gathering pace, following site preparations and excavation works for the foundations. KSTRUCT LTD is proud to be working on Christchurch’s new multi-use arena This autumn is an exciting milestone for Kstruct Ltd as the team work hard to complete the ground floor in-situ concrete walls of the West and Northwest stands for Te Kaha Stadium, Christchurch’s new $683 million multi-use arena. These stands will contain the changing sheds, press rooms, gym, tunnel connections from dressing room to pitch and other key spaces. “To be working on a project of this size is an absolute privilege,” says Morgan Pugh, who founded this fast-growing company in 2020 after having worked in construction for over a decade for major contracting firms. “We feel proud to be contributing to such a landmark project for the city and I’m proud of our team for their hard work into getting us where we are. As a company, we are going from strength to strength.” Kstruct is working under contract for BESIX Watpac, the Australian-based multidisciplinary construction company in the Kōtui consortium of local and international firms delivering the design and build. This key anchor project for the city is due to be completed in 2026. The company’s operations director is Dave Pugh, Morgan’s father and a chartered member of Engineering NZ who joined the business in 2021, bringing with him a wealth of international experience on major projects. He says working on the Te Kaha multi-use arena reminds him of his experience with the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff many years ago. The home of the Wales national rugby union team, the Millennium Stadium has hosted many large-scale events throughout the years. “The Millennium Stadium turned Cardiff into an international destination and changed Wales too. It’s exciting to be part of this new multi-use arena project, as I believe it has much the same potential to change Christchurch and the South Island.” It has been a busy autumn for the Kstruct team, pouring concrete on a regular basis for the vertical in-situ structures to complete the first stage. Dave estimates that some 3,847 tonnes of concrete alone will go into forming vertical walls in the first stage of the west and northwest stands. Kstruct’s experienced team is focused on delivering quality results in a safe and timely manner with services spanning large infrastructure and civil engineering projects through to general building and concrete works across the South Island market. CONTACT - KSTRUCT LTD E: morgan@kstruct.co.nz or admin@kstruct.co.nz T: 027 249 9198 | www.Kstruct.co.nz Structural Concrete • Commercial Buildings Retaining Walls • Carpentry Works 027 249 9198 www.kstruct.co.nz admin@kstruct.co.nz

8 | Marian College T T Ange Davidson Ground-breaking school set to open The school is entirely housed within the warehouse and consists of two stories and 27 soundproofed classrooms connected by walkways and air bridges. DEVELOPMENT After a 12 year wait for permanent premises, Christchurch’s Marian College is getting ready to move into a state of art school retrofitted into the shell of a large warehouse. The ultimate in repurposing, the Catholic girl’s school is entirely housed within the warehouse and consists of two stories and 27 soundproofed classrooms connected by walkways and air bridges. The roofing in one corner of the building is peeled back for a large outdoor courtyard and an outside playing field is shared with St Josephs school, one of several contributing schools in the Main North Road area. Principal Mary-Lou Davidson says there was a genuine effort to repurpose and retrofit the warehouse and while the school’s structure is built in timber, you can still see the warehouse’s steel structure. “The main feature of this build is sustainability and innovative design, and our aim is to achieve a Greenstar rating. It’s a very clever use of space and while the classrooms are separate, there are operable glass sliding doors between some rooms to create flexible learning environments. The school has much greater capacity as a lot of areas can be used in many ways,” she says. “When we first visited the site with the architect and the project team, you could see the possibilities and how it could be repurposed for a sustainable rebuild of the school. At the time the former Foodstuffs distribution centre was the biggest in the South Island and following the spirit of Pope Francis’ advocacy for the care of our planet, we decided to repurpose the building rather than demolish it.” The warehouse site is across the road from Marian College’s brother school, St Bede’s and the contributing schools of St Joseph and St Francis of Assisi. After the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011, Marian College shared a site with St Bede’s for a year, with St Bede’s students attending school in the morning and Marian College students attending in the afternoon. It then moved to a longer-term arrangement with Christchurch Cathedral College on Barbadoes Street. “It was very gracious of these schools to site share with us, and we had only expected it to be for a few years. However out of the wait we now have an amazing new school. Building a new school is a once in a lifetime experience for a school and for me,” says Mary-Lou. “It’s a very clever use of space and while the classrooms are separate, there are operable glass sliding doors between some rooms to create flexible learning environments.“ “The school is earthquake resistant as the new structures are not connected to the warehouse’s outside walls. It an incredible use of space that is warm, light-filled and welcoming,” she says. The school is divided into six blocks covering administration and curriculum areas. The main feature of the school is a chapel which is at the heart of the school and the first thing seen on entering the building. Other facilities include a large covered sports court area, gymnasium and atrium areas. A wide set of Learning Stairs from the atrium provide space for students to work or socialise with plugs for charging laptops and phones, as well as access to the second floor. The 3.16 hectare site was bought by the Diocese of Christchurch in February 2019 and Proudly supporting the Marian College development We install structured cabling into Commercial Buildings, Businesses, Schools. Our other services include Fibre Optic Cabling, Security and AV Cabling. Free Quotes No Obligation Brent Richardson 0274 839 530 PO Box 2908 Christchurch Brent@kiwicoms.co.nz Ph: 381 5600 Heating Air Conditioning Ventilation 03 379 4832 | sales@beattieair.co.nz | beattieair.co.nz Beattie Air are proud to be associated with Marian College 55 Hickory Place, Islington | PO Box 16 385, Hornby, Christchurch 8441 Your experts in HVAC design build construction started in 2021 with a team from Armitage Williams Construction. A cooperative project group consisting of the Catholic Diocese, Catholic Education Office, Marian College, Sheppard and Rout Architects and Cequent Project Management has worked closely with the building company. “Armitage Williams has been fantastic to work with and they have turned our vision into a reality,” believes Mary-Lou.

| 9 University of Canterbury Students Association - Haere-roa Haere-roa ticking all the boxes Haere-roa offers a number of state-of-the-art facilities and venues that can host everything from functions, conferences, workshops and business meetings to large-scale concerts and festivals. DEVELOPMENT T T Rosa Watson The award-winning University of Canterbury Students Association (UCSA) building is offering an exciting new space in the Christchurch events scene, and providing a hub for students. Opened in July 2019, Haere-roa is the new base for the UCSA, offering a number of state-of-the-art facilities and venues that can host everything from functions, conferences, workshops, business meetings, concerts and festivals, no matter how big or small. The long-awaited multi-function building replaced the original UCSA building that was damaged in the 2010/2011 earthquakes. Haere-roa was built on the same site. The centrepiece function space is the Ngaio Marsh Theatre, which can seat 327 people seated and up to 1000 standing depending on the event’s configuration. This venue regularly accommodates some of Christchurch’s most popular theatre events, concerts, festivals and award ceremonies. Other function spaces include Dr BK Ngau Ti Kouka, Bentleys, The Foundry and the Room of Requirement, all with the ability to cater for events of different sizes. “Each space can be individually hired or hired as part of the whole building for larger-scaled events,” Hospitality Manager Janine Wagenaar said. “We’re a one-stop shop guaranteeing our clients the best event management service prior to, and during our hosted events and ensure we exceed all their catering and AV needs with our in-house caterers and onsite production team.” The in-house, award-winning catering team works with clients to develop a menu that perfectly fits any event and ensures guests leave raving about the food and service. As well as providing a top-class functions and event venue, the vision for the building had been to be somewhere students could gather, and this had been hugely successful, Janine said. “We are known as a student hub on campus.” “We’re a one-stop shop guaranteeing our clients the best event management service prior to, and during our hosted events and ensure we exceed all their catering and AV needs with our in-house caterers and onsite production team.” Along with The Foundry, there are advocacy services and “various spaces for students can just come during their break, when they need quiet time or need a space to study”. The name Haere-roa, that translates to the longest stream or the long wanderer and recognises the building as a space that hosts and welcomes people, was gifted to the UCSA by mana whenua, Ngāi Tūāhuriri. It is linked to the Ōtākaro Avon River, which flows past the UCSA site. Haere-roa embodies ideas of manaakitanga (hospitality) and whakapapa (genealogy, descent from people and land), which are central mauri (values) and Te Aranga (Māori design principles). Sustainability was at the forefront throughout the planning, design and construction of Haere-roa, providing plenty of light and sunny spaces throughout this event centre. The building is heated with renewable energy drawn from a ground-source heat-pump system. This pumps latent heat from the earth’s core throughout the building. The building has interior and exterior ‘Innowood’ cladding – a low VOC formaldehyde emission, recycled product. Landscaping entailed the planting of 5,782 native plants around the site in conjunction with the Christchurch City Council’s waterways partnership, improving the ecological health, indigenous biodiversity and value of local urban waterways. It has also incorporated ecological enhancements of native flora and fauna to ensure it is a place where respect for water, land and people are acknowledged. Haere-roa is already the proud holder of various industry and architecture awards. These include the Best Event 2020 (Band Together) Award (Tertiary Access Group Awards), the Best new/redeveloped building or facility 2020 Award (Tertiary Access Group Awards), the Education 2021 Award (Canterbury Architecture Awards), the Best Small Venue of the Year 2022 Award (EVANZ Awards), and the Best Live Entertainment Venue 2022 Award (HANZ Awards).

10 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Aurora Energy T T Richard Loader Investment in network paying off Aurora Eneregy supplies electricity to over 93,500 homes, farms, small businesses and large commercial operations throughout Dunedin, Central Otago, Wānaka and Queenstown Lakes. “Our role now is to ensure the network can provide whatever services customers want, and that is changing. Because we’re investing in long life assets, we have to make intergenerational decisions around how the network will be used.” Richard Fletcher T T to page 12 Aurora Energy is New Zealand’s seventh largest electricity network by customer connections, supplying electricity to over 93,500 homes, farms, small businesses and large commercial operations throughout Dunedin, Central Otago, Wānaka and Queenstown Lakes. A Council Controlled Organisation, owned by Dunedin City Council, in its present form Aurora Energy was established in 2017 following a demerger from Delta, the contracting side of the business. Chief Executive Dr Richard Fletcher says up until 2017 there had been a significant period of under-investment in the network, and that was one of the key reasons for separating out the business. “Since then, we have step-changed our investment considerably, investing $60 million to $70 million a year on the network, where previously it was $15 million to $20 million a year. “For the first three years in operation, we were addressing the backlog in under-investment and restoring the health of the assets, which we are now largely on top of. “There are significant investments being undertaken to upgrade the network to increase capacity to meet future demand, particularly in the Queenstown, Wānaka and Upper Clutha areas. “Our role now is to ensure the network can provide whatever services customers want, and that is changing. Because we’re investing in long life assets, we have to make intergenerational decisions around how the network will be used.” Industry awards provide the perfect opportunity for businesses to showcase their work within communities, and the extraordinary efforts made by their team members to bring extraordinary projects to life. Last year Aurora Energy won two of the eight awards available at the highly prestigious New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards, which recognises excellence and achievement across the energy sector. “We won the Network Initiative of the Year Award and the Community Initiative of the Year Award, says Richard. “Winning those awards was gratifying for the Aurora Energy team after three or four years of really hard work. We were also shortlisted for the Infrastructure New Zealand Community Outcomes Award.” Both awards were for Aurora Energy’s work on the Dunedin Harbour Crossing upgrade project. Six old lattice towers and overhead lines between Port Chalmers and Portobello were end-of-life and there was a choice between like-for-like replacement, or a more aesthetically pleasing, environmentally friendly and enduring solution. “The towers and lines were the first thing that visitors arriving by cruise ship saw on entering the harbour, and they were also a danger to wildlife. “So, we chose to remove the towers and overhead lines, and replace them with submarine cables. But it was the way we engaged with the community that I was really pleased about. “We engaged with the wider community including local iwi, local businesses, local community groups, and the Dunedin City Council and brought everyone along with what we were doing, seeking and adding their input. “The support that we got was gratifying, even though there were times when we disrupted power supply while doing some of the work. “So we share these awards with the commu-

| 11 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Aurora Energy “There are significant investments being undertaken to upgrade the network to increase capacity to meet future demand, particularly in the Queenstown, Wānaka and Upper Clutha areas,” says Aurora Energy Chief Executive Dr Richard Fletcher. Locally-owned and operated Aurora Network contractors. POWERLTD.CO.NZ Developing or subdividing your land?

12 | Community engagement Aurora Energy employs 160 staff across its three offices. T T from page 10 Aurora Energy REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT nity because their support helped make this unique project successful. Winning the awards was affirmation that Aurora Energy is doing the right thing, particularly with community engagement.” Since completing the project it has been complemented with tree planting on the island where the towers were removed, with team members joining the local community to plant natives donated by Aurora Energy. “It has been a great project involving a lot people across the community. I wish every project we did could be like that.” Aurora Energy’s community engagement with the Dunedin Harbour Crossing upgrade project showcases the company’s focus on being a customer/community focused provider of energy, with communication at its heart. Richard makes the point that customers want reliable power, but they also they want information when the power is going to go out, or if it goes out unexpectedly, they want to know why and when it will come back on. “The community wants to know that we’re acting in their long term interest, that there is oversight on what they are paying for their power and that we are operating efficiently. So our engagement with the community is ensuring that we keep the power on and that we communicate.” Attending community events such as A&P shows, being present on the ground before, during and after a project, writing directly to communities, people and businesses, and a new, more informative website about to be launched are all ways in which the Aurora Energy team engages and communicates with communities. “People have an expectation that power should be available one hundred percent of the time, but it can’t be. So the more we communicate the better.” Aurora Energy employs 160 staff across its three offices; Dunedin, a satellite office in Cromwell and a small Christchurch office established to assist with recruitment of staff with specialist skills. The diversity of roles includes electrical engineers, project managers, customer service staff, IT, finance, operations, human resources and people, health, safety and wellbeing specialists, and more recently sustainability and environmental staff. As Richard observes, like most businesses Aurora Energy needs to retain its people and attract new people into the business. “We have a graduate programme which runs each year, enabling graduates to move around the various areas of the business so that they can see what we are about. We place a lot of emphasis on supporting the development of our staff. We have an inhouse leadership programme which commenced late last year. We do staff surveys throughout the year to understand what our staff’s concerns might be, which we then aim to address. As a result of that we have introduced flexible working and we enable our people to work out of any of our offices. The younger generation of staff coming through want to know what we’re doing around diversity and inclusiveness, and our environmental and governance responsibilities. We take those very seriously.” AVON INDUSTRIES LTD 31 Pipiwai Road, Kamo PO Box 27, Whangarei New Zealand Ph: 64 9 435 1033 Fax: 64 9 435 2565 Email: avonind@callplus.net.nz www.avonindustries.co.nz Proud to support Aurora Energy • Production Engineering • Profile Cutting • Abrasive Blasting & Painting • Hot Dip Galvanising Christchurch Branch Ph: 03 323 4433 Cromwell/Central Branch Ph: 027 665 8956 Please contact us for a quote or a discussion to see how we can help your specific inquiry. • Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater • Deep Drainage and Dewatering • Site Works and Subdivisions • Civil Utilities including Power Reticulation, Poles, Gas, and Fibre • Structural (Pads, Retaining Walls, Structural Foundations for poles) • Traffic Management (Design and Implementation) • Trenchless Services • Hydro Excavation • CCTV Specialities include: for our future Building networks For all your electrical contracting and servicing requirements: 0800 768 9300 | electronet.co.nz Central Otago West Coast Tasman Taranaki Proud to Partner with Aurora Energy

| 13 Aurora Energy REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Last year Aurora Energy won two of the eight awards available at the highly prestigious New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards, 0800 188 897 centralprojects@4nes.co.nz www.nescentral.co.nz 20 Venning Cr, Cromwell Specialists in designing and building: ∙ Underground power for subdivisions ∙ Overhead power lines ∙ 400V & 11kV installations ∙ Power supply solutions ∙ Cable locating & Cable fault locating

14 | T T Kelly Deeks Past and future woven into Genia Genia employs over 100 people in the Tasman region and offers opportunities for qualifications or apprenticeships, and access to both internal and external training. Tasman: Genia REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Genia represents our future, our desire to succeed beyond our generation, and the aspiration to build partnerships that stand through time.” In 1870, Joseph Hewetson established a sawmilling venture on a corner of his Motueka farm and ran it with his children. Neither he nor they could have known this was the start of their family’s very long and successful association with timber processing at the top of the South. The Hewetson family was still farming in Motueka in the 1990s when they needed to diversify in order to sustain their expanding family. Mark Hewetson purchased Motueka Lumber Company (MLC), a small operation which manufactured pickets and timber componentry. Under his management, the company shifted its focus to processing low-grade sawn timber into high-value products. Through timber shortages in the 1990s, MLC diversified and increased its product offering, thriving by embracing technology and expanding its talent pool. In June 2021, 150 years after the first log was cut in a Hewetson-owned sawmill, Mark’s son Harvey, now managing director, with his two-year-old son by his side, and his father and his grandfather in the audience, introduced the MLC team to their company’s new identity – Genia. “The generational shift in the company is clear, but Genia means more than that,” Mark says. “Genia represents our long history with timber, the generations of the past, and the experience gained and passed on. It represents the new generation of people, our current team, and the motivation to grow and build on what we have. Genia represents our future, our desire to succeed beyond our generation, and the aspiration to build partnerships that stand through time.” Genia employs over 100 people in the Tasman region, and with a culture of continuous improvement, the company is seeking skilled people who can help them reach company goals. As a company, Genia in return strives to help their people reach their goals and build their knowledge and capabilities. Emma Nell, Genia’s People and Culture Coordinator, explains that in a competitive job market “we have to be a bit more creative about how we promote our employment opportunities”. Genia has worked with HainesAttract, a recruitment marketing agency, to develop their employment brand. “We’re not just promoting a job, we’re promoting Genia - our company culture and what it’s like to be in this workplace,” Emma says. In partnership with HainesAttract, Genia explored what their people valued about working there. One of the obvious benefits was the free firewood and rejects, with one team member building his entire garden shed out of timber at no cost. Aside from this, a four day work week, a profit-sharing scheme, and long service rewards are just some of the additional benefits available to the team. Hitting targets is always a cause for celebration at Genia, and whether it’s done by machines or people, a sausage roll shout is never far behind. Genia has a flexible approach and works with its people to accommodate their needs wherever possible. Whether it’s a side hustle that requires different hours of work, an extended period of leave for personal circumstances, or some professional development to help them achieve their career goals, Genia supports its people in various ways. Emma says there are leadership and advanced technical role career pathways for Genia’s people to move into, with opportunities for qualifications or apprenticeships, and access to both internal and external training. Genia has some exciting projects in the pipeline for both its people, products, and operations. 0800 436 755 10 Cargill Place, Richmond Onsite Forklift Compliance Specialists Celebrating over 30 years in business 100%New Zealand Owned & Operated Sales, Rental, Service & Parts Proud to support Genia

| 15 Starting his driving career 24 years ago in Motueka, then 12 years later buying his own transport company that contracted to Genia, Darryl Francois is ready to adapt his business in order to meet the needs of his customer as they grow. With one truck 15 years ago, Darryl Francois Freighting would bring in one load of timber once a week to Genia. Today, Genia sees Darryl’s trucks numerous times a day, bringing raw material in for re-manufacturing as well as picking up products for distribution. Darryl Francois Freighting has recently itted one of its curtainsiders with new curtains in Genia colours and graphics to showcase Genia products. Exceptional service guaranteed “This is a great form of advertising for Genia as this unit travels the country,” Darryl says. He says Darryl Francois Freighting has been on a phenomenal journey with Genia. “As a contractor, we’ve been able to watch their growth and grow with them,” he says. “Genia trusts that we are going to deliver their product in a timely manner and an immaculate condition. We have a great relationship, and if we have to adapt to accommodate their growing needs, then that’s what we do.” Getting new trucks is the simple part of the growth of a transport company and as Darryl concedes, it’s the drivers that harder to secure these days. He feels lucky to have PROUDLY SUPPORTING GENIA Tippers · Flat Decks Curtainsiders · NZ Wide 027 484 4989 Office 027 515 1587 accounts@dfflmotueka.co.nz some long serving drivers within his team, and says these drivers are e ectively the face of his company. Like any company, he relies on his drivers to help form and nurture relationships with new and existing customers. “When my sta can walk into the Genia o ice and sit down with the operations manager and general manager and talk about their plans for the weekend, that’s a relationship worth its weight in gold.” Working in conjunction with Genia and other timber re-manufacturing companies, Darryl Francois Freighting also helps carry the region’s seasonal crops, and the Tasman region has a very diverse range of crops that grow there. Hops, apples, kiwifruit, and pears are a big part of the region’s exports and of Darryl Francois Freighting’s work. “While the fruit cartage and hop harvest put pressure on sta and resources for a short time, we are proud of the fact that every apple and every bale of hops we carry is that farmer’s or grower’s livelihood, and we get asked back to do this year after year. “As a small company, we need to be approachable, adaptable, and above all else o er an exceptional service. We would like to think that our sta and ourselves have achieved this.”

16 | Demand drives rapid growth Ground Anchor Systems has grown quickly to become New Zealand’s leading contractor for difficult access piling, anchoring, slope stabilisation, and seismic upgrades. Tasman: Ground Anchor Systems T T Kelly Deeks REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT “One of the biggest issues is trying to find a balance of skilled staff who have a good level of technical ability before we can take on junior staff.” Specialising in expert geotechnical solutions for civil, construction, infrastructure, and maintenance projects, Nelsonbased Ground Anchor Systems, or Ground, has worked hard over the past decade to become New Zealand’s leading contractor for specialty civil works, including difficult access piling, anchoring, slope stabilisation, and seismic upgrades. Ground’s specialisation grew out of flood remediation work in Nelson in 2011/12, where the company in its former incarnation as Nelson Contracting completed land stabilisation and reinstatement work for EQC and insurance company projects. “The number of seismic and flood events we’ve had in recent times has increased significantly, so our workload started to increase as well,” says Ground managing director Nigel Wilson. “We started to focus fully on providing industry-leading geo stabilisation, hazard mitigation, and difficult access civil construction services.” Ground Anchor Systems has been expanding around New Zealand ever since, and now has an office and team of 12 in Queenstown. This team is currently working for Naylor Love on the multi-million dollar upgrade to the Skyline Queenstown Gondola, as well as piling and anchoring for the new arterial route into Queenstown. As demand for Ground’s specialist services continues to grow across the country, the company is seeking more practical people to join the team. “One of the biggest issues is trying to find a balance of skilled staff who have a good level of technical ability before we can take on junior staff,” Nigel says. “We’ve got to get that balance right. Of course, we’re competing against the mining industry in Australia for qualified drillers. What we find is we’ll train up staff then they’ll move to Australia because we can’t compete against the mineral industry. They tend to go to make money and set themselves up, and they come back to us eventually.” Ground has created a workplace where people want to be, and is proud to say 80% of its workforce have been with the company for more than six years. Ground operates under three fundamental values which create a safe and empowering workplace for its employees: democracy, access to information, and profit sharing. “These values mean each employee has input of all company decisions, access to all company information, and shares in Ground’s success.” Ground is also busy constantly upskilling its team, with the aim of always having someone to replace anyone who may leave, and giving every team member the opportunity to advance as far as they want to within the company. Ground team members have been to the US to attend specialist drilling courses, and this year one is going to Australia to gain certification in shotcreting. The tight labour market is putting Ground’s focus on to labour saving technology in its plant and equipment. “We are automating some processes to allow us to work safer and faster, and that also means we can upskill our team with technology,” Nigel says. “Anything that minimises the labour input usually requires a higher level of skill.” Ground and the civil contracting industry has taken the lead from the building industry and started to promote civil contracting in schools. igel says the likes of Fulton Hogan have been quite active in this space, and Ground is prepared to build on that momentum and promote some of the more specialised aspects of the industry and the opportunities available. Proud to be associated with Ground Anchor Systems Ltd Structural Steel Fabrication One Staff 1/68 Achilles Ave, Nelson P: 03 545 7063 P: 0800 178 233 (1 STAFF) onestaff.co.nz PROUD TO BE SUPPORTING Ground Anchor Systems Ltd

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