Waikato Business News November/December 2018

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS November/December 2018
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New initiative seeks
Waikato businesses to
join together for good
A new initiative called The Good Collective
will launch in Waikato in March 2019.
Businesses from across
the region are joining
up to be a part of an
organisation aiming to supercharge
the impact of the local
not-for-profit sector. However,
more companies from a wide
range of business disciplines
are still being sought to join.
The Good Collective was
formed earlier this year following
consultation with
Waikato charities and not-forprofits.
Its aim is to lift the bar
on organisational effectiveness
and long-term sustainability
among the charitable
and not-for-profit sector.
The New Zealand-first
initiative is the brainchild of
Annah Stretton. She’s provided
funding and resources
during the start-up phase of
the charity through the Annah
Stretton Foundation.
The Good Collective is
governed by local business
leaders who have joined Stretton
on the board, including
David Hallett, Heather Claycomb,
Julie Hardaker, Meleane
Burgess, Sue Pairaudeau
and Tony Hope.
Stretton said: “The vision
for The Good Collective is
to connect the charitable sector
with top notch service
providers to raise the bar on
their overall effectiveness and
impact in the community.
“Today there are many
thousands of charities and
not-for-profits operating in
Waikato which collectively
contribute millions to our
regional economy. The challenge
many have, however,
is their need to access quality
business advice and services at
a reasonable cost to take their
operations to the next level.
That’s where we come in.”
The Good Collective’s aim
is to move Waikato’s charities
and not-for-profits from
surviving to thriving with the
selection, provision and support
of essential business services.
“From now through to our
launch in March, we are signing
up businesses who want
to join us in being part of The
Good Collective and offering
their services to the not-forprofit
sector.
“And it’s important to
understand, we aren’t asking
for a handout. Our board
members are firm believers
www.nmmedia.co.nz
that organisations will value
services they pay for, and
businesses all have a threshold
of what they can do pro bono.
Instead we’re after a special
not-for-profit rate that makes
sense for both the givers and
the receivers.”
The Good Collective does
not profit from the business
services provided by members,
nor will it take a management
fee. It is currently
working to gain grants and
other sources of sustainable,
long-term funding for the
organisation.
Stretton said the goal of
The Good Collective is to
assist 50-100 charities and
not-for-profits in its first year
of operation.
“By connecting charities up
with quality business support,
we want to see organisations
complete capability-building
projects, address and mitigate
crisis management issues or
partner with one of our service
providers to gain ongoing
business advice and services.
Any of these sorts of outcomes
will drive up the quality
of operations and therefore
count as a success.”
Businesses can register
their interest in joining The
Good Collective by emailing
info@thegoodcollective.org.
nz.
BTW Regional
Manager brings
wealth of experience
With wide-ranging experience in both private sector
and local government, the new Waikato Regional
Manager of BTW Company’s Hamilton office comes
with the perfect background for the job.
That gives Hamilton man Jason Cargo
huge insight across the consultancy’s
development sector, which
is crucial to the engineering, environment,
surveying and planning firm’s work.
Just over a month in, he is relishing
the role, particularly valuing the firm’s
values around its people and the community.
The BTW tag line is “Making it
happen” which puts the client at the centre
of business.
He enters the business at a time of
growth as the 45-year-old New Plymouth-based
firm builds its Hamilton office,
which is at 11 professionals currently.
Part of his job is to grow staff numbers
as well as use his formidable contacts to
build the range of work through valued
relationships and delivery.
“What I like here is we’ve got a good
range of services right across the board.
We’ve got Taranaki as our support network
(58 staff) and they do come and
work up here quite a bit but it’s good to
provide the bulk of services out of here.”
Ultimately, the building at 517 Anglesea
Street will be able to hold about 25
staff with office space also tenanted. Jason
values the statement that BTW made
in choosing to buy, rather than rent, when
it expanded into Hamilton almost two
years ago.
It spent considerable money in creating
architect-designed offices with apartment
living upstairs to cater for staff from
Taranaki.
“It’s interesting the journey of BTW
and where they went - they looked at
various places but I think the fit of Taranaki
with Waikato is good as both are in
Chiefs territory.”
The Waikato office is currently looking
for local skilled professional staff. Jason
himself is a Registered Professional Surveyor,
but his work now will be largely
on the management side as he takes lead
roles in the large subdivisions.
Work on the books at the moment includes
land developments in Waikato and
beyond including Ngāruawāhia, Rotorua,
Raglan and Morrinsville.
“Typically, we’re offering the complete
development service, but are flexible
to be part of a team and even offering
services in land contamination, asbestos
and fresh water ecology which are high
profile today.
“Developers require expert planning
advice well in advance of seeking council
consents in a complex world of changing
planning rules.
“These services are key to unlocking
investment value along with innovative
drone and scanning technology that provides
valuable base data of land/building
form for feasibility assessment.”
Key services are land title/topo/building
setout surveys, structural design for
new or existing buildings, geotechnical
testing of ground for proposed development
and civil engineering design of
roads, services and expert knowledge
in stormwater retention and quality
outflows.
The BTW team looks to support wellplanned
developments which will provide
additional housing and make significant
contributions to the community.
After a Post Graduate Diploma of
Management Studies Jason won a Major
Developments Case Leader position,
which was partly about building relationships
with the development community
and also looking after large city projects
at Hamilton City Council.
“The role was fantastic. I ran successful
developer/consultants forums to inform
that sector of changes or celebrate
Jason Cargo
successful projects, so had a connection
with that community.”
That was followed by a stint as a Key
Account Manager providing services to
the city’s important businesses.
In both roles he could see the momentum
in Hamilton, particularly the development
of the central city with the move
towards apartment living, greenfield
growth of the industrial area in Te Rapa
and Ruakura and duplex infill housing
around the city.
“It was fantastic to see how the city
was growing.
The big challenges into the future will
be around improving water quality, transport
options, providing affordable housing,
quality amenities along with council
investing in core infrastructure.”
Jason is enjoying the nimbleness of
working in a mid-size private firm, after
his seven years with Hamilton City Council
and before that with global multidisciplinary
firm Aurecon.
“I’m really excited about the future of
the Waikato and that’s partly why I decided
to come back into the private sector.”
He was struck by a description he came
across after starting the job, in which the
company outlined its approach.
“BTW is a family orientated business
with a passion for supporting regional
growth whilst giving back to the community,”
it said.
Jason says: “I saw that and I thought,
yeah, that resonated with me. Everything
is about relationships, it’s all about people,
and people having trust in you.”
Jason walks that talk: he has had governance
experience with the Waikato Environment
Centre Trust (now Go Eco),
is currently on Eastlink Tennis Trust and
has been an executive of the Waikato
Property Council.
He has recently been voted onto
the board of the Waikato Chamber of
Commerce on the same day he started
with BTW.
“So I got to tick that off, one of my
KPIs.”
Jason is a competitive sportsman from
playing top football with Hamilton AFC,
Waikato tennis representation, national
senior tennis titles and playing in two ITF
world senior tennis champs.
“Confidence from sport rubs off into
your professional work as well.”
But the most meaningful of them all
for him has been his involvement as a
volunteer with Red Cross.
He has helped four refugee families
settle in Hamilton. “That’s probably one
of the richer experiences I’ve had.”
All that experience puts him in good
stead in his new role at BTW, in a company
that he says has a good purpose, valuable
staff and a reputation to deliver successful
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