Waikato Business News October/November 2022

Business awards celebrate success,
resilience and positivity
A veritable who’s who of Waikato celebrated
the winners of the annual Waikato Chamber
of Commerce Business Awards, supported by
Foster Construction Group, tonight at a glittering
gala dinner at a sold out Claudelands Arena.
Profile Group was the
crowned the overall
champion, taking out the
Foster Construction Group 2022
Supreme Award, along with the
Business Growth and Service
Excellence awards.
Chamber chief executive Don
Good says Profile Group represents
a family of powerhouse
businesses that form New Zealand’s
only integrated supply
chain for aluminium window
and door solutions.
“Profile Group is on a journey
to redesign how they do
business, how they manufacture
even more efficiently, how they
reimagine and repurpose waste
streams, regenerate the natural
world around us and enable
their people to realise their full
potential across all facets of the
businesses.
“Their success is driven by
an excellence of service ethos.
Their structures, processes,
Elevate makes creative careers more accessible
Council building,
museum closed immediately
Waipā District
Council has evacuated
the Te
Awamutu Museum and
an adjacent staff building
following a seismic assessment.
Chief executive Garry
Dyet made the evacuation call
recently, following a report
which shows the building is
at 20 per cent of the National
Building Standard, with a
Grade D building rating. In
the event of an earthquake,
Grade D buildings represent
a risk to occupants between
10-25 times that expected for a
and more importantly – people
– set the standard for service
excellence both nationally and
internationally.”
Judges said Profile Group are
world class role models around
future vision, long-term strategy,
innovation and product design,
operational execution, ongoing
commitment and an ethos
of genuine care for the people,
community, Aotearoa and the
environment.
MilktechNZ’s Gustavo
Garza was named CEO of the
Year. MilktechNZ is a leader in
designing electronic milking cup
removers with future-proof technology
and accessories for herringbone
and rotary cow sheds.
MilktechNZ also took out the
Innovation Award.
Judges said Gustavo’s entrepreneurial
spirit, his energy and
passion for the business that
he has created, and the way he
spoke of the team who have
new building.
Dyet said the seismic risk
issues were discovered when
council was looking at doing
some work to replace the roof
and windows.
“The issue was identified
then and on the basis of health
and safety, I made the call to
evacuate the building; I was
simply not prepared to put any
staff member or any member
of the public at risk.”
Around 78 staff across the
council’s service delivery and
community services team work
in the building, but not all at
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2022
joined him on his journey, was
inspiring. Gustavo sets aspirational
goals for his business and
sets high standards for himself
and his team, including around
values and behaviours. He shows
a warmth and care toward his
team that is genuine, and a satisfaction
in progressing and
enabling others that is humbling.
Aware Group’s Jo Mickleson
was named Emerging Leader of
the Year. Aware Group is a globally
recognised leader in emerging
technologies. It provides a
range of innovative solutions and
services that focus on artificial
intelligence, big data and Internet
of Things.
Judges said Jo’s focus on
keeping people at the core of
all decisions and actions is one
of the primary leadership traits
that her team greatly respect.
Jo has gone above and beyond
in building the capabilities of
the senior leadership team with
steady improvements being
implemented that have developed
empathy, business acumen
and broader leadership skillset in
the team.
Good says the quality of the
four Emerging Leader finalists
was exceptionally high with Jo
A
fresh,
learn-your-way
version of Creative
Waikato’s Elevate
Programme is open for applications
now - boasting the same
game-changing content, in an
even more accessible format.
The big difference being
Waikato artists can now access
the free, Elevate Creative
Careers programme on their
own time, online and without
the need to travel.
The previous version's barrier
of needing to allocate a full
day’s mahi to attending live
weekly workshops - has been
replaced with a suite of pre-recorded
workshops that participants
can work through in their
the same time.
“Our staff are used to being
very agile – Covid made sure of
that,” Dyet said. “We will be
able to house staff elsewhere
and some will work from
home for a short time while
we work this through. Except
for museum staff, I don’t
think it will cause too much
disruption.”
Dyet said the museum
would be closed until further
notice.
“Right now, our priority
is working alongside mana
whenua, the Office of Kingi
Mickelson competing against
managing director / founder of
(AGP) Architectural Glass Products
David Bunting, Young New
Zealander of the Year and Nau
Mai Rā founder Ezra Hirawani,
and Chiefs Rugby general manager
commercial Kate Rawnsley.
Good says it was great to be
back to the full complement of
600 people at Claudelands.
“The calibre of entries this
year shows the resilience and
Tuheitia and the Te Awamutu
Museum Trust Board to ensure
all the taonga in the museum
are taken care of. Along
with staff, that is my absolute
priority and we will work
through this carefully and
meticulously.”
“It is inconvenient and disappointing.
But our focus now
is working through the next
steps to see what kind of remedial
work is required.”
Council’s main building
across the road in Roche St in
Te Awamutu is not impacted
and is open as usual
positivity of Waikato businesses
as they emerge from the impacts
of Covid.
“It was wonderful to have
finalists and winners from all
over the Waikato. And while
international headwinds remain
strong, the Waikato is in a good
place with strong foundations.
“The region is booming. You
can see wherever you go that
the Waikato is establishing itself
as New Zealand’s economic
powerhouse behind Auckland.
Benefiting from its proximity
to Auckland, its strong farming
A full list of the award winners are as follows:
foundation, its booming tech
industry, strong construction
sector, superb educational entities,
its highly efficient and well
located logistics industry and the
major work being undertaken
• Business Growth Award (sponsored by Deloitte): Profile Group – AGP
• CEO of the Year Award (sponsored by University of Waikato): Gustavo Garza – MilktechNZ
• Community Contribution–Commercial (sponsored by SkyPoint Technologies): Discover Waitomo
• Community Contribution – Non-Commercial (sponsored by Montana Food and Events):
Waikato Hauraki Coromandel Rural Support Trust
• Emerging Leader of the Year Award (sponsored by Mitre10 Mega): Jo Mickleson – Aware Group
• For Purpose Award (sponsored by Trust Waikato): HMS Trust
• Innovation Award (sponsored by Company-X): MilktechNZ
• Marketing Award (sponsored by Chow:Hill Architects): Shift72
• Micro Business (sponsored by Sleepyhead): The Chopping Block Limited
• People & Culture (sponsored by Hamilton Airport): EAS
• Service Excellence (sponsored by Tompkins Wake): Profile Group
• Sustainability (sponsored by Wintec Te Pūkenga): MyNoke
• Supreme winner (sponsored by Foster Construction Group): Profile Group
Applications for the 2023 Waikato Chamber of Commerce Business Awards will open in April
Full covergae of this fabulous event will be featured in our next edition of Waitkato Business
News including stories from the winners, sponsers and guests!
own time, around their own
unique schedules.
Work full-time? Live
rurally? Recently graduated? If
a creative career has been just
out of reach for whatever reason
- time, money, space, stress,
covid - Elevate has the material,
resources and support to help
finally make it happen. Completely
free with no hidden fees.
All the artist needs is
self-motivation, wi-fi, to currently
reside in Waikato, and
their eyes set on achieving a
sustainable, financially viable
creative career.
“It has been awesome to see
how the ELEVATE programme
has continued to develop,”
Creative Waikato CEO Dr Jeremy
Mayall says.
“Our team has put together
a range of useful resources, processes,
information and support
that have been put into
action with Waikato creatives to
help take local creative careers
to the next level.”
Aside from the workshops,
participants can expect a professional
development plan,
monthly online hui, and support
from industry experts at
Creative Waikato.
“This next iteration of the
programme is all about accessibility,”
Mayall says.
“It has been designed to
provide additional flexibility,
where you can set your timeframes,
work to your schedule,
still get all the information and
resources, and become part of a
supportive community of creative
professionals as well. We
are excited to see where Elevate
creatives will take their work
next!”
All criteria, FAQ’s and
sign-up forms are on the Creative
Waikato website or at elevatecreative.co.nz.
Anyone on the fence is
encouraged to apply anyway
and the process should make it
clear. Participants can exit the
programme any time. Follow
@creativewaikato for future
updates and announcements.