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Whanganui teen excels in agribusiness with help of scholarship

Whanganui student Hope Mauchline has been awarded a $3,000 scholarship from Perrin Ag Consultants Ltdto support her study towards a Bachelor of AgriCommerce at Massey University. Hope (18) is currently in her second year of extramural study, majoring in farm management. The scholarship will contribute to her course fees for 2020, with an opportunity to undertake practical work experience at one of Perrin Ag’s offices. Hope finished correspondence school at the tender age of 16 and was awarded ...

Hill Laboratories acquires water quality monitoring software Hilltop

Hill Laboratories has acquired New Zealand-based environmental management software Hilltop, used around the country as a water quality monitoring tool. Hilltop is used by most regional councils around New Zealand, as well as electricity generators and environmental consultants, to manage data related to water quality and quantity. CEO of Hill Laboratories, Dr Jonno Hill, says that the acquisition of Hilltop demonstrates the importance the company places on the water quality monitoring market. �...

Adapting to an online-first world in the age of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the business world upside down, changing consumer habits literally overnight. As brick-and-mortar shops have had to temporarily shut down during lockdown, the need to adapt and survive has never been greater as consumers have no choice but to shop online. A lot of businesses have had to reinvent themselves quickly and start or ramp up their online presence to offer their goods or services, often with little or no experience with e-commerce trading. This shift is...

Hill Laboratories acquires laboratory drug analysis business from TDDA Omega Laboratories

Hill Laboratories, New Zealand’s largest privately owned analytical laboratory, has purchased the laboratory testing assets of TDDA Omega Laboratories. The sale encompasses all processes, technologies and equipment from TDDA Omega Laboratories. The sale transitions The Drug Detection Agency’s (TDDA) critical laboratory testing services to a trusted partner in Hill Laboratories, and as part of the deal, the company becomes TDDA’s preferred lab supplier for drugs in urine testing. Hill Labo...

Hamilton real estate industry experiencing severe shortage of housing stock

Lodge Real Estate’s managing director Jeremy O’Rourke, says that while activity in the housing market continues to flourish, the industry is being held back by a shortage of new listings and rental stock. “We continue to see multiple offers on properties, and filled an entire auction room of 60 people this week with buyers for just one property, followed by eight other busy auctions. “This extreme buyer competition is keeping prices steady and strong, with first home buyers active and in...

Coronavirus – get your communications right

I think we all hoped New Zealand wouldn’t be hit by Coronavirus (Covid-19) again, but it has infiltrated our shores once more.  Auckland region is in Level 3 and the rest of the country in Level 2, which means we will all be working a bit differently with tighter regulations around social distancing. Here’s a reminder from a blog post we did in February on how to get your ‘covid comms’ right as your business navigates its way through: 1.       Follow th...

Working with the media in Covid-19 times

If you’ve kept up with the media news since early 2020, you’ll know that the landscape across print, online and broadcast media has changed considerably. We've experienced the closure of Bauer Media in April which spelled end of many treasured lifestyle publications (although some are on their way back!), the end of Radio Sport, and redundancies and reshuffles for numerous other sports journalists. There’s also been the loss of 200 jobs at NZME and 130 at Mediaworks, and together these hav...

Social procurement to help level playing field for Waikato Māori, Pasifika businesses

Te Waka is leading an initiative aimed at establishing supplier diversity practices within Waikato organisations.  Known as ‘social procurement,’ this will lead to more goods and services being bought from the region’s businesses owned by Māori and Pasifika people. Te Waka CEO Michael Bassett-Foss says that while ‘buy local’ is top of mind for most businesses in the current economic climate, this initiative goes one step further. “Social procurement is a priority outlined in t...

Government contributes $8.2M to Kōpū marine servicing and business precinct

Te Waka CEO Michael Bassett-Foss says today’s funding announcement by Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones will allow the Thames-Coromandel district to take advantage of a growing marine servicing industry, creating jobs and significant economic growth for the area. The proposed Kōpū marine servicing and business precinct has been given funding of $8.2 million from the Government’s $3 billion ‘shovel ready’ fund set aside to kick-start the country’s post Covid-19 economic recovery. Th...

Tokoroa Trade Training Centre receives $10.84M in funding for centralised facility

Today’s announcement by the Government is a boost for education, training and talent retention in South Waikato, says Te Waka CEO Michael Bassett-Foss. The planned upgrade to Tokoroa’s Trades Training Centre will receive $10.84 million in funding from the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund, which bolsters the $3.06 million already fronted by Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, South Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT) and the South Waikato District Council (SWDC). The purpose-built Trades...

How the PR industry is changing and adapting in 2020

Watch the video below where our Director Heather discusses changes afoot in the PR and communications industry, and how we are adapting and moving forward with our clients....

Sport Waikato signals transformational change to get 75% of Waikato active

Sport Waikato announced today it will make a transformational change within the organisation with the goal of increasing its impact in the Waikato community.  Research shows that only 54% of Waikato adults are regularly active in a way that positively impacts their health, but it also shows that 73% of them have a desire to do more.  With this in mind, Sport Waikato is aiming to fundamentally change how it operates to achieve an aspirational goal of getting 75% of the community active...

Create a culture of content for your business

Every business has a story to tell, knowledge to share and news about what is happening within the company or organisation. From a florist, to a lawyer, to a hotel, each has their own niche to discuss with their current and potential customers. Putting this knowledge and news down on ‘paper’, and publishing it on your owned channels (website, social media etc.), is a great way to inform and get potential customers over the line, especially if your goods or services require due diligence on t...

Experienced healthcare marketer joins Cannasouth to lead first products to market

NZX listed medicinal cannabis company, Cannasouth Limited has appointed experienced healthcare sales and marketing executive John Sanders as Chief Commercial Officer. Sanders will be responsible for developing and implementing marketing and sales strategies for the company’s first medicinal cannabis products. He brings to Cannasouth more than 20 years of commercial, sales and marketing experience, both globally and in New Zealand, with blue chip pharmaceutical and health supplement companies s...

Cannasouth joins forces with leading US cultivation company

Through its joint venture subsidiary, Cannasouth Cultivation Limited (CCL), Cannasouth Limited has entered into a service agreement with EAH Enterprises LLC, trading as Vera Cultivation in Colorado, USA. Vera Cultivation (Vera) is a US market leader in the production of high-quality cannabis product using world class and proprietary growing systems.  The agreement is for the supply of services to finalise the design of CCL’s cultivation facility, develop (licensed) operating systems and ...

Hill Laboratories expands viticulture testing capability with Vine Testing Laboratory assets

Hill Laboratories have expanded their viticulture testing capability with the acquisition of the assets of Vine Testing Laboratory (VTL), a specialised ELISA laboratory able to diagnose Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3). “We’re excited to expand our services available to the wine industry, adding virus testing to our existing Vine to Vintage testing service through this purchase,” says Hill Laboratories CEO, Dr Jonno Hill. An agreement to purchase the assets of VTL ...

What does the latest influencer marketing ruling mean for PR?

Over the past few years, influencer marketing has grown to become a key part of many brands’ social media and wider communications strategies, with terms like ‘micro’, ‘macro’ and even ‘nano’ influencers becoming commonplace. However, this rise has not been without some controversy on the part of both brands and the influencers themselves. Back in 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) released guidelines to better control and manage transparency around both native adverti...

Four New Zealand farmers lead the way in sustainable irrigation

Four New Zealand farmers have been selected as finalists of the inaugural Zimmatic™ Sustainable Irrigation Awards. The Awards aim to celebrate excellence in sustainable irrigation and encourage Australian and New Zealand farmers to share ideas for achieving sustainable freshwater management. The competition is run by agricultural irrigation systems leader,Zimmatic, with support from New Zealand Awards partners IrrigationNZ, Farmers Weekly, Vantage NZ and Irricon. It recognises farmers lea...

Hamilton real estate industry sees major shift in home buyer behaviour post lockdown

Lodge Real Estate’s managing director Jeremy O’Rourke, says buying and selling a home in New Zealand will never be the same again following the Covid-19 lockdown.  “We’ve had our first full month of home sales post-lockdown and the Hamilton market has seen a huge shift in buyer and seller behaviour.  And it boils down to one fundamental factor: Kiwis’ move to online living. “We all experienced how videoconferencing went from a novelty to a necessity.  Online shopping w...

Tight credit market creates funding challenges for property developers and investors

With New Zealand property developers and investors struggling with a tight credit market and overly-cautious banks, non-bank lending institutions are being called upon more than ever before to get development projects off the ground post-lockdown. Alpha First Mortgage Investments is one such non-bank lender experiencing high demand for funds. While the lockdown affected non-bank lending during the first half of the year, Director of Alpha First Mortgage Investments Scott Massey says the company...

Planning a journey in thick fog

Heather Claycomb In the early 90s I lived in Davis, California and worked 25km away in Sacramento.  The winters are similar to Hamilton: rainy, cool but not freezing and infamously foggy.  It wasn’t uncommon to drive to and from work in the dark at very slow speed, gripping the steering wheel for dear life on those foggy days.  I then moved from Sacramento to the mountains west of Denver where fog was also a common occurrence. Spring often brought huge snowstorms, and once the s...

Experienced property financier joins Omega Capital

Highly experienced property finance banker Noni Martin has joined Hamilton firm Omega Capital, in the role of Loans Manager. Martin is a seasoned property investment and development financier, most recently working as a partner in Corporate Property Finance at BNZ Auckland. Hamilton mortgage broking house Omega Capital is one of the largest regionally-based companies in its industry, which focuses on non-bank commercial lending.  Omega Capital services a nationwide need for finance and...

CRV launches one-stop-shop for herd recording and farm management

Dairy farmers can now manage all their herd records and data from multiple farming operations using just one tool, thanks to CRV Ambreed’s myHERD launched today. myHERD is the result of CRV’s partnership with leading farm software provider, FarmIQ, to develop the new herd recording and farm management application, which replaces CRV Insight. CRV Ambreed Information and IT Manager Andrew Singers says myHERD has been developed in New Zealand for Kiwi farmers. “The development of myHERD ref...

Quantec eyes global expansion into health and wellness industry with new appointment

Waikato-based Quantec continues to grow its business with the appointment of a new General Manager of Marketing and Sales, John Dawson. Mr Dawson brings over 30 years’ experience to the company, having held significant sales and marketing roles in the packaging industry working with the food and dairy sectors. “Throughout my career, I’ve always had a close association with the dairy industry,” says Mr Dawson. “My most recent role was as Global Marketing Director (Dairy) for packaging s...

New Zealand companies partner up on new software to improve contaminated land data management and analysis

Two New Zealand-owned companies, Entuitive and Hill Laboratories, have partnered up on newly-launched innovative software Evalu8, with the intent to improve environmental data management within the contaminated land sector through faster, more accurate reporting. Hill Laboratories is both New Zealand’s largest independently-owned analytical testing laboratory and the largest soil and water testing laboratory in the country, providing soil testing services to a range of organisations. According...