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HMC NEWS - From spare bedroom to award winning PR firm – HMC turns 15

What started out on a whim in a spare bedroom has grown into an award-winning public relations firm, helping companies across the country get noticed and gain respect. Hamilton-based HMC Communications celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Its founder and managing director Heather Claycomb says having the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives is what gets her out of bed every morning. “I love making a difference,” she says. “Life isn’t worth living if the world isn�...

HMC NEWS - Leading PR agency becomes a social enterprise and donates 100% of profits to charity

Hamilton public relations agency, HMC, announced today that it has become a social enterprise and is now donating 100% of its profits to charity. HMC director Heather Claycomb says HMC’s charity of choice is All Good Ventures, a New Zealand registered charity. “My husband, Rod, and I started All Good Ventures last year.  Through that charity we fund and mentor emerging social entrepreneurs who want to start a business and use that business’s profits to help people living in deprivatio...

CLIENT NEWS - Waikato region invited to feedback on wellbeing targets in upcoming community conversations

The people of Waikato are being asked what they think of a set of 17 wellbeing goals designed to help address the big issues facing the Waikato region by 2030. The Waikato Wellbeing Project, with oversight from the Waikato Plan leadership committee and led by WEL Energy Trust and Waikato Regional Council, is the first of its kind in New Zealand and is designed to create a more environmentally sustainable, prosperous and inclusive Waikato by 2030. The project will identify specific targets that a...

CLIENT NEWS - Waikato Innovation Park targets Auckland tech companies to make the move south

Hamilton’s Waikato Innovation Park has received resource consent to extend its size by more than a third as it seeks to lure Auckland companies to the growing Waikato technology hub.  Stuart Gordon, CEO of Waikato Innovation Park, said Innovation Park’s expansion provided immense opportunity for the Waikato region, Hamilton already home to New Zealand’s fastest growing tech sector.  “Our region has already produced globally successful companies working in hi...

CLIENT NEWS - Cannasouth expands with 60% strategic stake in Midwest Pharmaceutics NZ Limited

Cannasouth has today entered into an agreement to acquire a 60 per cent shareholding in Hawkes Bay-based Midwest Pharmaceutics NZ Limited for a purchase price of $1.32 million. Cannasouth Limited successfully raised NZ$10m in its IPO to develop and grow a sustainable medicinal cannabis business in New Zealand. Cannasouth CEO Mark Lucas says the acquisition of Midwest is a significant milestone for the company. “Together with the recent Cannasouth Cultivation Joint Venture, we have now implemen...

CLIENT NEWS - Waikato’s top business leaders gather to mark Te Waka’s first anniversary

Te Waka celebrated its one-year anniversary at an event on Friday alongside nearly 200 business and community leaders. Te Waka chief executive Michael Bassett-Foss, says he is pleased with what the organisation has accomplished in such a short time. “We have distributed $500,000 of capability funding from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and facilitated $5.6m of research and development funding from Callaghan Innovation to businesses in the region. A further $25m of research and development ...

CLIENT NEWS Exclusive deal cements Quantec’s long-term presence in China

An exclusive 20-year deal with China-based Holon has cemented Quantec’s long term presence in the Chinese market. This watershed agreement will see Quantec supply a growing volume of its Immune Defense Proteins (IDP®) product to Holon for use in its mother baby health and nutrition products. Holon is a premium distributor and a significant player in the Chinese mother baby supplement market – worth approximately NZ$4.2 billion. The immunity products channel within this market accounts for...

CLIENT NEWS - Happy 50th CRV! Industry comes together to celebrate

Celebrations are underway this week at CRV Ambreed as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, culminating with a special gala dinner tonight at The Atrium at Wintec in Hamilton. Earlier this week, more than 50 business and industry leaders joined the CRV senior management team and their Dutch executive colleagues from the Netherlands to mark the occasion. CRV chairman Peter Broeckx, chief executive Roald van Noort, and chief operating officer Huib Jan Kransenberg will also join more than 200 staff,...

CLIENT NEWS - New Zealand’s best junior pool players achieve top placings in World Championships

New Zealand’s best young pool players returned home last month with a suite of top placings from the VNEA World Junior Pool Championships, held in Sioux City, Nebraska. The team of 10 competed against just under 300 other junior pool players in the knock-out tournament that featured teams, doubles and singles competitions. In the singles competition, Mario Hildred, 18, finished second in the Under 21 male division, while Kieran Dempsey, 15, also pulled off an impressive second place in his fi...

PR TIPS - Tips for adding media as a communications channel

Proactively working with the media doesn’t make sense for every business.  But when it does, it’s important to ensure your media relationships are built and fostered properly from the very first contact with journalists. So, when does it make sense for a business to include media as a communications channel?  Generally, media relations is something your organisation should consider if you need to reach: Customers Good news stories picked up by the media can play a key role in helpi...

CLIENT NEWS - From student flat to international success story – Rocketspark turns 10

A bootstrapped Kiwi software start-up has succeeded where eight out of 10 IT start-ups fail, launching an international company from a student flat in Hamilton. Waikato-based website builder Rocketspark, has customers in 20 different countries, provides websites for many of New Zealand’s top restaurants and has recently attracted a growth grant from the Government’s Callaghan Innovation, for 20 per cent of its research and development. Rocketspark Director, Grant Johnson, says 10 years on fr...

CLIENT NEWS - CRV partners with the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust

CRV Ambreed has become a strategic partner of the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust(NZFET). The NZFET’s vision is for New Zealand’s farmers and growers to be recognised as global leaders in the stewardship of land and water. This stewardship involves balancing the environment, animals, plants, and people. The Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA) is the Trust’s flagship event. It is held annually to showcase the nation's environmentally responsible and profitable farmers, while provid...

CLIENT NEWS - Te Waka announces Business Growth Advisory Services for Ōtorohanga

Te Waka continues to expand its successful business growth advisory services, with the latest location in Ōtorohanga. The announcement from Waikato's regional economic development agency comes following the launch of the service in Te Kuiti in April this year. Based at Waikato Innovation Park in Hamilton, the advisory service operates a successful ‘hub and spoke’ delivery model, where advisors visit each district within the greater Waikato region to meet with local businesses to provid...

CLIENT NEWS - Rugby legends shape up for All Blacks’ curtain raiser

Training is underway at Anytime Fitness NZclubs across the country for some of New Zealand’s most accomplished rugby legends. Carlos Spencer and DJ Forbes are among a cast of Pacific Island and New Zealand rugby legends dusting off their boots and getting in shape for a good cause.They will feature in a special curtain-raiser ahead of the All Blacks v Tonga test match on 7 September in Hamilton.   The New Zealand Barbarian Legends will play the Pacific Legends. The mat...

CLIENT NEWS - Cannasouth harvests first crop of medicinal research cannabis

Cannasouthhas harvested its first crop of medicinal research cannabis from its purpose-built growing facility in Hamilton. Cannasouth founders Mark Lucas and Nic Foreman have been growing industrial hemp varieties outdoors since 2002. However, this harvest is significant because of the high THC (tetrahydrocannabidiol) and CBD (cannabidiol) content of the plants, which are grown indoors under tight security. Until now, Cannasouth has been conducting its research using raw high-grade THC-rich can...

CLIENT NEWS - Cannasouth announces significant cannabis cultivation joint venture

Cannasouth today announced a long-term strategic joint venture (JV) with Aaron Craig and his family (Craig Family Interests) to construct and develop a world-class cannabis cultivation facility in the Waikato. The JV will construct and operate a medicinal cannabis and hemp cultivation and production facility, which will service and supply Cannasouth’s production requirements. Construction is expected to start before Christmas and be fully operational by the mid-2020. The JV is structured as a...

CLIENT NEWS - Marco Teutscher crowned the 2019 US Open 10-Ball Champion

Marco Teutscher has won the 2019 US Open 10-Ball Championships in Las Vegas, taking out top players from around the world in the biggest pool competition win ever for a New Zealand player. On his way to the top, Teutscher took out world class players such as 2018 Mosconi Cup MVP Skyler Woodward; multiple world title holder Shane Van Boening; three-time World 9 Ball Champion and five-time World Straight Pool Champion,Thorston Hohmann: Filipino professional Jeffrey De Luna; and former World 8 Ball...

CLIENT NEWS - Cannasouth favours prescription of medicinal cannabis by GPs

Cannasouth has made its submission to the Ministry of Health (MOH) on the Government’s proposals for medicinal cannabis regulations to support the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme. Cannasouth CEO Mark Lucas says while the company is generally happy with the proposals, it has outlined three key areas of concern in its submission. “The main issues we see are around requiring specialist approval for patients to access off-label use of non-CBD medicinal products, which will greatly reduce patient acces...

CLIENT NEWS - Spring Sheep’s toddler formula first to market in Malaysia

Spring Sheep Milk Co. has launched a premium sheep milk formula for toddlers in Malaysia – the first of its kind in this market. Gentle Sheep® Premium Toddler Formula is the company’s first product in its Early Life Nutrition (ELN) range for infants and young children. Spring Sheep is well-known for delivering nutritional products made with premium New Zealand dairy ingredients. The company launched its first product, whole sheep milk powder, in New Zealand and Taiwan in 2016. This was foll...

PR TIPS - Is your shop window gathering dust?

BY HEATHER CLAYCOMBWhen I was a little girl growing up in the US, one of the special activities my grandmother and I would do together is shopping at the largest department store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania – Watt & Shand.One of the most exciting parts of those regular shopping excursions was the anticipation of seeing the huge shop windows – some as large as eight to ten metres long – and the fashion stories told through the creative mannequin displays. Christmas was an especiall...

CLIENT NEWS - Type 1 diabetic takes on challenge for charity

Type 1 diabetic Ricky Winikerei is taking part in a nationwide fitness challenge to help raise money for Diabetes NZand educate people about the condition.  The 39-year-old Waikato-based musician was diagnosed three years ago with diabetes. This week he started Anytime Fitness NZ’s 28-day Winter Kick-Start Programme at the franchise’s Cambridge club. The campaign aims to raise $30,000 to combat our country’s fastest growing health issue. All proceeds from the sale of a special e...

CLIENT NEWS - NZ junior team jetting off to the VNEA World Junior Pool Championships

New Zealand’s top junior pool players will take their game to the world next week, cueing off against the best in the sport at the VNEA World Junior Pool Championships. The team of 10 are aiming to top last year’s four winning titles when they compete against 300 other juniors from Canada and America, in Sioux City, Nebraska. The team ranges in age from 9-year-old Pukekohe identical twins Harlem and Tyler Hoggart, competing in the under 13 age group, to 21-year-old Hone Tito from Hamilton. ...

CLIENT NEWS - Te Waka appoints new Strategic Partnerships and Projects Manager

Waikato’s regional economic development agency Te Waka has appointed a new Strategic Partnerships and Projects Manager, Michelle Hollands. Hollands brings strong strategic business experience to the organisation, having spent the last five years as General Manager (Regional Leadership) at Sport Waikato. There she worked across government-funded projects, using funding from local authorities and central government (via Sports New Zealand) to deliver opportunities for people in the community to ...

CLIENT NEWS - Competition in real estate auction rooms in Hamilton heats up

Lodge Real Estate Managing Director Jeremy O’Rourke says after a brief hiatus in activity for real estate auction rooms in Hamilton, competition is heating up again. “During the first half of the year, investors had pulled back from the residential housing market in Hamilton.  And the city’s auction rooms certainly felt this effect. “With fewer buyers in auction rooms, fewer vendors were taking their homes to auction. But over the past month or so we’ve seen those investors coming...

CLIENT NEWS - Campaign encourages Kiwis to get active for a good cause

Anytime Fitness NZ and Diabetes NZ have joined forces to help Kiwis get active this winter and raise $30,000 to combat our country’s fastest growing health issue. Anytime Fitness NZ’s 28-Day Winter Kick-Start campaign starts on Monday, with all proceeds from the sale of a special eBook going to Diabetes NZ. Anytime Fitness NZ Chief Executive Richard Ball is challenging New Zealanders to get active, while helping Diabetes NZ support people affected by diabetes and raise awareness of the cond...