Supporting small local businesses
It was great to attend the Electra Business Awards recently, celebrating the achievements of businesses from Horowhenua and Kapiti.
I’m always amazed at the range of talented people we have here in our region, creating jobs and supporting local communities.
The overall winner for business of the year was Aura Software Security which helps people find and fix security flaws in their websites. Well done team.
Based up in the Otaki Gorge, this company has customers around New Zealand and the world. It just proves that rural locations can run very successful businesses with decent internet connection speed.
The expanding New World supermarket in Levin, run by the Rollinson family, did very well to be runner up.
Another family business Allen Paper won the small business award for their newsprint converting business. I had the privilege of opening their new factory premises last year in Paraparaumu.
Three local businessmen were deservedly added to the Nature Coast Business Hall of Fame. Selwyn Hyde helped create the Levin motor circuit and has developed local tourism ventures, while Jacob Slykhuis has been widely involved in the Foxton community through his successful Mitre 10 business and John Turk is principal of Turk’s Poultry Farm.
Other winners in different categories included Monteith’s Brewery Bar Kapiti Junction, Te Horo Foods, Prenail Systems and Ohau Playcentre.
These awards are highly respected because they’re not easy to win. Those nominated have to provide detailed information on their business, and meet very high standards to satisfy the judges.
Several people told me how these awards have motivated them to improve their business, and it was a proud night for many winners and their staff. Even those who didn’t win still received valuable insight from entering the competition.
New Zealand is a nation of small businesses with around 350,000 in operation and this is especially true in our region. We rely on these entrepreneurs to provide jobs and pay taxes, which is why it’s so important the government encourages them.
Tax cuts will make a real difference and the government has a big focus on cutting red tape. The new 90 day trial period for new staff is also a major step in encouraging businesses to take on more employees.
It’s been a challenging couple of years in business with the worldwide recession but these awards prove we have plenty of talented people to drive our regional economy forward.