Commerce Comment — Autumn Issue

COMMERCE COMMENT

AUTUMN 2023

CORNERSTONE PARTNERS:

What’s Inside

Chamber Board:

President: Peter Pattullo

Vice President: Manoli Aerakis

Board Members: Chris McGeown, Venus

Guy, Sharon McGuire, Louise Walsh, Alfredo Puche, and Richard Butler.

Publication Design: Tizza Design

Cover Image: Tim Cuff

Nelson Tasman has a rich entrepreneurial spirit that is driving innovation and growth across a diverse range of industries. We saw this in spades at the recent Nelson Pine Industries Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. From agriculture, manufacturing and technology to fishing, tourism and hospitality, businesses in the region are making a significant contribution to the local and national economy. You will see the winners featured in this edition of Commerce Comment and hats off to everyone who participated in the awards in one way or another. The gala dinner was a great night.

While we are celebrating success, we are also very aware that that there are still many external pressures facing our business community, from inflation and increased costs to a lack of skilled labour and a higher cost of borrowing. This is nothing new but it does feel as though we have not had much of a break over the last three years. Some of these are beyond our control, but there are others that we can have some influence over. In October this year we will go to the polls to elect a new government, this is always a good time to focus our policy makers on those issues facing the business community. We will be in touch over the coming weeks to identify the challenges and opportunities that we want to discuss with our local candidates. So, be it immigration settings, investment in regional infrastructure, the roading network, fair pay agreements or the overall cost of doing business we want to hear from you.

From the CEO

Starting 2023 celebrating business success and our rich regional entrepreneurial spirit

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Nigel Philpott on his appointment as CEO of Nelson City Council. As managers of local resources, key enablers and investors in the region we all know the important roles that both councils play in ensuring the prosperity of the wider community. The CEO role is crucial in ensuring that the Long Term Plan (and interim Annual Plans) are delivered on behalf of the community. We wish Nigel well as he takes on this exciting challenge and look forward to working with him in the future.

Finally, we have been having a bit of fun in the office playing with AI content generator ChatGPT. While we have been using it mostly for amusement (I promise this is all my own work), I have spoken to people who are using it for coding, sale and purchase agreements and even speeches in te reo Māori. You will see in this edition of Commerce Comment two examples of how this technology is being used by businesses here in Nelson. There is no doubt that the future is here.

Ngā mihi,

AliBoswijk

Chief Executive Chamber of Commerce

A NIGHT TO

Congratulations to all our award winners

BOOST YOUR LEARNING

START-UP BUSINESS AWARD WINNER

Boost Your Learning is a tuition service that offers oneon-one, bespoke lessons to students across Aotearoa. They work together with whānau and teachers to support students to succeed in education. They conduct a diagnostic assessment to identify the learner’s strengths and needs.

The judges felt that this business has responded well to the disrupted environment we have experienced in recent years. The business model has great potential to scale up and extend its reach beyond Nelson.

AROHA CHOCOLATE

SMALL BUSINESS AWARD WINNER

Husband and wife team, Wobblie and Jo, create some of the finest hand crafted, artisan chocolates, using premium Belgian chocolate and combining it with some of the best ingredients sourced locally and from around the world, with no added artificial preservatives.

On scoring the entry by Aroha Chocolate the judges assessed the business to be a worthy winner of the Small Business Award. Aroha Chocolate has a clear strategy for growth, embraced digital technology and a strong focus on customer service.

CNX

MEDIUM BUSINESS AWARD WINNER

CNX is a local IT provider of excellence across Te Tauihu and Aotearoa. CNX specialises in end-to-end IT managed services and support. They offer a unique support model that delivers a ‘no surprises’ approach with timely day-today support, procurement and licensing management.

Having being in operation for 22 years CNX has demonstrated a significant step-change in the last five. The company has achieved impressive growth while maintaining a strong emphasis on creating a positive team culture, customer-centric focus and investment in the community.

SNAP GROUP

LARGE BUSINESS & SUPREME BUSINESS AWARDS WINNER

New Zealand based Snap Group is a team of highlyskilled and dedicated, specialist software developers, electronic and mechanical engineers developing and manufacturing live cameras, AI hardware and Satellite communication systems from the ground up.

The team at Snap Group impressed the judges with their continued development of cutting-edge innovative technology and global reach. The ground up product development that can be adapted across multiple commercial activities coupled with a clear strategy for growth and partnership has resulted in a significant business for the Nelson Tasman Region.

TASMAN ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST

ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS AWARD WINNER

Tasman Environmental Trust (TET) is a collection of people deeply committed to restoring and conserving the Nelson Tasman natural environment. In 2022, they’re managing 22 conservation projects worth approximately $7 million across 175 restoration sites in Nelson Tasman.

Starting from the vision of one-man TET has evolved into an organization at the leading edge of conservation and environmental restoration projects in the region. Their creation of the Conservation Hub has served to strengthen the sector and scale up the impact of all conservation projects, large or small across the wider region.

MULTICULTURAL NELSON TASMAN

COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD WINNER

Multicultural Nelson Tasman is a non-government organisation which supports migrants, former refugees and people from minority ethnicities in the Nelson/ Tasman region with their settlement process. Their motto is: Unity in Diversity - kotahitanga i roto i te kanorau.

The organisation has over 28 years’ experience of working at the coalface of migrant integration and dealing with the challenges this can bring. All resulting in a welcoming safe and connected community that benefits us all.

KIMER MED INNOVATIVE BUSINESS AWARD WINNER

Kimer Med is a post-seed biotech start-up, developing a broad-spectrum antiviral drug. Their vision is an end to the suffering caused by viral disease. As we’ve seen with Covid-19, viruses tend to mutate and eventually evade vaccines. New and deadly viruses continue to emerge, and biowarfare and bioterrorism remain a constant threat.

It was hard to ignore the audacious vision and groundbreaking innovation that is at the heart of this business located in the heart of Nelson. Already recognised by Callaghan Innovation as an investment partner, the judges were unanimous in their decision to recognise Kimer Med.

AGNES & HERMANN SEIFRIED JUDY & TIM FINN

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

In 1973, Herman and Agnes Seifried bought land in Upper Moutere where they established 14 wine grape varieties. They were the first commercial winery to be set up in the region and their award-winning wines are now produced on 350 hectares around the region for domestic and overseas markets.

Since Tim and Judy Finn began Neudorf Winery in 1978 it has developed a reputation for uncompromised and consistently high-quality wines and is recognised as producing some of the best wines in New Zealand over many years. Neudorf was the first winery to receive 100 points for any wine from Master of Wine, Bob Campbell for their 2014 chardonnay, still the only white wine to receive 100 points.

Both couples have contributed significantly to Nelson Tasman’s reputation as an exemplary winemaking region.

Social Snaps

The ceremony was well-attended by our wider business community and a great time was had by all! We scrub up pretty nice, Nelson!

Helping your business succeed.

Many owners, managers, and team leaders require better skills and knowledge in certain areas to enable them to be effective, responsive and confident to lead the business into the future.

That’s where Regional Business Partner Network can help you identify and prioritise skill gaps and offer referrals to training or coaching programmes & providers.

“I’m looking forward to applying the learning to our business and feeling more in control of decisions we make.”

Capability Development funding may be provided to qualifying businesses after we have conducted an assessment. This funding allows you access to a partial subsidy of up to 50% on any approved training workshop, course and/or coaching offered by a training organisation (maximum $5000).

- Simon Murray Builders

New employment legislation ON THE HORIZON

There are numerous legislative changes on the horizon and employers are in for a busy year adjusting to new employment law developments.

Minimum Wage Increase

The minimum wage increase to $22.70 will come into effect from 1 April 2023. The increase is in line with recent increases in inflation and the current cost of living crisis. The starting out and training minimum wage will increase to $18.16. The effect on employees is significant, with the MBIE stating around 222,900 people are paid between $21.20 and $22.70.

There are concerns as to the effect on small businesses, with the 7% wage increase on previous increases which may introduce greater wage costs to the business.

Despite no legal requirement to provide a pay rise to those on $22.70, this minimum wage increase may give rise to pay inconsistencies for more experienced employees. If not already in the pipeline, it is a good time to create a strategy for managing pay relativity.

Holiday Act Changes

Although unclear when, changes to the Holiday Act are coming, The changes will introduce more transparency and clarity in determining aspects such as leave. Annual Leave Payments (ALP) have previously been calculated at ordinary weekly pay or the average weekly earnings

over the previous twelve months. A new calculation has been added that the ALP can also be paid at the weekly earnings over the last 13 weeks. Likely to have the most effect on commission based employment, as their earnings fluctuate and thus are more likely to be affected by this new calculation.

Timeframes on leave entitlement are soon to be changed. Employees will be entitled to sick leave on their first day of employment instead of waiting 6 months. Similarly, leave entitlement will change to pro rate basis, meaning an employee will be entitled to 2 weeks leave after 6 months of employment.

Parental leave will no longer affect ALP when an employee returns to work. Previously, an employee who returned from parental leave received a reduced ALP for 12 months following their return to work. However, under the changes the returning employee will receive their full rate for annual leave.

The Employment Relations (Extended Time for Sexual Harassment) Amendment Bill

The proposed bill will extend the time a person has to raise a personal grievance (PG) involving sexual harassment from 90 days to 12 months, to acknowledge that victims of sexual harassment may require more than 90 days to feel comfortable making a complaint. The 90-day rule does not reflect the way

sexual harassment occurs in practice, this extension will allow complex and difficult sexual harassment matters to be dealt with more effectively. Employers need to be aware of situations where a PG involves allegations of sexual harassment alongside other allegations. Furthermore, some have expressed disappointment that the bill does not include workplace bullying or discrimination.

If you require any further information or clarification about upcoming legislation and how they may affect your business contact Pitt & Moore’s employment team 03 548 8349.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is of a general nature and is not intended as legal advice. It is important that you seek legal advice that is specific to your circumstances.

Hannah-Jean McCarthy Solicitor Pitt & Moore www.pittandmoore.co.nz

Should we use AI writers to write marketing communication for us?

Judge for yourself…

Chat.openai.co is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform that uses OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model to generate humanlike responses to text inputs. It is increasingly being used for content creation, including writing marketing articles. In this essay, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using chat. openai.co for marketing articles.

Pros:

Speed: Chat.openai.co generates content at a fast pace, making it a suitable solution for marketers who need to produce a large volume of content in a short amount of time.

Consistency: GPT-3’s language model is designed to generate consistent and high-quality content, which can help ensure that all marketing materials have a similar tone and style.

Cost-effectiveness: Using chat.openai.co can save money compared to hiring freelance writers or purchasing content creation software.

Customisation: Chat.openai.co can be customised to fit the specific needs of a marketing campaign. Marketers can input keywords, style, and tone to generate content tailored to their goals.

Cons:

Lack of originality: GPT-3’s language model is based on existing texts, which can result in content that is not truly original. This could be a concern for marketers who want their brand to stand out.

Quality control: While GPT-3 is designed to produce highquality content, human editors are still needed to review and revise the content to ensure it meets desired standards.

Lack of human touch: Chat.openai.co’s language model can generate content that is similar to human writing, but it cannot provide the personal touch and nuance that a human writer can offer. This may be an issue for marketers who aim to create content that emotionally engages with their target audience.

Limitations in tone and style: Although chat.openai.co allows for some customisation of tone and style, there may still be limitations in the type of content that can be generated, making it difficult for marketers to fully express their brand’s personality or create content that resonates with their target audience.

In conclusion, chat.openai.co has the potential to be a valuable tool for content creation in marketing, offering benefits such as speed, consistency, cost-effectiveness, and customisation. However, there are also drawbacks, including a lack of originality, quality control, a lack of human touch, and limitations in tone and style. Marketers should consider these pros and cons carefully before using chat.openai.co for writing marketing articles.

You might have guessed by now but I used an AI to write the preceding article. So judge for yourself. I think there is a place for using AI in marketing but we need to be wary of relying on it to do the whole job.

If Google rankings are important to you then you need to be aware that Google prefers content created by humans for humans. Their algorithms are getting better at spotting AI-generated content.

The rise of AI will change what content we choose to focus on creating. AIs can’t create your current news or relay your opinions and this is often what your clients want to read. So rather than trying to recreate what everyone else is doing, share your opinions and news and you will rise above the AI deluge. For me, when it comes to creating engaging text that packs a punch, you can’t beat content created by people that care.

Tony Downing Owner and Director Downing Creative Marketing www.downing.nz

Making a difference through collaboration

Our team of 280 scientists, technicians and support staff is committed to delivering a better future for oceans, rivers and lakes and the communities around them.

The tangible consequences of climate change call for concerted action. We need to find ways to prevent further deterioration of our environment as soon as possible, while developing means to adjust and adapt. Our work is, therefore, focused on delivering impactful results. Essential to us being successful in our mission, however, is the trust and dedication from others who are eager to support us in generating value from an ecological, economic, social and cultural perspective. That is why we are proud to work with local businesses who are committed to creating sustainable solutions.

Cawthron’s mission-driven research is focused on combatting climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as improving our food systems. Ki uta ki tai – at the heart of our restoration, protection and value enhancement activities lies the interconnectedness of Aotearoa’s freshwater and marine environments from the mountains to the sea. Our rivers and lakes require urgent attention to stop further degradation, while our estuaries and oceans have vast, untapped potential to reduce our impact on the environment,

while creating sustainable products that enhance the wellbeing of our people.

To ensure continued success, our international and dynamic team of scientists welcomes opportunities to work closely with others to support their aspirations and realise ground-breaking discoveries.

Some of our successful collaborations include our partnership with Port Nelson Limited, OneFortyOne Limited and Westpac’s Government Innovation Fund to restore seagrass meadows in the Nelson Haven, and we are drawing on the expertise of Trinder Engineering to help us deliver prototype aquaculture structures for the open ocean farming of shellfish and seaweed.

We have also recently announced our strategic partnership with NewFish - a fast-growing US-New Zealand start-up with a Nelson presence that is focused on creating blue protein from microalgae, a highly efficient way to supply nutritious and delicious food to a growing global population. Kernohan Engineering will provide engineering advice.

We are incredibly lucky here in Te Tau Ihu to have such a motivated and passionate community to work alongside. The region’s high share of scientists and researchers per capita, our location and many of our economic activities support the possibility to be a world-leader in the blue economy. At the centre of efforts to progress this opportunity and foster collaboration is Moananui, a developing collaboration between private firms, public sector entities and knowledge institutions, aimed at increasing value, connecting people and improving ocean health. Cawthron is extremely proud to be an initiator of this ambition.

We are grateful for our local partners sharing our view of connecting science, mātauranga, and industry leadership so that together, we can achieve great things. I would encourage you to see where there might be connection points for your organisation to make a difference and be a good ancestor. Cawthron’s leadership team is always eager to engage, so don’t hesitate to reach out with your ideas to explore how we can make the world a better place.

Volker Kuntzsch, Chief Executive Cawthron Institute www.cawthron.org.nz

Putting customers at the heart of the Nelson Airport

At Nelson Airport we are committed to our ambitious vision of being a ‘world class airport.’ A key part of fulfilling that vision is providing a memorable and enjoyable customer experience for everyone who visits.

This customer experience starts from the moment a visitor arrives at our front gate or steps off their flight right through to when they leave. This means that we must consider all aspects of that journey and provide a holistic experience where the customer not only feels welcome in our airport but is seamlessly assisted in getting where they are going.

A key focus in achieving this is making the customer’s passage through the airport as intuitive and enjoyable as possible. This starts with such simple things as rationalising and providing better carparking choices and making sure the traffic flow works to provide for adequate pick-up and drop-off opportunities. We have similarly updated our signage with an emphasis on simplicity and easily-identifiable icons to help international visitors. Te reo Māori is being progressively added to reflect New Zealand’s unique cultural identity.

One of the biggest improvements we have made in how the customer-facing part

of the airport operates is the investment in a customer service kiosk at the centre of the new terminal. Staffed by our friendly customer service team, the kiosk is available to help visitors navigate the airport and access all services the airport and our tenants provide. This means dealing with everything from lost children and property, accessing rental cars, taxis, and providing visitor information to help travellers figure out where to go to next. The kiosk is open from 6.00am to 6.30pm, seven days a week.

Every parent will know how stressful it can be travelling with young children. In order to make that experience easier we have installed a family-friendly kids’ zone where children can play and be entertained in a safe, fun and engaging space. It goes without saying that this was a big hit over the summer holiday period. Terminal seating has also been moved closer to boarding gates and a space has been created for those needing somewhere to keep up with work while they are travelling.

Constant customer feedback is absolutely critical for any business, which is why at Nelson Airport we undertake a customer satisfaction survey each year. I look forward to running that again in 2023 and gaining further insight on how we can continue to build on the changes we are making.

Each day our team strives to incrementally improve how the airport operates and the experience provided to our customers. We know we operate in an ever-changing world and that the journey to be a world class airport and memorable gateway to the fabulous Nelson-Tasman region will never be complete.

Mark Thompson CEO Nelson Airport www.nelsonairport.co.nz

Image: Nelson Airport’s new customer service kiosk.

“This customer experience starts from the moment a visitor arrives at our front gate or steps off their flight right through to when they leave.”

Back at work safety days a success

Upholding a high level of health and safety has become common place in the workplace and Nelmac Kūmānu is no exception.

Being ISO Health and Safety certified, Nelmac Kūmānu strives to continually improve on the overall health and safety of the organisation and is exploring new methods of doing this.

One such way has been to start the year off by holding ‘back at work safety days’ to ensure staff return to work with a safe work mindset following the Christmas/New Year break.

These safety days were tailored based on the type of work each division is responsible for and ran for about 1 - 4 hours each. The sessions were aimed at covering key risks. A wide range of topics were covered, starting with the Health, Safety and Quality team’s aims

for the year ahead, followed by some general safety tips. Then moving into risk management training and discussion on what everyone should do in the event of injury. Teams were encouraged to ask questions, which led to some great discussions within the groups.

Most teams also covered training on load tie down, manual handling, and traffic management. The teams learnt how to tell where the certified anchor points were, what tie downs could be used and when, and what classifies as a heavy vehicle, among other things. They learnt helpful stretches to perform, what micro breaks are, and how to lift items properly.

In addition, Nelmac Kūmānu has an in-house traffic management team whose manager was kind enough to donate some of his time to ensure that staff are equipped to stay safe on the roads and are also

protecting others working on roads.

Overall, 11 sessions were run throughout January and the beginning of February, all sessions received great feedback with staff comments like “great sessions,” “great attention grabber,” “good opportunity to stop and assess what’s going on.”

Learnings from this first of its kind (within the business), training event will be taken onboard when we plan the sessions for 2024. One of our key aims going forward is making sure that everything developed for these sessions works for the teams, so it was awesome that these ‘back at work safety days’ were so well received.

Steph Hillis Health, Safety and Quality Advisor Nelmac Kūmānu www.nelmac.co.nz

OneFortyOne sawmill looks

(CDK). This will improve energy utilisation from the boiler and decrease transportation costs with more timber transported per truck load. The upgrade will result in 20 less trucks per month on the road reducing the sawmill’s annual emissions by 9 per cent.

Alongside the environmental benefits, there are also benefits for the regional economy, with the $11.2m project creating new jobs, and increasing the amount of timber available for the domestic construction industry. It is the ultimate in sustainability.

There is an opportunity for the sawmill to be supporting the Marlborough energy market with biofuel products that can help local businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

OneFortyOne manages 80,000 hectares of land in the top of the south. Our trees sequester and store tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. That carbon is then trapped in the wood for years to come, and the harvested trees are replanted.

Whilst forestry produces a highly renewable material, at Kaituna sawmill (near Blenheim) we believe our contribution needs to extend beyond trees and carbon sequestration to decarbonising the business.

Our business is growing and processing trees. We work with the land and we have an important role to play in supporting and driving environmental outcomes. Not only that, but our business is impacted by climate change, we have a responsibility to reduce our emissions and, we have a vested interest in doing so.

At the sawmill we started measuring emissions 10 years ago, and since then have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 46 per cent (934 tonnes of carbon dioxide). Instead of burning waste oil to power the kilns, the kilns are now powered by our own sawdust and wood waste offcuts. We were burning about $500,000 in waste oil a year, so it’s a reduction in cost as well as in footprint.

To further reduce emissions, OneFortyOne committed $11.2 million to convert three of the sawmill’s batch kilns to continuous drying kilns

We can make changes within our business to reduce emissions, but to make real change, we must collaborate.

OneFortyOne supports environmental projects outside the sawmill, partnering with the Cawthron Institute on a seagrass restoration project that aims to fight climate change and improve ecosystem health. The three-year research project will develop a blueprint for seed-based seagrass restoration that can be carried out across Aotearoa. The aim is to enable large-scale restoration of seagrass meadows, helping to support biodiversity, improve water quality and sequester carbon.

Tracy Goss General Manager Kaituna Sawmill www.onefortyone.com

“We can make changes within our business to reduce emissions, but to make real change, we must collaborate.”

Boosting Productivity with AI

small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are the backbone of New Zealand’s economy, and as a business owner, you know all too well the unique challenges that come with the territory. Many of us find ourselves juggling an ever-increasing workload, feeling overwhelmed, and are still handling mundane tasks.

Have you ever considered leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase your productivity? That’s where ChatGPT comes in - an AI-powered language model that you may have seen in the media lately - and it’s worth considering to both lighten your workload and increase productivity.

ChatGPT is a cutting-edge AI language model that has redefined the way we can create, edit and understand language, among many other benefits. Unlike its predecessors, ChatGPT can generate very human-like responses to a wide range of questions and tasks, making it an extremely powerful tool for a multitude of use cases. With its advanced intelligence, gained from its exposure to staggering amounts of text data, ChatGPT can perform a seemingly unlimited range of language-related tasks, from text completion to questionanswering, to summarising or creating content in any requested language style with remarkable accuracy and speed.

What sets ChatGPT apart from other traditional language models is its ability to generate human-like responses, making it a valuable asset for businesses, researchers, and individuals alike.

Imagine this: you’re in the middle of a busy workday with a steady flow of customer enquiries. With ChatGPT and some development, you can integrate an AI model into your website, providing round-the-clock customer support for simple queries, freeing up your time to focus on more important tasks. Whilst genuine personal interaction with your customers is often the best option, smaller and simpler tasks and customer interactions can be automated. You can improve your customer satisfaction by providing them with rapid and accurate information, reducing the need for a large customer service team or after-hours call service.

ChatGPT is revolutionising the way we summarise large volumes of text. With its advanced natural language processing capabilities, it can quickly analyse and extract the most important information from lengthy documents, saving time and effort for busy professionals. It also helps to ensure accuracy and consistency in summarising information, as it eliminates the risk of human error. The ability to quickly access concise and reliable information has never been more important, and ChatGPT is here to make that a reality.

Creating content that appeals to your target audience is a critical aspect of running a successful business in the modern world. With ChatGPT, you can generate articles, blog posts, and social media content that are relevant and engaging. This can boost your online presence and reach a broader audience, helping you

establish a strong brand identity.

To get the most out of ChatGPT, it’s important to approach all of your interactions with a clear goal in mind. Be specific with your requests and provide as much context as possible. For example, telling ChatGPT that you want to appeal to a specific audience allows it to adjust its language and phrasing to match your goals. You may already have great writers on your team that produce the best content, so perhaps the best use of their time and talents is to simply use ChatGPT to provide executive summaries of the work they produce.

The more you use ChatGPT, the better it will get at understanding your needs and responding in the way you want.

At BlueBerryIT, we’ve been using ChatGPT for a while as a powerful additional tool for developer scripting and document writing. It has helped our team deliver a better result, including creating this article with some careful guidance. It’s been a gamechanger for us. So why not give it a try and see what it can do for your business?

(03) 548 4923

contact@ blueberryit.co.nz

www.blueberryit.co.nz

Innovate Charitable Trust & the Mahitahi Colab

The Innovate Charitable Trust was created to foster bold and aspirational innovation for the prosperity of the Nelson Tasman Region. The Trust was co-founded by the Nelson Regional Development Agency, Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce and Te Pūkenga NMIT. As a result, the Mahitahi Colab was established with the vision of collaborating to foster bold and aspirational innovation in the Nelson Tasman region.

TThe Mahitahi Colab offers flexible co-working options for new, growing or flexible businesses, as well as meeting and event spaces. Surrounded by so many diverse organisations and individuals, a desk at the Colab enables those ‘incidental’ conversations that allow business to thrive. The Trust also facilitates a range of networking events focussed on innovation in the region.

Simon Parkes is a civil engineer working for ENGCO, an organisation with offices around the country. The Mahitahi Colab is the Nelson branch for he and fellow engineer, Niel Smith. He rates it.

“It’s a good way of having a flexible office site because it means overheads are relatively low. We have guys coming here all the time from out of town and they can just hot desk in and whatever they need is already here. It’s also got its own little community in itself, so even though our team is small you don’t get the feeling of being in a small team because there are plenty of people milling about.”

Niel agrees there is a lot to love about the set up. “I like the vibrant atmosphere, the people moving in and out the space and the social aspect of it.” But you have to be quite a social person. “It wouldn’t suit people who like sitting in a quiet office focusing for extended periods. It would suit people who are a bit more dynamic, who like connecting with people.”

The NRDA and Chamber of Commerce offices are also inside the Colab, situated on the Te Pūkenga NMIT campus. The co-location of these three businesses makes Mahitahi Colab the home of business and educational innovation

leadership

and

in the region.

Image 1: Niel (left) and Simon (right) in the Colab. Image 2 : Mission Zero Climate Leaders’ Programme event. Photo credit John-Paul Pochin (Light Limited).

Learning that fits around life

Eva Tombs and Elicia Vervaart are recent Te Pūkenga NMIT Level 5 Diploma in Beauty Therapy graduates and are working at Mabin House Body and Skin Sanctuary in Nelson.

Te Pūkenga NMIT offers flexible study options for staff looking to upskill or retrain, with programmes delivered on-campus, online, off-campus, on-site (at a workplace) or a blend of these options.

Overall, investing in the education of employees is a win-win for both the employee and the employer.

A highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce helps a business stay ahead of the curve and attract new customers and clients.

Developing new skills also helps keep staff engaged and motivated, leading to increased job satisfaction and reduced turnover.

By bringing together on-the-job, on campus and online learning, ākonga (students) can be confident of achieving

study success with the freedom to learn while managing their lifestyle.

However, partnerships at a local level are still critical to meet our specific regional needs.

New year New journey

“We have watched their confidence grow and the skills become more refined. We have loved being able to mould and shape them with the tools they learned through NMIT.”

Jess & Tina, owners of Mabin House

Talk to a study advisor about options, and how learning can fit around life to reach your career goals.

nmit.ac.nz/career-chat

Book a free 15–30 minute career chat

Inglis and team Tasman Bay Plumbing

Chris Inglis and team at Tasman Bay Plumbing

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EMPLOYERS UNDER PRESSURE: Emerging Issues in Employment

5:00pm - 7:00pm

Knapps Lawyers Nelson

YES KICKSTART MARLBOROUGH

10:00am - 12:00pm

Marlborough Girls College

meet the needs of local local knowledge and community connections relationships.

MP UPDATE WITH RACHEL BOYACK

1:30pm - 2:30pm Zoom

SUCCESSION PLANNING

9:00am - 10:00am

Mahitahi Colab

RETAINING & EXPANDING YOUR MIGRANT WORKFORCE

5:00pm - 7:00pm

Mahitahi Colab

FINDEX BA5: FOUNDERS CAFÉ

5:30pm - 7:00pm

Founders Café

PRINCE2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOUNDATION TRAINING

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9:00am 22 Mar - 4:30pm 24 Mar

19 04 17 21

WESTPAC SMARTS: NICK SMITH, MAYOR OF NELSON

10:45am - 12:00pm

BUILDING A BETTER BUSINESS

10:00am - 12:00pm

Mahitahi Colab

HEALTH & SAFETY REPS: STAGE 1

9:30am - 5:00pm

Mahitahi Colab

CASHFLOW FREEDOM

9:00am - 10:00am

Mahitahi Colab

VISION, PURPOSE & VALUES

10:00am - 12:00pm

Mahitahi Colab

team at Plumbing

Meet our Members

Digital Diligence Limited is a diverse team of passionate people who offer a wealth of experience across the technology spectrum and know what it takes to help organisations succeed digitally. We thrive on solving the challenges that keep you awake at night.

DDL’s core services comprise of Business Application Analysis, Design, Implementation & Support; Technology Consulting; Digital Marketing; Augmented & Virtual Reality. Alongside our core product and service portfolio and partnerships, we are equally proud generalists – we can demonstrate the quick wins and the pitfalls, the tips and tricks and the ‘gotchas’ in almost every aspect of the digital landscape.

E: info@digitaldiligence.co.nz

T: 0800 48 32 33 W: digitaldiligence.co.nz

Te Whare Ora-The Healing Hut is dedicated to supporting your holistic wellbeing and a thriving community through therapeutic & relaxation bodywork. Located at Nelson CBD, Te Whare Ora-The Healing Hut offers tailored hands-on treatment for stress-relief, chronic pain management, trauma healing and sleep improvement, as well as group bodywork including Tai Chi, Qi Gong and breathwork. Relaxation therapist Jingjing Jackson, a former legal professional, integrates a variety of clinically effective healing art into her bodywork practice. Jingjing also delivers workplace productivity programme to support organisational wellbeing.

E: jingjingjackson.nz@gmail.com

T: 027 4348 586 W: healinghutnz.com

Feel heard, feel supported and find your spark with our outstanding tuition team of qualified teachers. Boost Your Learning is a private tuition service for students in primary to NCEA. We provide nurturing one on one lessons in Maths, English and Science designed to boost confidence and accelerate learning. We have offices in Nelson and Māpua and deliver lessons to students across Aotearoa through our interactive online tools. Using specialist, diagnostic assessment tools we identify strengths and development needs. With every experience designed to bring out the best in your child the path to success has never been so clear and achievable.

E: amy@boostyourlearning.co.nz

T: 021 223 3349 W: boostyourlearning.co.nz

We are a fresh firm, proudly founded in Nelson, focused on providing sound advice and helping business owners achieve their goals. You do not have to go at it all alone, so it is our mission to walk closely with you and help you get that freedom and balance you’ve yearned for when you decided to get into business in the first place. Managing director, Lu Khani, is a qualified and certified Chartered Accountant, and Registered Tax and Business Advisor in good standing with leading global and local institutes. We value fun, loyalty, integrity, and quality, so beyond the task we endeavour to make lasting and positive impressions through relationship, not only with our clients but also the greater community.

E: lu@businessnavigators.co.nz

T: 0204 184 2643 W: businessnavigators.co.nz

Founders Dr Mike Ashby and Ryan Castle have coached hundred of business owners and leaders over many years. They found that the main constraint is poorly trained managers. They found that most workshopbased training is time consuming and ineffective. And managers were not equipped to deal with the demands of the post COVID workforce.

Today, The Breakthrough Co delivers management training that sticks. Without a single workshop. Throughout New Zealand, and shortly the US. Mike now lives in Mapua, working with Ryan on the company’s expansion.

E: mike@thebreakthrough.co

T: 09 529 2885 W: thebreakthrough.co

Smart Business Centre caters to all your accounting requirements. We can advise on the right business structure, provide tax planning and advisory/strategic advice with regular meetings to help you accomplish your goals.

We’re not your ordinary accountants, we are a team of specialists who provides support to all our customers. We can help implement smart office tools, including Xero and Smartly in ways to not only assist in efficiencies but also offer training to use these tools. We help empower you in your business and put control back into your hands.

E: alison@sbcnelson.co.nz

T: 03 547 7995 W: sbcnelson.co.nz

CoDigital offers independent information technology consultancy services, tailored across strategy, service design, project delivery, commercial management, and capability development.

As digital business experts, we provide collaborative solutions to help you better understand your business and its challenges, working with you to implement targeted change to achieve your digital transformation goals.

Our commitment to you is to ensure your business is enabled and your people are ready to adapt to the fastchanging world.

E: hello@codigital.nz

T: 03 922 9916 W: codigital.nz

Want to be featured?

All new Chamber members are entitled to a complimentary business profile in an issue of the Commerce Comment.

Email your high-resolution logo and 100 word summary to Kim Odendaal at kim@commerce.org.nz.

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