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Colin Bond will take over from Nikki Johnson as the chief executive officer of the New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc from May 24.
Bond has had an impressive track record over the past 22 years with ANZ bank, particularly in his most recent role as regional manager of commercial and agri.
An NZKGI spokesperson said Bond will bring a wide range of skills and experience to the CEO role and he will lead NZKGI well in advocating and increasing value for growers, building on the strong work that Johnson leaves behind.
The appointment reflects continuity in NZKGI's mission to advocate, protect and enhance the commercial and political interests of New Zealand kiwifruit growers.
2021 Ahuwhenua Trophy winner announced
The winner of this year's Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori Dairy farm is Tataiwhetu Trust located in the Ruatoki Valley south of Whakatāne.
The Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O'Connor, announced their success at the Ahuwhenua Trophy awards dinner in New Plymouth this month.
About 800 people attended the award, including the Hon Willie Jackson, Hon Meka Whaitiri, Kiingi Tuheitia, other dignitaries, politicians, agribusiness leaders and whānau from all finalists.
Tataiwhetu Trust is an organic dairy farm on which run 432 kiwi cross cows, and carry 188 replacement stock on their two support blocks. They milk once a day and their herd produces 129,140 kgMS.
Ahuwhenua Trophy management committee Kingi Smiler said the standard of all the finalists this year was particularly high and showed the quality and depth of Māori dairy farming enterprises.
"Each finalist excelled and all are great role models for farmers."
But Smiler said Tataiwhetu Trust's farm was "very special" and another example of "our people working innovatively and hard and focusing on key strategic objectives".
Meanwhile, the winner of this year's Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award for dairy was Quinn Morgan, 26.
This was Morgan's first season of farming working as a farm assistant for Sam and Kate Moore on their 155ha farm in Otakiri near Whakatāne. They milk 570 cross breed cows through a 36-aside shed and are on system three. Eighty per cent of the farm is irrigated.
Anahera Hale, 26, was also a finalist.
Hale is currently working as the 2IC farm assistant on Rod and Jackie McPherson's dairy farm near Whakatāne. Since 2019 she's been working on the 100ha where they winter about 360 cows. The farm is system two where cows are just fed grass and get topped up either with silage or palm kernel.
The Ahuwhenua Trophy is the most prestigious award for excellence in Māori farming and was inaugurated 88 years ago by the great Māori leader, Sir Apirana Ngata and the governor-general at the time, Lord Bledisloe.
First National Foundation donates to help save burns victims
The First National Foundation has donated a further $30,000 to the National Burn Service, New Zealand's celebrated specialist burns treatment facilities.
First National Real Estate Rotorua's Ann Crossley, also a trustee of the First National Foundation, made the presentation at the New Zealand-wide sales awards for First National Real Estate, held in Rotorua earlier this month.
"This service is extraordinary, and we're proud to hold it close to us at First National Foundation, and to keep on giving," she said.
"It was the National Burn Service that leapt into action at the recent Whakaari / White Island eruption, and their expertise saved so many lives. Volcanic burns can be a chemical as well as a thermal burn, and New Zealand should celebrate that it has such incredible treatment teams available."
First National Foundation Trust's donation will be used for specialist education for nurses, whose role in treatment of burns needs particular skill and expertise.
Previous donations have helped fund smart TVs and iPads for recovering victims. The iPads were used for remote communication between patients and families because patients are in isolation for long periods of time because of risk of infection.
The First National Foundation Trust was set up in 2009 to benefit the communities of New Zealand.
Each First National Real Estate office donates to the foundation annually, and an auction is held at the First National Annual Awards night which also raises funds for the National Burn Service.
Real estate offices are also able to purchase fire kits (including fire blanket, extinguisher), to give to new home owners or sellers - $5 from each such purchase is given to the burns service.
"All our offices are real contributors to their communities. They're truly a part of them. The foundation was set up so that our real estate sales agencies could give back directly and tangibly to the communities they serve," Crossley said.
Bay entrepreneurs behind sex toy brand stimulate healthy conversations
Two Mount Maunganui-based female entrepreneurs behind sex toy/wellness brand, Girls Get Off, are stimulating healthy conversations for New Zealanders this month.
Girls Get Off is the brainchild of Mount Maunganui businesswomen Jo Cummins and Vivien Conway after a lockdown brainstorm.
Cummins says GGO is on a mission to remove the taboo from sex toys and female pleasure, instead treating female masturbation as a form of meditation and hero'ing the health benefits of orgasms.
For International Masturbation Month this May, the girls have erected cheeky billboards in central Auckland to promote female pleasure.
Revolving billboards with "Count orgasms not calories", "Scream your own name" and "#Iconic" can be seen in Anzac Ave and Ponsonby Rd, Beach Rd, Mount Eden Rd, Grey Lynn, Mount Eden and Kingsland.
"Orgasms are the ultimate stress relief, not just because they make you feel good but because of the feel-good hormones [oxytocin and dopamine] that are released when you climax," says Cummins.
Conway says, "We want to make talking about pleasure a mainstream conversation."
'One-stop impact hub' for charitable sector arrives in the Bay
The Good Collective, a "one-stop impact hub" for the charitable sector is extending its footprint beyond the Waikato into the Bay of Plenty.
The meta-charity was started in 2018 and is now branching out nationally after a temporary pause due to last year's Covid-19 lockdown.
The Good Collective brings together charities, private funders and businesses to network and seek out opportunities of mutual benefit.
Kiwi fashion designer and entrepreneur Annah Stretton founded the organisation after starting her second charity Kia Puāwai in 2016, where she saw a need to transform the effectiveness of the charitable sector by leveraging the power of the business community.
With more than 30 years of entrepreneurial nous under her belt, Stretton said it was imperative businesses and charities stood together to successfully tackle the current Covid-19 climate.
"We must help the New Zealand charitable sector innovate their way forward," Stretton said.
"Entrepreneurs and charities share two critical skill sets - they're the ultimate problem solvers and are both tirelessly dedicated to their cause.
"Working together, we can supercharge the quality and sustainability of those organisations who do good in our community.
"It's therefore vitally important to build up resilience in the service models and balance sheets of charities and not for profits across the country as a matter of urgency."
The Good Collective past events - which are free to all charitable sector members - have hosted inspirational New Zealand business leaders such as former New Zealand prime minister Bill English, Eat My Lunch NZ founder and CEO, Lisa King, as well as Stretton herself.
The Good Collective has also recently developed The Entrepreneur's Toolkit - a resource created to help supercharge the positive impact on communities served by the charitable sector.
The diversity of organisations now finding value in The Good Collective include clients such as Child Matters, The Cake Detective, YWCA Hamilton, Te Rūnanga o Kirikiriroa Trust and the Coastal Taranaki Health Trust.
"By simply adding some of the tools from the Entrepreneur's Toolkit, such as good communication, agility, innovation and decision-making, we can start to shift the dial on the sustainability and effectiveness of the sector," Stretton said.
To find out more about The Good Collective, visit www.thegoodcollective.org.nz
Young guns join Priority One
Priority One has welcomed two new Young Professional Directors to its executive board in May.
Christina Finlayson and Laura Murphy were selected from a strong group of applicants and will join the executive board for 12 months.
"It's great to continue the Young Professional Director Programme this year," Priority One chairman Simon Clarke said.
"Christina and Laura are already standouts in their fields, we look forward to having
them around the board table. Ensuring that Tauranga is an attractive place for talent is important to this economy, the viewpoints that our Young Professionals provide will help inform our talent strategy."
"I'm passionate about the future of Tauranga and its prospects for businesses, the community and in particular young people living and working here," said Murphy, a solicitor at Holland Beckett.
Meanwhile, Finlayson who was a digital product owner at Ballance Agri-Nutrients said she was grateful for the opportunity to join an organisation that cares deeply about the sustainable growth of our city.
''It is such a privilege to develop my governance skills, learning from local business leaders."
The Young Professional Director Programme was started in 2020, with the view to providing Tauranga's Young Professionals with governance experience, and Priority One with a diversity of thinking around the board table.
The financier wants $28.2m; unsecured creditors are listed as being owed another $167,000.