About 160 of the Bay's leading businessmen attended the Bay of Connections E.A.T. Breakfast & BNZ Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards Launch this week to hear a trio of top exporters share their experience.
"It's great for us to be aligned with such an important part of the community," said ExportBOP's executive officer Angela Wallace, announcing the formal kick-off for the awards, which this year will take place on June 17 at ASB Baypark.
Ms Wallace acknowledged the role this year of Bay of Connections, the regional growth strategy grouping, which is supporting the awards for the first time, along with sponsors for the five award categories.
The highlights of the launch breakfast came in the presentations by three leading exporters who shared hard-won wisdom from a range of experience and expertise. The speakers were Sir Graeme Harrison, founder and chairman of ANZCO, one of New Zealand's biggest meat companies and exporters, Tony Ponder, founder and director of Southern Produce and director of AVANZA, and Jacob Kajavala, managing director of Kajavala Forestry and co-founder and director of Switchkites.
Bay of Connections chairman Doug Leder said the group was delighted to be partnering with ExportBOP and noted that the speakers were all achievers. "They've been there, done that and learned from their experience."