His wife, who went on to manage the Bay of Plenty Magic netball team for many years, got a job at Otumoetai College, so the couple relocated to Tauranga. Mr Dawson took up an opportunity to enter computer sales with Digital Equipment Company (DEC),
then one of the biggest IT companies in the world.
"You didn't need a computer background, they were just looking for good communicators."
He spent the next decade in a succession of increasingly responsible positions with the company, before being asked to take on the role of human resources manager.
"In a short period I went from a blackboard and having to fill in an application to get six pieces of paper photocopied, to an environment where you had a company car and big budgets and lots of pressure," he said.
"But I thrived on it, the IT business was hugely challenging and always changing. It was a great experience."
The company was based in Auckland, so he commuted from Tauranga and spent a lot of time travelling around New Zealand and in the Pacific.
When DEC was absorbed by Compaq, Mr Dawson was appointed as director of customer services for New Zealand. But after a year in the position, he was looking to move nearer to the Bay of Plenty and was hired as chief executive of both the Waikato Rugby Union and the Chiefs rugby franchise.
A huge rugby fan since his school days but, he says, "never very good myself," Mr Dawson took on the job as Waikato was embarking on an upgrade of its facilities.
"We just had rugby parks so one of the first things was to be a part of a team that built the new stadium," he said. "We weren't as wealthy as some of the bigger provinces, so that was a huge challenge, but over the years we slowly but surely grew the franchise to the success that it became."
However, after 14 years with the Waikato franchise, Mr Dawson welcomed the opportunity to finally be actually based in Tauranga. Last year he took on the role of driving Bay Leisure and Events, formed from the July 2014 merger of the loss-making TCC-controlled Tauranga City Aquatics Ltd and Tauranga City Venues Ltd, as well as several TCC sports and community facilities.
The new entity manages some $150 million of assets in Tauranga, including the aquatic facilities, indoor sports facilities, ASB Arena, community halls and centres and the Baypark Stadium.
Bay Leisure and Events chairman Peter Farmer, described Mr Dawson as having real passion and a vision or recreation and sport.
"We're very privileged to have someone with strong chief executive and general manager skills, with a really passionate feel for sport and recreation facilities."
Life in the fast lane provides new buzz
Gary Dawson still loves to watch sport.
But now he's put himself in the driver's seat by taking up motorsport and is in his first season as a rookie in the BMW E30 drivers series.
"I love it," he said.
"I'm completely new to the sport, but it's something I've always wanted to do. I wanted to do something new that challenged me."
Mr Dawson said he had always enjoyed motorsports, and noted an earlier career highlight during his time in Hamilton had been serving as chief executive of the A1GP World Cup from 2007-09, which had been "a fantastic experience".
He stressed that he was in the bottom quartile of the standings.
"I'm getting ahead of some people," he said. I'm getting quicker and I'm learning heaps.
"But I'm in no danger of becoming a Formula One driver."
His wife Sheryl was the high-profile head of the Bay of Plenty Magic for many years and is a Westpac Business Awards winner.
Controversially excluded from consideration as chief executive of the newly created Waikato-Bay of Plenty Netball Zone, she took on a new role as general manager for McFall Fuels direct fuels business.
Merger complex mission
The key difference between Gary Dawson's old role of running the Waikato Chiefs Franchise and his new role heading up Bay Leisure and Events has been driving the complex merger of Tauranga's various sports and recreation facilities.
"Redesigning the business so that we can deliver better services to the city has been incredibly challenging, but very rewarding," Mr Dawson said. When he came on board last year, he spent the first few months getting his head around the business and understanding its key drivers, then set about creating an organisational structure to support the new company's strategic plan. The merged entity had three financial systems and triple the administration staff it needed.
"We looked at how we could combine to make it more efficient, while still continuing to deliver the events, keep the pools open and the facilities clean and operating," he said.
"That was the challenging part - to set up the new organisation very quickly, while continuing to operate the facilities in the best way you can."
The process involved getting people on board by being transparent and communicating the strategic goals: "There's no simple answer, you just have to work through the issues, day by day, week by week."
Bay Leisure and Events chairman Peter Farmer said the merger process was now complete.
"We've done a lot of work in term of making it more efficient," he said. "There's been some substantial annual savings achieved, which are ongoing savings for the community that reduce the burden on the ratepayer."
Gary Dawson
Role: Chief executive, Bay Leisure and Events (since 2013)
Age: 60
Born: Tokoroa, New Zealand
First job: Schoolteacher
Currently reading: Remembering Jock, edited by Charlie Hadrell. (Reminiscences of Jock Hobbs)
