We have travelled the country to learn how people are coping with the recession. Watch the video interviews, or send us your own videos and tips, at nzherald.co.nz/go/surviving09
Few people get overjoyed by the surging price of oil. But Taranaki engineering firm Independent Technology has been reaping the rewards of oil's latest rise.
For the past 20 years ITL has provided engineering design and build solutions for industrial process plants. Most of its work has been local, and the company has thrived thanks to Taranaki oilfield projects and working for the dairy industry.
But ITL's focus has recently shifted overseas, picking up contracts with oil and gas processing and power plants in Australia, Asia and Africa.
"The low dollar was quite beneficial early in the year; it allowed us to be quite competitive in our rates and we gained a few offshore contracts. We're forming alliances with companies outside New Zealand that we're hoping to continue," says Kim Gilkison, ITL's operations manager.
"The oil price coming up again is always good for our business."
Securing overseas contracts has been helped by a healthy relationship with the National Project Office, a strategic initiative by the New Zealand heavy engineering industry to facilitate international projects.
ITL recently scored a contract to provide electrical control panels to a United States energy company's venture in Korea, and a deal to supply gas processing equipment to a power station in Western Australia. The equipment is built here then shipped to Australia, where ITL engineers oversee the implementation.
Gilkison says the company's reputation for excellent workmanship is growing, and it helps having "Kiwis dotted around the world in the industry - they know the quality of what they are getting".
In New Zealand, ITL has a staff of 45 working in New Plymouth's Bell Block, among them 23 engineers and 15 designers. It's a private company with five shareholders, including two of the original founders.
"It's still a reasonably family-based company," says Gilkison.
Work at home - for the new Kupe gas project, due to be in full production this year, and the dairy industry - has kept business constant. "The industry has developed so well here now the energy sector is more robust than dairy," says Gilkison.
"Taranaki has quite a tight group of companies in the industry and we've managed to collaborate on a lot of contracts. You work as a group, supporting each other, and that's a big strength."
ITL has also worked on several projects with Auckland-based engineering company Flotech, providing design expertise on projects at Kupe and the Olowi oil and gas field off the coast of west Africa.
Being aware of the volatility of the oil market and the cyclic trends in engineering, ITL has developed a new marine arm, providing specialist design engineering - hatches, doors and gangways - for superyachts out of the Mediterranean.
"We love it, it's really fascinating," Gilkison says. "If we see an opportunity we like to take it."
