Power Assemblies, in Napier's Onekawa, (from left) switchboard builder Martin Heath, general manager Frank Hagan, and business development manager Rory Aroa. Photo / Warren Buckland
Power Assemblies, in Napier's Onekawa, (from left) switchboard builder Martin Heath, general manager Frank Hagan, and business development manager Rory Aroa. Photo / Warren Buckland
Napier company Power Assemblies makes electrical switchboards that can weigh over three tonnes and, rather fittingly, has joined the region’s exporting heavyweights as a finalist for the Hawke’s Bay Export Awards.
Finalists for those awards were announced on Monday across four categories: Best Emerging Business, Excellence in Innovation, Best Established Business and Excellence in Sustainability.
The prestigious awards will be held on Thursday, August 1 in Hastings and the overall ASB Exporter of The Year will be named on the night.
The finalists are listed below and the awards cover a huge area from Dannevirke up to Tairāwhiti (Gisborne).
Power Assemblies, which rebranded in late 2022, and previously operated as part of Falcon Electrical, is one of the finalists for the NewstalkZB/Hawke’s Bay Today Excellence in Sustainability Award.
Power Assemblies makes commercial and heavy industrial electrical switchboards and the company was involved in rebuilds following Cyclone Gabrielle, including for major employers Pan Pac and Ravensdown.
Power Assemblies general manager Frank Hagan was rapt with being named a finalist and said their exporting journey began with a large contract in Fiji in 2021. He said their work in that nation had “snowballed from that point onwards”.
“Ultimately we want to go to the other island nations as well.”
The company’s work improving switchboard standards in Fiji impressed the award judges.
Power Assemblies switchboard builder Grant Mathiason. Photo / Warren Buckland
Power Assemblies runs seminars and workshops with the Fijian Government aimed at improving electrical engineering standards.
Hagan said, in some cases, switchboards had been purchased from other countries and installed in Fiji well below international standards, causing safety issues.
“When these switchboards go wrong - the larger ones - they can kill people.”
A wide range of industries have been named as finalists for the upcoming awards from honey makers to fruit growers to manufacturing firms and tech.
ExportNZ ASB Hawke’s Bay Export Awards finalists
ContainerCo Best Emerging Business: Rare New Zealand (Hastings), M2 Overland (Napier), Brebner Print (Napier), and Tatsumi NZ (Clive).
Southeast Asia Centre of Asia Pacific Excellence, Excellence in Innovation: Rua Bioscience (Gisborne), Magiq Software (Napier), Taylor Corp (Hastings), Ziwi Ltd (Napier), Kiwi Crunch (Hastings), and NZ Frost Fans (Hastings).
T&G Global Best Established Business: Taylor Corp (Hastings), Ziwi Ltd (Napier), and Kiwi Crunch (Hastings).
NewstalkZB/Hawke’s Bay Today Excellence in Sustainability: Power Assemblies (Napier), Rua BioScience (Gisborne), and Kiwi Crunch (Hastings).
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
