Presentation of 2021 awards

Former Port of Tauranga Chief Executive Mark Cairns (centre) has been honoured with the Sir Bob Owens Award for his outstanding contribution to the sector, pictured with Waikato and Bay of Plenty CILT Chair David Stewart (left) and and CILT National President Keith Robinson. Photo: Chris Parker

BY FIONA KNIGHT AND ROCHELLE LOCKLEY

PRESENTING the annual awards for 2021 has provided the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport with some complex challenges. Firstly, the annual dinner planned for October in Wellington and hosted by the Central Section had to be postponed, much to the regret of all of us, the Section team, and sponsor Ken Harris of ContainerCo.

Then it became clear that the replacement dinner planned for March 2022 would also not go ahead, so the NZ Council decided that awards would be presented locally at Section meetings. But the continuing COVID19 restrictions delayed these events. I am delighted to report that four awards have now been presented to some very delighted and astonished recipients.

The presentation for the MITO / CILT scholarship was first off the rank. Winner Kaine Sparham from C3 had no idea he had won this award, when invited to a meeting at C3 premises in Timaru. Awards convenor, Fiona Knight, was present by Zoom from Wellington to give to a rather puzzled Kaine the good news. Handling) in 2020, he was keen to undertake business and management training. The judges agreed such training would be an asset to someone who had two years working as on operations supervisor with a diverse group of staff and colleagues.

Sir Bob Owens Award

Former Port of Tauranga Chief Executive Mark Cairns has been honoured with the Sir Bob Owens Award for his outstanding contribution to the sector. Mark retired from the Port in June 2021 after 16 years at its helm.

Waikato and Bay of Plenty Chair David Stewart said the award criteria included a nominee’s altruistic qualities.

“There is no question that Mark has made an outstanding contribution to the industry. He is widely recognised as an industry statesman who, despite considerable personal success, takes huge pride in his people,” said David.

“As well as leading a financially sound business, it is the Port of Tauranga people that Mark has identified as making him most proud. Mark never missed an opportunity to recognise and credit his team.” numbers nearly trebled. Contributing to the significant growth was a six year capital expansion programme to grow the port into an international transhipment hub. He also instigated long-term relationships with large exporters including Oji Fibre Solutions, Kotahi and Zespri.

Mark instilled a strong social responsibility within the port, and prioritised health and safety over profitability.

David’s sentiments were echoed in the award nomination by Managing Director of Mainfreight, Don Braid: “He has helped to create a world-class port and transformed what was really just a regional port into New Zealand’s premier port.”

Craigs Investment Partners Head of Private Wealth Mark Lister said: “Port of Tauranga is one of the highest quality businesses on the sharemarket.”

Since departing Port of Tauranga, Mark has taken up a governance career and is the Chair of Freightways Express Limited as well as a Director of Meridian Energy, Auckland Airport and Sanford Limited.

Ben Johnston, right, receives his award from Jan Augustyn, General Manager Business Performance Improvement at logistics company C3 on behalf of the CILT. Photo: KiwiRail Maureen McClenaghan of MITO presented Kaine Sparham his MITO / CILT scholarship.

Rising Star recipient Michaela McClintock.

The Sir Bob Owens Award is the premier award of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and is named after Sir Bob, a shipping industry stalwart, former Tauranga mayor and respected businessman.

Rising Star

The Rising Star award is designed for younger people still working their way into the management chain. Key attributes are demonstrating excellence on the job, ethics and values, mentoring peers and going that extra mile.

The award is sponsored by DRD Consulting who commit to the encouragement and recognition of achievement in the next generation. The winner, Michaela McClintock of C3 in Picton, demonstrated all the knowledge and skills required in the awards criteria and more.

The referees consistently spoke of her high level of knowledge, positive can-do attitude, excellent communications with a range of clients (also corroborated by clients) and colleagues at all levels, assisting and training staff, and colleagues, and leading by example in health and safety matters.

Her former manager, Arthur Hackett, commented “people like Michaela do not come along every day”.

With the covid restrictions, the presentation was restricted to a Zoom session, with the various referees for the nomination attending as well as Michael’s mother and partner, and Robin Dunlop the sponsor. attendees took the opportunity to speak and celebrate Michaela’s significant achievements.

Young Achiever

Ben Johnston got quite a shock when he arrived for a catch-up meeting with colleagues at KiwiRail. He was presented with CILT NZ’s Young Achiever award for 2021 by Jan Augustyn of C3, representing the sponsor of the award as well as the judging panel.

Ben did not even know he had been nominated by his mentor and manager, Helen Rogers, Group Manager Government Relations, Policy and Funding, or that the nomination was seconded by the colleagues he worked with on two major projects.

Ben’s submission stood out to the judges due to his accomplishments in being a Programme and Project Lead in two of the largest KiwiRail projects – the Future of Rail Review and the Rail Network Investment Programme.

Both are significant “once in a generation” initiatives that will make a significant difference in KiwiRail for the future. The judges noted Ben’s maturity and ability to work with people on all levels and over multiple industries to achieve project goals. The judges also noted that Ben was one of the founding members of KiwiRail’s internal young professional’s network. Readers may recall Ben contributed an article to our September 2021 issue.

When presenting the award at KiwiRail, Jan explained how with such achievements: “it made sense for us judges to bestow on Ben the Young Achiever award for his demonstrated leadership and organisational skills. I am pleased to advise also that Ben is our youngest Young Achiever to date.” To Ben’s delight, he not only received a certificate but also money towards further training and development.

CILT NZ would like to acknowledge the generous sponsorship of C3 for this award. C3 forms a vital part of the NZ logistics and supply chain environment with logistics, stevedoring and marshalling services across the country in twelve different Ports. C3 offered to sponsor as they appreciate and would like to recognise individuals who are actively and successfully involved in the day-to-day operation and development of transport and/ or logistics within New Zealand.

The venue for the Annual Awards Dinner 2022 has been confirmed for 14 October 2022, held at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. For more information, visit https://bit. ly/3MAb8yI.