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Preferred alliance partners for Ōtaki to north of Levin highway announced

The Ōtaki to north of Levin (Ō2NL) project takes another significant step forward today with the announcement of preferred alliance partners to deliver the new highway and walking and cycling path.Ō2NL project partners NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), hapū of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Muaūpoko Tribal Authority have selected preferred tenderers, with a view to forming two alliances to support the ongoing development and delivery of the Ō2NL highway project.NZTA Project Director ...

Levin Waitārere Beach Surf Life Saving Club opens new building

The Levin Waitārere Beach Surf Life Saving Club has a stunning new facility, named Te Whare Waitā, which was opened last Saturday, an event that was followed by an open day for the public. Sitting on top of the dunes close to the water it has a large room, with balcony and a watchtower with a 180-degree view of the beach and water. The old building had gradually disappeared behind encroaching dunes over the years.It was opened with a karakia, pōwhiri to welcome guests, and official handing ov...

NEW ROBERT HARRIS CAFÉ OPENS IN FOXTON

"Hello Foxton!! We are so excited for the opening tomorrow and can’t wait to see you here" say Karyn and Veronique Read. They are the new owners of the Robert Harris Franchised Cafe, the first in the Horowhenua region, which is located on the corner of Johnstone Street and State Highway 1 in Foxton. ...

WOMEN IN BUSINESS LUNCHEON HUGE SUCCESS

The final Women in Business Luncheon was hosted at the Levin Kia showroom on Friday the 24th November. Dining with the ‘cars’ became the new catch phrase as forty women had the chance to mix and mingle and meet other businesswomen, and then enjoy a lunch from The Baked Dane.Lisa Brink the owner of Baked Dane provided the catering, with the help of her friends at Get Content, set up a beautiful graze table of salads and open sandwiches to enjoy, as well as Danish Pastries to follow with...

WOMANHOOD JOURNAL HIGHLIGHTS HOROWHENUA WOMEN

The Womanhood Journal is a publication which has provided a platform for women’s stories to be acknowledged and celebrated.To date there are more than 80 women in our community whose stories have offered depth, variety and meaning to the pages within....

BRAD OLSEN SPEAKS WITH HOROWHENUA'S BUSINESS COMMUNITY

The Horowhenua Company Ltd held its end of year Electra BA5 last week at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pōwith guest speaker Brad Olsen, the CE and Principal Economist at Infometrics Ltd.  Around 100 people attended the business after 5 event from Horowhenua and Kāpiti region, to hear from Brad who spoke about the latest updated insights and information. His vibrant speaking style makes him a compelling speaker, and he passionately delivered the latest Infometrics data and infor...

SNAP SHOT PROGRAMME - CASE STUDY

This year Get-Go developed a careers initiative which engaged college students, teachers, and local employers.  The ‘Snapshot’ visits programme informs students about career options in the Horowhenua region....

Electra sells SECURELY®

Electra Services is an award-winning security and monitoring company. It operates under the SECURELY brand and is wholly owned by Electra Ltd, which is one of New Zealand’s largest electricity distribution companies, founded in 1922. With many years of experience delivering and monitoring electricity, Electra applies this accumulated experience of monitoring critical, and often life impacting, utility supply to provide a robust monitoring service that is built on leading edge technol...

HOROWHENUA’S MANAKAU MARKET WINS TOP SHOP

Manakau Market became the 2023 recipient of the Electra Business and Innovation Top Shop Award, presented last month at Southwards Museum. On the awards night, the trophy was accepted by Manakau Market’s coffee supplier, Matt Payne from Dark Horse Coffee, on Manakau Market's behalf.   Matt spoke of the team’s exceptional customer service making them deserved winners.  He was accepting the award, as they were busy making pizzas and unable to attend the event.&nbs...

HOROWHENUA'S CIDER MAKER WINS AT NZ AWARDS

New Zealand’s only female cider business owner and producer of Cider in NZ, is Elemental Cider in located in Kuku and is owned by Carmen Gray - an Award Winning Cider maker. ...

LOCAL HOROWHENUA BUSINESS WOMAN WINNING AWARDS

Maria "RIWA" Wawatai and her business art by RIWA® was the winner of the Ikaroa Regional Award at the MWDI Māori Businesswomen’s Awards 2023, held at the Aotea Centre, in Tāmaki Makaurau on Friday, 27 October 2023.Riwa was also a finalist for Pakihi Toi Ora (Creative Arts & Design) and finalist for Te Amorangi (People & Capability).art by RIWA®has crafted a niche in the market for Māori weaving, specialising in wahakura (baby bassinettes), made from harakeke.&n...

OUTWARD BOUND SCHOLARSHIP 2023

Get-Go, a programme delivered by the Horowhenua Company Ltd, recently received an 8 day Outward Bound Scholarship to award to a local young person. We saw this as an incredible opportunity. One Horowhenua recipient, being either a local college student or recent school leaver would join the June intake. Outward Bound is  based at Anakiwa, located in the Marlborough Sounds, where the classrooms are the mountains, bush and waterways of this beautiful corner of New Zealand. Outw...

Ō2NL ENVIRONMENT COURT HEARING

This week the Environment Court is conducting hearings for the O2NL consent process. Lonnie Dalzell from Waka Kotahi presented their proposal for resource consent.Affected parties presented evidence or concerns.As the chair of the Horowhenua New Zealand Trust, Antony Young represented the trust’s opinion on the process to the court in the HDC chambers. This is what he said:“One frosty morning in June 2021, Frank and Karen Slobbe left their home in Foxton Beach just after 5am. They were excit...

2023 ELECTRA BKH BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD

Kāpiti and Horowhenua’s Mills Albert wins coveted Electra Business of the Year 2023 award.Paraparaumu-based contracting and forestry business Mills Albert has won the coveted Electra Business of the Year 2023 award.The company won the main award at the Electra Business and Innovation Awards, held at Southward Car Museum on Thursday.“It means a lot,” company director and co-founder David Mills said.“We were massively excited and immensely proud.“It was very special and comes shortly af...

TECHLAM FEATURES IN KIA ORA MAGAZINE

Featured in this months issue of Kia Ora Magazine - A Pure Pod is a unique and sustainable experience. Now with many pods dotted all over New Zealand, showing off some stunning and remote landscapes. Featuring Techlam Glulam product, and many other NZ made sustainable products. The pods are all prefabricated before being shipped to the final sites. Read article here : https://www.eboss.co.nz/ebossnow/techlam-nz-purepod-luxury-accommodation-timber-structure...

2023 BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

The Mayoral Business Hall of Fame laureates were announced at the Electra Business and Innovations Awards, on the 19th of October.The Award is sponsored by the Horowhenua District Council. The two exceptional individuals who have left in indelible mark on our community are Charlie and Chrissy Pedersen. As joint laureate nominees of the Horowhenua Business Hall of Fame for their leadership, business success, and tireless contributions to the Foxton Community, stand as an inspiring examp...

FUTURE CAREER PATHWAYS EXPO

There were opportunities galore, including a career in policing for Horowhenua rangatahi at the Future Pathways Expo held last Thursday in Levin.The Expo, held at Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō (Levin Community Centre) connected youth with employers, training providers and social services to help them dream big and plan their futures.There were more than 40 interactive stalls, inside and outside the centre.Levin Community Senior Constable Simon (Sye) Carter was one of the local staff helping at t...

Ō2NL Project Business Opportunities

Kia ora e te whānau,Just letting you know about the next step for Ō2NL Business opportunities.Attached is information with the link to the Expression of interest which iwi, Māori and local businesses can complete should you have an interest in future work opportunities on the Ō2NL project.The information will help ensure that packages of work are put together which meet the needs of local businesses, as well as identify support which businesses may require to help you get ready to participat...

Waka Kotahi to survey Horowhenua businesses on its capacity for work on Ō2NL

With the Ōtaki to north of Levin expressway (Ō2NL) a certainty with cross-party support and the consenting process well advanced, the project team for the road is looking to make contact with as many local businesspeople as possible to see how anyone local can help them realise the Horowhenua Expressway.They would like to spend as much as possible of the $1 billion available locally, providing jobs and work. They have set up a procurement process and would like to start with a survey of local ...

Mabel Central Development - Case Study

One such new housing development nearing completion, poised to impact Levin's housing landscape significantly, is Mabel Central, situated off Mabel Street.This unique development is the first of its kind in the Horowhenua - a multi-residential community of townhouses ensuring that it accommodates a broad spectrum of lifestyles.The project embodies a vision of modern, sustainable living for the new residents. With a commitment to sustainability, a range of housing options, and...

Ō2NL Project Outcomes

Waka Kotahi, Muaūpoko Tribal Authority and local hapū of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga are working in partnership to deliver a new, safer and more reliable State Highway 1 from Ōtaki to north of Levin. Lonnie Dalzell, Ō2NL Project Director, speaks about what the new highway and shared user path will bring to the region....

New Major upgrade for Capital Connection train service

Five carriages have been upgraded with a sixth carriage set to be added in September to support an anticipated increase in passengers.More carriages are currently being upgraded locally at KiwiRail’s Hutt Workshops with 11 in total eventually able be to be used.Transport Minister David Parker said the refurbished carriages would tide the service over until brand new hybrid trains were brought onto the network within five years.“These new, refurbed coaches increase the quality of what people ...

The Baked Dane shop dream comes true

Lisa Brink started off baking bread and crackers for a weekend market. Now, less than five years later, she has officially opened shop and is distributing The Baked Dane products all over New Zealand.You can smell The Baked Dane before you see it. The proof is in the eating, too, and word of mouth has seen a busy opening week of the new outlet, located at the new Bush Street business park south of Levin.The grand opening was a significant moment in what had been a meteoric rise for The Baked Dan...

Inward Investment Case Study - Caci Levin

The Horowhenua Company caught up with Jamie Stout the owner of the latest Caci clinic in Levin, to hear about her journey from opening a pop-up clinic late last year in 2022 before outfitting an old $2 shop site on the main street of Levin. Jamie spoke candidly to us about the last 8 months of opening her new business and the challenges and triumphs it’s had in the few short months of being open. A Registered Nurse for 18 years, she was completely new to owning her own business and the le...

Foxton vertical farm providing strawberries in winter

Some things are intrinsically linked to summer – the smell of sunscreen, the chirp of cicadas, or maybe the sweet taste of strawberries. But if you look at the temperature outside right now, strawberries might seem like a distant memory. Not in Manawatū-Whanganui. In Foxton, you can get fresh strawberries all winter long.Indoor farming company 26 Seasons has produced 50,000 vertically-farmed strawberry plants this year — all grown in a shed originally used for dyeing carpets. ...