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Initial Forestry Expo a success

New Zealand’s first forestry expo event, the Fast & Forward Forestry Expo, was held in Rotorua November 18-19 with an estimated 5000 visitors. Brought together by the Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA), CEO Prue Younger says“International visitors came over specially to attend the event and all the feedback received from sponsors, exhibitors and guests indicates it has been a great success.” The Fast and Forward Forestry Expo showcase...

Labour shortages a key issue

Forest Industry Contractors Association chief executive Prue Younger highlighted a number of significant challenges facing her member companies, leading to predictions of a somewhat “slow and steady” immediate outlook. As per the experience of many sectors in New Zealand, Ms Younger noted one of those was ongoing labour shortages. “We need to get skilled machine operators now more than a manual workforce,” Ms Younger told the Shipping Gazette™. However, Ms...

PRESS RELEASE - $40k raised for forestry mental health in charity auction dinner opened by new Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell

More than $40,000 has been raised to lead a mental health initiative for forestry at a charity auction dinner held in Rotorua on 18 November. Opened by newly appointed Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell, the charity auction was part of NZ’s first Fast & Forward Forestry Expo. Brought together by the Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA), the charity auction dinner was part of the 2-day Fast and Forward Forestry Expo held last week. MC’d by Jeremy Corbett, FICA CEO Prue Younger says th...

PRESS RELEASE - Forestry Expo a Success

New Zealand’s first forestry expo event, the Fast & Forward Forestry Expo, was held in Rotorua 18-19 November with an estimated 5000 visitors through the gates over the two-day event. Brought together by the Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA), CEO Prue Younger says the industry put on a great show for visitors, with an estimated 5000 visitors to the Expo over the two days. “Our industry came together and put on an awesome event. We had more than 100 heavy machines brought ...

Female in Forestry - Mereana Tobenhouse

Multi-skilled and a hugely talented woman in forestry, Mereana Tobenhouse from Fast Harvesting is the Female in Forestry 2022 at the Central North Island Forestry Awards. Experienced, with 21 years in logging, Mereana is highly capable and a multiskilled character. She is passionate, honest, loyal, innovative, a mentor, empathetic and shows great leadership. Mereana began as an apprentice in 2001 doing skid crosscutting and quality control work then operated skidders, haulers, and mechanised pr...

Log Processing Excellence - Desmond Williams – Progressive Harvesting

Desmond Williams from Progressive Harvesting is the Log Processing Excellence Award Winner at the 2022 Central North Island Wood Council Forestry Awards. Over Progressive Harvesting’s 29 crews, Desmond Williams consistently achieves an outstanding performance and the highest results. Moreover, his high standard of work practices were well in place prior to the Processor Certification Program by the principal and were the product of his own values. Desmond is a team player who always...

Generation Programme Graduate of the Year - Rawiri Te Hiko

As a graduate of the Generation Programme, Rawiri Te Hiko has taken out the award for Graduate of the Year at the 2022 Central North Island Forestry Awards 2022. Rawiri has focused on what he wants to do and been clear that if you want anything in this world, you need to give it your best shot. Encouraged to explore a future in the Forestry industry, Rawiri soon demonstrated great sense of determination to complete the programme and make his own way in the world. Rawiri loves a bit of fun but...

Log Truck Driver Excellence - Raymond Bradshaw

Raymond Bradshaw from AZTEC FTD is the Log Truck Driver Excellence Award recipient at the 2022 Central North Island Wood Council Awards. Raymond’s contribution to the forest industry exceeds expectations not only to his employer, but to the logging transport industry. He ticks all the boxes of what you would want in the perfect driver in that he takes pride in the job and maintains his vehicle in immaculate condition. His experience and knowledge of trucks, forestry, skids and loading is su...

Press Release - First Ever Forestry Expo in Rotorua this week (18-19 Nov)

New Zealand’s first ever forestry expo event, the Fast & Forward Forestry Expo, is coming to Rotorua this Friday and Saturday 18-19 November. All are invited to attend.  Brought to you by the Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA), CEO Prue Younger says the industry is ready to put on a good show.  “Our industry is coming together, with more than 100 heavy machines being brought in ranging from one tonne to 60 tonne. We have sold-out all trade stands and sold-out the in...

FICA E-news - November 2022

Can you believe 20 years has gone by? FICA has been an incredible initaitve that has become a significant player in the forestry sector -  and I can say that as CEO for the last 5 years!I won't go any further though without acknowledging the Board, who with John Stulen set this organisation on a trajectory of success. It's a hard ask to manage many people and satisfy all, but I always say if you get the majority, the few that are never on board were not going to be anyway! Who wro...

Safetree as an APP

FICA & FISC have collaborated to provide an opportunity to make more resources and information accessible to our industry, in particular the contractors. We've heard that people are keen to share and access “learning from everyday work” across the sector and this would be supported and welcomed. So as a test pilot, we've digitalised Safetree as an APP to bring the valuable and credible platform that we know the industry trusts and references often. We are looking for 50 users to tes...

Muka Tangata advice TEC on funding, consult on new Future Forestry qualification

Muka Tangata, the People, Food and Fibre Workforce Development Council (WDC), is one of six WDCs established to provide industry and sector voice and advocacy within the vocational education system of Aotearoa New Zealand. The WDCs were set as part of the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) to create a unified and sustainable system that is fit for the future.Muka Tangata helps industries get the skills and training they need by designing solutions to skill needs, including qualifications, sta...

Heath McMurtrie - Wood Processing Excellence

Heath McMurtrie (Donelley Sawmillers) is deemed a very highly skilled operator and is the winner of the 2022 Wood Processing Excellence Award at the Central North Island Wood Council Awards. Starting from the floor and progressing his way up through mill operations, Heath McMurtrie is now deemed a very highly skilled operator. Running day to day operations, he is a dedicated team member, developing up mentoring skills and actively working with younger members and new employees to understand pr...

Distribution Excellence - Jody Reti

Jody Reti from Trimble Forestry has gone beyond the standard expectations of a dispatcher and has a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. She is the Distribution Excellence Award Winner at the 2022 Central North Island Wood Council Awards. Jody’s work ethic is complimented by her relationship and communication skills that allow her to positively interact with all stakeholders she works with. Constantly delivering above the KPI’s required in her work planning, Jody’s cu...

Harvesting Excellence – Rob Davy

Taking a difficult situation and making it look easy, Rob Davy from G White Logging Ltd is the recipient of the Harvesting Excellence Award at the 2022 Central North Island Forestry Awards. A testament to his skill, knowledge, and experience, Rob is respected not only by his peers but other crews in the industryNever a procrastinator, Rob actions everything immediately and manages zero personal turnover under his leadership. His mechanical processing is exceptional and time management is excelle...

Fastidious clearing - Campbell & RJ – J Swap Ltd

Campbell & RJ – J Swap Ltd are winners of the Forest Engineering Excellence Award at the Central North Island Forestry Awards 2022. The duo has a very high level of environmental awareness within their operation. They’ve managed fastidious clearing along steep ridgelines, native forest boundaries, wet gullies and stream margins as well as managing stream crossings with no sediment run-off or impact.Together over the last 10 years they have been instrumental in ensuring an excellent relat...

Is the Fair Pay Agreement Fair?

The Fair Payment Agreements (FPA) Bill has now become law with significant amendments added to the version considered by Parliament’s Select Committee. Labour’s majority ensured it became law despite vigorous objections from the opposition parties. National, if elected to Government next year, has stated it will repeal the Fair Payment Agreements Act.The FPA purpose, however, remains clear, namely to enable employment terms to be improved for employees by providing a framework for ...

Legend Fire and Protection Services - Evan Rarere

Evan Rarere is a legend who has built a strong regional firefighting capability that benefits a wide portion of the Central North Island region. He took out the top award for Fire Protection and Services at the CNIWC Forestry Awards this month. Evan has worked for Timberlands in some key capacities since 2003, but as Fire and Security Manager. Evan is a nationally recognized fire manager, representing Timberlands and the industry on the NZ Forest Owners Fire Committee, FENZ Deployment Working Gr...

An exemplary worker - Glenn Fountain

An exemplary worker and by the nature of the task, Glenn Fountain – Fast Harvesting is the recipient of the Silviculture Excellence (SWIFT) award at the Central North Island Forestry Awards 2022. Always working on his own, Glenn consistently maintains high levels of discipline required for onsite safety procedures, production, quality and environmental requirements. This is married with his own career training and aspirations to grow his expertise and professionalism. It takes a very special ...

A Rising Star – Jayme Walker

Described as a sponge soaking up knowledge at every opportunity, Jayme Walker from Fast Harvesting is the 2022 Trainee of the Year at the Central North Island Forestry Awards. Although originally heading to university, the attraction of the bush was too great, and Jayme started on the ground learning skid skills before progressing into machinery operating where he has really excelled. Jayme has continued to achieve a number of National Certificates, earning 90 credits since 2020. Known for his a...

Hero of the Industry - Mike Fraser

Mike Fraser is the Hero of the Industry at the 2022 Top of the South Forestry Awards. Read more about this legend of logging. With a long history of investing in personnel, Mike Fraser has seen results in high-quality personnel providing benefits both to his company and to the forest owner and industry. A keen rugby player in his day and now a coach, Mike quickly saw the benefits of players being able to review and analyse what they were doing.Mike believes contributing to the wider Forest indu...

Adding real value – Tamara Eggers

Tamara Eggers has been a huge part of the success of improvement and development in health & safety for her principal employer. She is the Woman in Forestry at the 2022 Top of the South Forestry Awards. Self-driven, hands on and able to come up with solutions, Tania is entirely competent. She adds real value to her employers, Tasman Forest Services & Stuart Drummond Transport. Working across transport and silviculture workplaces gives her a great range of skills and knowledge in the fo...

FICA E-newsletter - October 2022

The sun is shining today and long may it last, global warming certainly has been rampant and modified a normal spring/summer for us all.There has been a bit happening in the space of the Industry Transformational Plan and submission gone through to Te Uru Rakau on the focus on a workforce that will be capable and skilled to manage any changes that the Plan is looking at, more mechanisation, domestic processing, biomass generation and opportuity for new markets. What is proposed with th...

Always looking for improvements – Chris Lambert

Known to always be looking for ways to improve safety and the environment he and his team operate in, Chris Lambert is the recipient of the Wood Processing Excellence Award at the Top of the South Awards 2022.He consistently role models the values of the company (OneFortyOne NZ Limited) and doesn’t hesitate to step in and contribute greatly to the safety improvement journey of the company. He volunteers his time to ensure equipment is tested for safety and successful start-up fo...

Freely sharing his felling expertise – Paul Gardiner

Experienced on all felling machines and operationally, Paul Gardiner from Kelly Logging is the Tree Faller - Mechanised of the year at the 2022 Top of the South Forestry Awards.His vast experience gained during many years in and around forestry equipment has allowed Paul to input to the design and operation requirements of the latest machines. This has been invaluable, and his willingness to make himself available inside and outside of working hours to share his expertise and knowledge speaks vo...