Nelson Tasman business celebrated

Nelson Tasman’s business community have been celebrated at the annual Nelson Pine Industries Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

Supreme Award winner, Keetrax, was announced on Friday night in front of 320 of the region’s business community at the Annesbrook Centre.

Keetrax, which was also named the winner of the Medium Business category, had experienced 95 per cent growth in client numbers during the past year.

Ali Boswijk, CEO of the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce says award nights are important milestones to acknowledge organisations doing well especially at a time when ‘external pressures’ make being in business more challenging.

“Once again, the businesses of the Nelson Tasman region have demonstrated just how wonderful, resilient and varied they are,” Ali says. “This year's awards clearly showed that while we've had some difficult times over the last few years, many businesses are really buoyant, strong, and looking forward to a very prosperous future.”

a Golden Bay dairy farm claimed the Environmental Business Award for their diversification into solar panels, creating enough energy to power over 300 homes.

And for the first time, there were joint winners of the Community Impact Award this year, The Food Factory Charitable Trust and OneFortyOne.

The awards, which celebrated their 34^th year on Friday evening, were entered by 24 organisations who submitted 27 entries in total.

Full list of winner:

NELSON PINE INDUSTRIES SUPREME BUSINESS AWARD WINNER:

Keetrax

Keetrax partners with businesses to help them get more sales online. They’ve partnered with 366+ ecommerce businesses on their journey, acquiring an audience where clients can create a bond and talk about stuff that interests them.

TOP SOUTH MEDIA START UP BUSINESS AWARD WINNER:

Apex Accounting

Launched in February 2022, Apex was the result of two minds connecting over a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, whilst reflecting on the inefficiencies and culture challenges we were presented with on a daily basis.  There is a saying “Anything that costs your peace, is too expensive”. We took this mentality and set up Apex, creating a business that could give back some peace to small business owners, and investors by taking care of their accounts, and give some peace back to ourselves in a pleasant work environment.

2 DEGREES SMALL BUSINESS AWARD WINNER:

­Pete’s Natural Sodas

From timeless classics to mind bending blends, our acclaimed soda range promises a symphony of fruity delights destined to captivate. But here's a juicy secret: rather than resorting to juice concentrates, we rescue what orchard growers might regard as surplus fruit on the verge of wastage, transforming them into remarkable award-winning sodas. You won't find any imported juice concentrates or artificial additives here – just unadulterated excellence! Bottled in our solar-powered facility and encased in eco-friendly packaging made from recyclable materials, we're steadfast in our commitment to waste reduction and the cultivation of a greener tomorrow.

Highly COMMENDED (Small) – Boost Your Learning

MEDIAWORKS MEDIUM BUSINESS AWARD WINNER:

Keetrax

Keetrax is your partner to get more sales online. We’ve partnered with 366+ ecommerce businesses on their journey from $200,000 to $20,000,000 with results-driven design, development, marketing & paid ads. We acquire an audience for your brand to have an ongoing conversation with. This conversation highlights the problems your products solve and amplifies the benefits of buying from you. We help you convert your audience into paying customers by making it easy to buy. You will find the headquarters for our expert global team in right here in Māpua.

Highly COMMENDED – Dancing Sands Distillery

NZME LARGE BUSINESS AWARD WINNER:

Milestone Homes Nelson Bays

A residential new home builder based in Richmond, building throughout Nelson & Tasman. Established in 2006, the business has grown to become one of the region’s preferred builders of new homes and has developed a reputation for building a quality home along with delivering a great experience.  They are committed to ensuring clients are provided with an exceptional value proposition whilst ensuring their efforts also benefit the wider community through growth, job creation and sponsorship.

Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD WINNER:

Golden Bay Solar Farm / JBHills Ltd

Hamish Hills is second-generation farmer on the farm/business that his parents started in the early 1980’s and who have been instrumental in turning it into what it is today. Their core business is dairy farming where they milk 390 cows once a day. Over the years the business has expanded into forestry, property, and carbon farming. As part of their diversification and environmental goals, they have recently constructed a 1.43MW Solar farm on their property in Golden Bay. The power from the Solar Farm is directly feed into the grid and generates enough energy to power 310 average New Zealand homes.

MAHITAHI COLAB INNOVATIVE BUSINESS AWARDWINNER:

Under The Hood BBQ

Our company has been forged out of a passion for low & slow barbecue and outdoor cooking. Our ever-growing outdoor BBQ kitchen allows us to share what we love . People join our journey every day via Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. In addition to this our in-person BBQ Masterclasses have seen us teach over 1200 people in the past four years who have travelled from all corners of New Zealand to join us. We recently released an Online Course that can now be accessed anywhere in the world, at any time! The request to bottle up the barbecue goodness for people to take home has led to the development of our product range – five BBQ Seasonings, Under the Hood Original Sauce and vac packed meats and sides

NBS COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD (Joint winners):

The Food Factory Charitable Trust

The Food Factory aims to educate, inspire, and increase the confidence of those who desire to start their own food businesses, as well as strengthening communities by providing a hub where charitable groups connect, learn new skills related to food preparation and develop cross cultural diversity through cuisine. The demonstration kitchen is a fantastic space for those wishing to host cooking classes or even launch a cookbook or for a product launch.

OneFortyOne.

Trans-Tasman forestry company OneFortyOne operates throughout Te Tauihu managing 80,000 hectares of land including pine plantation and conservation areas. The land it manages is owned by local iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Ātiawa o te Waka-a-Māui and Ngāti Tama ki te Tauihu, and it also has freehold land. Making a positive difference is a strategic priority for the company, guiding their work and bringing sustainability and community to the forefront. There are many fantastic examples of how they do this from partnering with Habitat for Humanity to help build community homes, to investing in long-term sediment studies to build industry best practices, to supporting seagrass research and positive climate action. Its forests are a valued recreation resource for the local community offering a wide range of activities, including mountain biking, walking, running, horse riding, hunting and beekeeping. OneFortyOne is a significant employer in the region, employing more than 150 people directly and over 370 indirectly as contractors.