Some of the Summit Forests team enjoyed a great evening at the recent Eastland Forestry Awards, celebrating excellence in forestry.
We were exceptionally proud to see Summit’s own Rowena Marshall take out the Emerging Leader award – a well-deserved accolade. Hailing from Te Araroa and having returned to the forest industry 18 months ago from Perth, she has quickly stamped her mark getting back into the thick of things. We also found out that, while she said she didn’t like public speaking, she was quite proficient on the night! Rowena (Rowe) has demonstrated a huge amount of leadership potential since she’s been with Summit. She has executed some great initiatives with the crews, including a recent Whanau Day on a weekend day at one of the sites. She’s always open to upskilling, always eager to take on challenges, and has formed trusting relationships with stakeholders and colleagues, who hold a lot of respect for her. She has a quiet but confident leadership style that her peers and crews respond well to.
Congratulations to all the winners on the night, including Curtis Hawkes (top left) who won the Summit-sponsored Harvesting Excellence award, and Kane and his crew from Ace of Spades (top right) who took out the Health & Safety Excellence Award. They have been working with Summit for 12+ months, tending to our thinning and road maintenance operations up the coast.
It was a poignant evening, after 18 months of challenges in this area post flooding. Around 500 people from the forestry industry attended the evening.
“There was a true sense of camaraderie and compassion amongst those that attended, but also a lot of reflection. It has been a difficult period for the industry, through Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle, so it was nice to come together to acknowledge our colleagues who have worked tirelessly and resiliently throughout this time,” says Warren Rance, chair of EWC and Summit Forests East Coast regional manager.
“We are grateful for our workforce who have continued throughout significant adversity this past 18 months, and we look forward to our future together as we continue to work hard for our East Coast community,” Rance adds.
Congrats to all the winners, but especially to Rowe!