NorthChamber Chief Executive Steve Smith says he has immense respect for all finalists and winners of the 18 categories following multiple delays in reaching the finale of Northland’s pinnacle business event. The Awards were originally scheduled for October 29, 2021.

Every business who threw their hat in the ring for the awards stuck with it, despite the Covid challenges we had to contend with along the way and the judges were brilliant in the way they went about navigating the ever changing landscape,” says Mr Smith.

The Foreno team were simply outstanding and thoroughly deserving of their award, as were all of the other category winners and finalists. For those who did not win their categories I sincerely hope they have another go in the 2022 awards which are really only just around the corner.

Equally I can’t say enough about Raewyn’s addition to the Hall of Fame. What she has done for the community over the decades is simply amazing. We are truly blessed to have community and business leaders like Raewyn in our midst in Northland. The impact she has had on the community and in particularly Maoridom, is substantial, and she is showing no signs of slowing down.

Mr Smith says the addition of Top Energy and Northpower as principal sponsors has added a lot of strength to the awards and he is looking forward to leveraging off that even more in the lead up to the 2022 awards later this year.

Having our two locally owned electricity lines companies backing us has helped take the awards to a whole new level. They bring so much to the table – business acumen, humility and a real sense of community. They are passionate about giving back to their shareholder owners in every part of the communities that make up Northland.

We are equally grateful for the support of all of our sponsors, many of whom have supported the awards for a long time. And we look forward to working with them in the lead up to the 2022 awards later this year,” says Mr Smith.