NORTH OTAGO IRRIGATION LTD - THE TEAM
Board of Directors (from left to right) - John Wright, Grant Isbister, Callum Kingan, Geoff Plunket, Matt Ross (Chair), Paul Hope and Gareth Isbister
THE OFFICE TEAM
Robyn Wells - Chief Executive Officer
Robyn is originally from the North Island of New Zealand and joined NOIC in August 2010 after 25 years international experience including USA and Australia. Robyn is a graduate of Massey University (BSc.), holds a Masters of Science (University of Queensland, Australia) as well as a Masters of Business Administration (College of William and Mary, Virginia, USA). Robyn’s career focus has been in rural industry based investments, environmental management, project management and large-scale asset management. Robyn has worked in industries including biofuels, liquid fertiliser, animal feed, and engineering & plant construction.
As CEO Robyn is responsible for the implementation of the company’s strategy.
Stephen Craig-Pearson - Commercial Manager
Stephen started his career in banking and has worked overseas in project finance for several international banks, as well as serving a variety of industries within the corporate banking sector here in NZ. Ten years ago Stephen moved into chartered accounting, which led him into business consulting and financial management. For the last seven years Stephen worked for NZ Genomics, a national science infrastructure that served all sectors of NZ science. Stephen is a keen rower and competes in master’s regattas. He works four days a week in Oamaru and one day a week from Dunedin, where he lives with his family.
As Commercial Manager Stephen is responsible for overseeing the financial control of the business and contributing to strategic planning and business development.
Dylan Robertson - Environmental Manager
Dylan holds a Master of Science from the University of Otago and after a stint of sheep farming in Denmark and English teaching in Germany, returned to Dunedin in 2009 to work for the Otago Regional Council as a Community Liaison and Education Officer. This involved working in North and Central Otago assisting farmers with water quality and quantity matters. Since then he has worked as a Sustainability Analyst for Craigmore Station in South Canterbury.
Dylan spent many a school holiday working on his granddad’s farms around the Waitaki District and likes to get the odd blue cod off the Kakanui boat ramp. He’s pretty familiar with the area and has developed good networks both locally and in the wider region.
Kathy Arras - Business Support Administrator
Kathy was born in Timaru and moved to Dunedin in 1993 to study at a Tertiary level and chose Otago Polytechnics Diploma in Business Studies, also achieving a Diploma in Management, after completing 14 papers and almost 5 years part time study. Over the next 20 years she gained an extensive knowledge of office/accounting systems mostly in the construction, food and manufacturing industries.
Earlier this year she made the decision to relocate to Oamaru to be closer to her son and his family. She also has a daughter who lives in Germany with her husband. Kathy enjoys Travel, Home renovations, Reading, Music and spending time with her family. As the Business Support Administrator, Kathy is responsible to undertake “front of house” duties, oversee administration and the Office environment, carry out financial processing and provide support and co-ordination.
THE OPERATIONS TEAM
The Operations team is responsible for repairs and maintenance to infrastructure and ensuring that the scheme performs to our shareholder's expectations.
Ben Stratford - Manager of Operations
Ben's profile will be updated shortly
Colin Perkins - Operator Supervisor
Colin was born in Dunedin but completed most of his schooling in Oamaru before moving to Australia where he worked in a number of different industries for seven years. He returned to North Otago to raise his family and has held a number of managerial roles in the district.
Colin joined NOIC near the end of the 2016 irrigation season during a time of significant change with the development of the expansion. He has relished the opportunity to be part of the scheme's growth and develop relationships with shareholders and interested parties.
Greg Millin - Operator
Greg grew up in Oamaru and went to St Kevin’s and then moved into farming in the North Otago region. Deciding to explore the world, he moved to Australia in a farming role, which then lead to working in the mines.
After a few years he moved back to the South Island and returned to the agricultural sector. When the opportunity to work with NOIC arose, Greg was excited about the role and moving back to his home town to settle.
Will Fisher - Operator
Will grew up on his parent’s farm near Maheno, where he attended a local primary school before moving onto Waitaki Boys High School. After leaving high school he attended Otago University where he studied IT.
After leaving University he decided that working indoors wasn’t his thing and decided to get a job as a worker on a dairy farm, and eventually moved onto managing a dairy support farm. A job came up in 2016 to work for NOIC and he thought it would be a good opportunity to learn something new while still working within the rural sector, which he is passionate about.
Barry Johnston - Operator
Barry was born and raised in Oamaru where he attended Waitaki Boys High School. After leaving school he worked in the building industry for a local firm for around 13 years, after this Barry started in the tyre industry as a trainee tyre technician where he worked his way up to become a store manager. Between the time he was a trainee and store manager he took a break from the tyre industry and spent some time in a manufacturing plant where he worked as a team leader. Barry is interested in fishing, jet boating and is currently restoring a 1978 Chevy Camaro.
Shane Hill - Operator
Shane was born and raised in the North Otago area and attended Waitaki Boys High School. Whilst there he studied agriculture and found a passion for being outside working. His school holidays were spent in Temuka helping out his family with their horses.
Shane started working for NOIC in 2014 when he was 18 years old and is looking forward to the future and excited to see the growth of the scheme.