Hall of Fame Laureates announced

Young Enterprise Trust has announced the seven individuals who will be inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame on 10^th August, at the annual black-tie gala event.
 

The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame recognises and celebrates individuals who have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of Aotearoa New Zealand. Each Laureate has a story of enterprise, hard work and success. Each has slow generously contributed to their community.  The awards seek to celebrate their achievements, and also put them up as a role model for young entrepreneurs.

The 2023 New Zealand Business Hall of Fame Laureates are:

• Living Laureates – Sir Paul Adams, Michael Barnett, Theresa Gattung, Ted Manson, Kingi Smiler & Wally Stone
• Posthumous Laureates – Kelly Tarlton

The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame was launched in 1994 by the charity, Young Enterprise.  According to Terry Shubkin, CEO of Young Enterprise, “we launched the NZ Business Hall of Fame as a way of celebrating success and creating role models for the students we work with”.  When it was launched, business awards weren’t very common.  Today, there are a lot of great awards and the organisation says these are different because it’s about celebrating the book ends of achievement. As a hall of fame, those being inducted have a lifetime of achievement, not just the last few years.  According to Shubkin, “to tie it into our day job, each Laureate is hosted by a YES student.  And we end the ceremony with a student speaker.  We call it the passing of the baton – from those that have been to those that will be”.

The Laureates are as follows:

Sir Paul Adams – A civil engineer, Sir Paul’s company Carrus has developed approximately 10,000 residential, commercial, and industrial lots over the last 40 years, industrial and commercial developments, and many commercial and industrial buildings. A Chartered Fellow of the IoD, he gives working time to the NFP sector and is a well-known philanthropist.  He was Founding Chair of Accessible Properties, a 100% owned IHC company and 2^nd largest social housing provider in NZ.  He was a Founding Director of Prioirty One and was a Trustee of the University of Waikato and a Director of several Crown Entities and many private companies.  He is the Patron for Waipuna Hospice Tauranga and Te Tuinga Whanau Support for the homeless.

Michael Barnett – Michael Barnett was Chief Executive of the Auckland Business Chamber for over 30 years and was recognised as the voice of business for Auckland and NZ. He was a champion for diversity across NZ, advocated for the best environment in which small and medium business could operate, worked closely with many economic development agencies throughout NZ and more recently has established a successful support framework for business and mental health and wellbeing. He has represented NZ on the World Chamber Board – a network of over 15,000 Chambers. When the economy failed in the late eighties and the Auckland Santa parade was left without a home he established and chaired a Trust that has presented a Santa parade for Auckland for over thirty years. 

Theresa Gattung (pictured) – Theresa was the first female CEO of an NZX listed company with her role at Telecom. She now divides her time between professional governance, entrepreneurial projects, and philanthropic work. As co-founder of My Food Bag, she helped take the start-up to a nationwide company with a turnover of over $130m. She chairs AIA New Zealand, Tend and Global Women plus is a member of the National Advisory Board on the Employment of Women. She funded the Theresa Gattung Chair of Women in Entrepreneurship within the University of Auckland Business School and launched the Gattung Foundation whose main charitable purposes are to support the relief of poverty, the education and advancement of women, Māori and Pasifika to reduce inequality and the care, support and protection of animals. 

Ted Manson – Ted’s is an inspirational success story from a state house upbringing to building a billion-dollar property business that remains family owned and operated. From buying, renovating and selling thousands of houses in the early days, to building thousands of houses and apartments and over 40 substantial commercial buildings, trail-blazing the Green Building movement, building 163 6 Homestar-rated social housing apartments with a personal $100m+ investment, and even saving churches. Ted’s talents are now focussed on charitable endeavours through his Foundation in which he has seeded over $20million where he works at the coal face to assist the vulnerable members of our society. 

Kingi Smiler – Kingi traces his whakapapa to ancestors who experienced first-hand the devastating effects of colonization and the loss of Māori land.  They left a legacy of advocating strongly for the return and development of land under Māori ownership and control. Achieving significant legislative changes affecting Māori land and the ongoing campaign to seek justice for the return of whanau land taken by the Crown in the 1940’s, reflects Kingi’s dedication to their legacy. Kingi established the first Māori owned dairy company Miraka Limited and has led many major investments and developments across dairy, sheep and beef, horticulture and forestry in Māori agribusiness. Tribes – Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Te Atiawa, Whakatohea, Tuhoe 

Wally Stone – Wally has over 30 years of executive management and governance experience with private, public, iwi and non-profit organisations. Including chairman; Ngai Tahu Holding Corporation, New Zealand Tourism Board, Koau Capital Partners and Whale Watch Kaikoura. Wally has been recognized for his leadership in the area of tourism, business and Māori economic development. He received the Sir Jack Newman award for lifetime achievement to the tourism industry, was made a fellow of the NZ Institute of management and was made an Officer of the New Zealand order of merit for his contribution to both tourism, business and Māori economic development. Iwi:  Waitaha, Ngai Tahu, Ngati Mutunga

Kelly Tarlton – Kelly Tarlton designed an innovative marine aquarium four times larger than any other in the world, called ‘Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World’, opened in 1985. It was immediately successful with 100,000 visitors in 7 weeks. In 1987 it won British Tourism’s Award for Best New Attraction Worldwide. Kelly’s concept and design has been copied extensively internationally, with his innovative techniques, such as curving acrylic tunnels, still widely used. These aquariums have promoted awareness and conservation of the marine environment around the world. Kelly is already inducted into two International Hall of Fame.

For more information, visit www.businesshalloffame.co.nz.