Southland Business Excellence Awards Launch Party
Wednesday 07 May, 4.30pm at Southland Business Chamber, 25 Don Street, Invercargill
Southland Business Excellence Awards Launch Party 2025.
Proudly sponsored by DataGrid NZ
Be part of the excitement as we officially launch the Southland Business Excellence Awards 2025! This event marks the beginning of Southland’s most celebrated prestigious business events.
Are you ready to showcase your business and celebrate success? Whether you’re a startup, a small business, or a well-established company, the Southland Business Excellence Awards are for everyone—no matter your size or industry.
Don't miss this chance to learn, connect, and take the first step towards considering applying. Our team is here to support you throughout the application process, ensuring you put your best foot forward.
What to Expect
Insights from our judges, including Frank Gibbons from Air NZ who will talk through the judging process
Exclusive tips for crafting a winning application from Sheree Carey, CEO of the Southland Business Chamber.
Introduction to our new user-friendly digital entry platform
Inspiring stories from previous award winners. We will hear from KiwiSkips and Morrifield Tunnel houses who have both been category winners.
Complimentary beverage and nibbles on arrival
Come along, have your questions answered, and discover how the Southland Business Excellence Awards can elevate your business to new heights. Let’s celebrate the innovation and success that define our business community.
Successful Contract Management
Tuesday 03 June , 9am at Southland Business Chamber, Invercargill
Good contract management is at the heart of every successful commercial relationship.
Contracts are key to achieving win-win outcomes for all parties involved in a commercial relationship, whether its engaging contractors for an office refurbishment project, engaging an IT company to provide technology solutions to enhance productivity, or entering into a long-term partnership with a customer or supplier to grow a business.
A correctly structured contract:
Clearly express obligations and commitments of the parties involved
Distributes risks across the parties fairly
Ensures parties meet expectations and deliver on their commitments
Identifies how parties may respond if things don’t go to plan.
Successful contract management requires planning, and then managing, all activities around creating, detailing, awarding, and administering a contract. This includes identifying, defining and negotiating the terms and conditions, and once agreed to, ensuring compliance, managing changes that arise during execution, and addressing failures to comply. It is also about successfully managing the interpersonal and commercial relationship between organizations, to achieve win-win outcomes for all parties involved.
An introduction to Risk Management
Wednesday 04 June, 1.45pm at Southland Business Chamber, Invercargill
Risk management ensures risks & problems are identified, understood and mitigated in time
Risk is a universal occurrence that affects people in all activities that they undertake, within any function of an organisation. Management of risk in a timely manner can be the difference between success or failure – a fatal lesson many organisations learnt at the start of the COVID pandemic.
Unfortunately, risk is often miss-understood, as people’s perception can drive their understanding of risk. This in turn impacts the level and depth of effort, cost and leadership focus, they place on solutions to manage the ‘perceived’ risks.
Risk Management is a structured approach for the identification, planning and management of risk within every function of an organisation, with the sole aim of reducing potential negative outcomes to the organisation.
Successful risk management consists of the following three stages:
Risk Identification – the systematic identification of any and every risk that might create a negative impact for the organization.
Risk Assessment – the analytical approach to understanding the effect every risk might have on the organisation, and prioritising risks for management.
Risk Mitigation – the design, development and implementation of suitable responses to either eliminate or mitigate risks.
Successful Project Management
Thursday 05 June, 9am at Southland Business Chamber, Invercargill
Good project management delivers a successful outcome, on time and to budget
Project management is often seen as the domain of engineers and software developers, and as such of limited value to non-techies. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Whether its driving transformation across an organisation, creating and launching new products and services or building new systems and business processes, projects are a part of daily life for every business and organisation.
Project management is simply the successful delivery of the desired outcome within set constraints – usually cost and time. At its heart, project management consists of the following three steps:
Developing a plan – knowing where you are now, where you want to be at ‘the end’, and mapping out how you are going to get there.
Tracking your progress – ever few steps forward, checking your progress and measuring it against your plan.
Managing change – if you are not where your plans says you need to be, then taking the necessary actions to get back on track.
An organisation’s ability to enhance its capability and capacity to deliver products and services to meet customer expectations, on time and within budget, is often directly linked to the ability of its personnel to plan and manage projects successfully.
Murihiku Regeneration Pathways Breakfast
Wednesday 11 June, 2025 at Bill Richardson Transport World, Invercargill
Murihiku Regeneration are excited to invite you to our second Pathways Breakfast of 2025, where we’ll explore how AI, technology, and capability building are shaping the future of work.
Date: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Time: 7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
Venue: Transport World, Invercargill
Murihiku Regeneration are pleased to announce that Hon Penny Simmonds will open the event, followed by insights from local industry leaders on the skills and capabilities young people will need in an evolving workforce.
This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with schools, industry, and community agencies to collaborate on shaping future pathways.
Please Save the Date now. More details, including RSVP information, will follow soon.
The Icehouse Business Owners Programme
Thursday 24 July, 8.30am, Southland Business Chamber, Invercargill
Learn new business skills and redesign your business for the future.
Criteria. New Zealand business owners of businesses $1M to $3M+ turnover
Duration. Three days, over three months
Format. Group sessions. In person
Investment. $5,970+gst | Southland Business Chamber members $4,970+gst (support available).
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Programme Overview
The Icehouse Business Owner Programme provides a unique learning environment for owners of Kiwi businesses, where you'll develop the tools, support, and connections to drive progress and create a better business.
What's Covered
Deciding where the business will operate and how it will win in the future
Driving growth from the top – Leadership, Mindset & Resilience
Building a high performing team and culture in the business
Transforming how the business wins sales and why customers choose you
Generating growth through digital / social media channels
Understanding of accounting and finance principles
Building a Business Growth Plan to keep you focussed.
BDO Biz Bites- Enhance Your Business and Yourself!
Wednesday 07 May, 12pm at Southland Business Chamber, 25 Don Street, Invercargill
Join us on Wednesday, May 7th, for a unique BDO Biz Bites session featuring the team from COIN South.
What is Design Thinking?
Design thinking means solving problems by focusing on the people who will use the solution.
What is Innovation Thinking?
Innovation thinking is about coming up with big, fresh ideas that create change.
Design and Innovation Thinking = Let the team from COIN South introduce you to the power of design and innovation thinking.
During the presentation you will learn why innovation is crucial for Business & Personal growth.
Learn the core principles of design thinking & how it fosters creativity and problem-solving. Then learn how you can apply these into the real world. The team will give practical tips to get actionable results.
These practical strategies aren't just for businesses—they're tools you can use to enrich your personal life as well. No matter your role, you're welcome to join us and explore how these approaches can spark creativity and improvement.
Bring your lunch, your curiosity, and your sense of humor! Tea and Coffee provided.
Engage & Connect
Enjoy a morning of Southland hospitality with no agenda-just delicious food, refreshing drinks, and a chance to network with industry peers.