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Nigel Bowen — The Face of the Timaru District
We sat down with Nigel Bowen, the mayor of the Timaru district, to unpack what makes South Canterbury an exceptional place to live, work and build a business. Nigel’s journey—rooted in hospitality, shaped by hard-won business lessons, and driven by a clear focus on infrastructure—gives us a useful window into how local leadership and community…
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Vidya Kethireddy & Juice Products New Zealand – the Carrot Capital of NZ
We met Vidya Kethireddy sitting in a carrot field — a fitting place to talk about a career built around one of the world’s most-loved vegetables. Vidya is the Technical and Quality Manager at Juice Products New Zealand. Her story moves from a small town in India to laboratories in the US, a PhD in…
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Brent and Aimee White – The Experts on Jewellery in Timaru
Timaru is the kind of place where a local business can be both a workshop and a community hub. The Ringmakers sits at that intersection — a jeweller’s bench where metal and stone are transformed into objects that mark life’s biggest moments, and a shopfront where neighbours stop in for a chat as much as…
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Nils Macfarlane & Maturo Siaosi – A Multicultural South Canterbury
South Canterbury is more than a pin on the map. It is a collection of people, small acts of welcome and deliberate decisions to build community. In Timaru and the surrounding district, that ethos is visible in everyday life and in organisations that make inclusion practical rather than aspirational. Two people at the heart of…
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Heartland Potato Chips – From Our Farm to You
We know South Canterbury for its open skies, strong communities and a deep connection to the land. Few stories capture that connection better than the one behind Heartland Potato Chips, where paddock and production line meet in a family-run operation that has become a familiar New Zealand name. This is the story of how a…
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Jeni Logan — How High Country Salmon Built a Community and a Business
High Country Salmon feels like a small family farm with big ambitions. Nestled along the main road close to Twizel, it began as one person’s dream and, over 25 years, has grown into a multi-faceted business that supports more than 60 families with jobs. We spent time with Jeni Logan, the Managing Director, to understand…
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Lionel & Lynette Wilson – Lives Dedicated to Community
In South Canterbury, community is not a buzzword. It is a way of life. We meet people who live that idea every day. Lionel and Lynette Wilson are two such people. Their story weaves family, adversity, leadership and years of quiet, effective volunteering into a powerful example of what it means to give back where…
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Season 1 Recap
We are thrilled to share that season one of Our People Our Stories has helped the South Canterbury social media pages reach over 200,000 organic views. Those views weren’t paid for or promoted, they came from your genuine engagement, from likes, shares, and comments. Thank you so much for caring about our beautiful region so…
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Shaun Campbell — Why Sport Thrives in South Canterbury
We met Shaun Campbell, the South Canterbury regional manager for Sport Canterbury at some of the region’s most-loved facilities. As a community-led champion of play, recreation and sport, Shaun embodies the energy, values, and practical vision that make South Canterbury an outstanding place to live, raise kids, and build a life around sport and activity.…
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Zac Robinson — From West Coast Roots to Leading Zolve Environmental
We recently sat down with Zac Robinson, the founder and managing director of Zolve Environmental, as part of our ongoing mini-series highlighting the people who make South Canterbury an exceptional place to live, work, and build a business. Produced by the South Canterbury District Website, this conversation traces Zac’s personal journey from his West Coast…
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