Thank you to all of you who attended the 65th LASRA Conference at the Amora Hotel, Wellington. We all thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with friends old and new, and having the opportunity to show you some of the work being conducted at LASRA on your behalf. Pen drives with all the presentations have been sent out, so look out for yours in the postbag.
One of the highlights of the conference is presentation of the Awards to the top performing students in 2013 at the Conference Dinner. Four award winners were able to attend this year to accept their awards, and it helped reinforce how important the connection is with our generous sponsors of these awards.
A total of 6 awards are presented annually to the highest achieving students in the Introductory, Fellmongery, Advanced Course Year 1 and Year 2 courses.
The award for the top student on the Fellmongery Course went to Hayley Grant of Alliance Freezing Works, Lorneville.
Hayley receiving the Chemcolour Award and a cheque for $1000 from David Thompson, Industry Manager at Chemcolour Industries (NZ) Ltd
The award for the top student on the Introductory Leather Course went to Kristy Gray of G L Bowron, Christchurch
Kristy receiving the Shamrock Award and a cheque for $1000 from John Quigley, Managing Director of the Shamrock Group Ltd
The prize for coming runner-up on the Introductory Leather Course was awarded to Bernie Lynskey of Nichols (NZ) Ltd of Christchurch. Unfortunately Bernie was unable to attend the Conference but it was accepted on his behalf by Tim Percy.
Tim receiving the Interchem Award and a cheque for $500 from Arron Stewart Business Manager at Interchem Agencies Ltd on behalf of Bernie
The award for the top student in the 1st year of the Advanced Course went to Mark Mandanici of Howe Leather, Melbourne.
Mark receiving the Lanxess Award and cheque for $500 from Katrina Bunge, General Manager, Bayer Material Science, NZ
The runner up award in the second year of the Advanced Course went to Dave Jones of CMP, Ashburton. Unfortunately Dave was unable to attend the Conference but his award was accepted on his behalf by John Livingstone, Co-Products Production Manager, CMP.
John receiving the Dominion Salt Award and a $500 cheque from Robin Piggott, Regional Sales Manager, Dominion Salt Ltd., on behalf of Dave
The final award of the evening was the Allied Colour Award which goes to the top student in the 2nd year of the Advanced Course, and includes a fully paid trip to the Shanghai Leather Fair. This year’s recipient was Abhi Ummat of Howe Leather, Melbourne.
Abhi receiving the Allied Colour Award from Howard McConachie, Managing Director, Allied Colour Ltd.
Congratulations to all the award winners, and thanks to the award sponsors for their continued support of Industry Training.