ENGAGE
Engineering Southland's Future
We've all heard of famous innovation clusters - technology in Silicon Valley, arts and entertainment in Hollywood, finance on Wall Street and in the City of London, country music in Nashville, automobiles in Detroit, and wine in Marlborough.
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ENGAGE is a dynamic industry ‘cluster’ and advocate for Engineering and Manufacturing firms in the Southland region, New Zealand. With a commitment to collaboration, ENGAGE fosters partnerships among local companies, promotes trades careers to youth, and supports businesses with R&D, automation, and export services. As Southland’s response to the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter closure, ENGAGE aims to create a vibrant hub of excellence.
ENGAGE is dedicated to driving innovation and sustainability in Southland’s industrial sector. By providing a platform for businesses to access cutting-edge technology and industry expertise, ENGAGE helps local companies thrive in a competitive global market.
The ENGAGE vision encompasses community impact and economic resilience, nurturing local talent, attracting new industries, and reducing reliance on the smelter. With the highest concentration of engineering firms per capita in New Zealand, Southland is poised for transformative growth.
The ENGAGE values are
- Unity – together we can achieve more
- Real – Straight-forward, no-nonsense approach
- Growth – Think big, aim high
- Enthusiasm – Energy in everything we do
Why ENGAGE?
- We are stronger together
- We need to engage and work collaboratively, and to leverage our collective strengths.
We encourage you to view our events calendar (interactive PDF). The calendar has been designed to highlight events that will support you and your business, and includes networking, professional development opportunities, business and study tours, and industry forums. You can also click here for latest news, stories and updates.
Join us in shaping a prosperous future for the region through collaboration and excellence. Contact Brendan Gray, ENGAGE General Manager to learn how you can get involved.
Creating stability for Southland through
diversifying the economy, focusing on high wage
and low emissions jobs, building community resilience and supporting stronger regional leadership.
Initial Governance Advisory Group
Dean Addie
Ngāti Toa Rangatira
CEO, T4 Group
Dean is CEO of T4 Group and is based in Invercargill.
T4 Group provides hyper-scale co-location data centre infrastructure to the NZ market.
Dean is a Fellow of the Institute of Management NZ and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors NZ.
Dean has held many local and national board roles over the last 20 years.
Dean originated from a trade background and has developed strong governance experience throughout his career. He has a passion for people and a strong Health, Safety, and Well-being culture. Dean believes there is a place where process and progress can live together.
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He Tangata! He Tangata! He Tangata!
Dean has been appointed Interim Chair for the Cluster.
Gareth Dykes
Gareth along with his with wife Melissa Dykes own FI Innovations, an award winning company based in Invercargill.
FI Innovations started in 2002 with one employee and one customer, today they serve clients throughout Australasia with a diversified range of products and services from custom manufacturing of high end composites to Additive Manufacturing and product development.
Gareth is a self confessed “lean manufacturing fanatic” and has overseen the lean programme since 2009. Continual improvement and change has been engrained into the business and into the team culture. Gareth holds a Level 4 qualification in both Composites and Resin Flooring.
Away from work, Gareth enjoys spending time with his three active sons, squash, disc golf and mountain biking.
Michelle Henderson
Michelle Henderson is an Independent Director based in Invercargill.
Her current directorships include Meridian Energy Ltd, the group of Fulton Hogan businesses across NZ and Australia and South Port NZ Ltd. She is also a Board Member of Cycling New Zealand Incorporated. Michelle is a Chartered Member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
She brings engineering expertise and broad business understanding to the board room from her executive career with Rio Tinto and PowerNet. Michelle brings a passion for sustainable business outcomes, strong assurance processes and workplace health and safety.
Chris Hughes
Born and raised in Southland Chris has worked here his entire career except for a 2½ year secondment in Auckland.
Married with five girls he is a family orientated person who also wants to ensure our regions success for ours and future generations through business led growth and making sure there is a clear pathway for our youth into vocational education and trades.
Chris is the Managing Director of MPE Limited, a specialist engineering and manufacturing business and has held senior Management positions with a large NZ corporate as well as owning and operating other businesses in the SME space.
He is a current board member of the Southland and NZ Chambers of Commerce, a member of the Murihiku Regional Skills Leadership group and is an active business mentor through the NZ Business Mentor program.
