Rural workshops coming
New Zealand’s female farmers are set to benefit from Alliance Group’s popular Women’s Workshop series next month.
The interactive workshops are being rolled out to the North Island for the first time.
Attendees will receive an update on the latest developments at the co-operative, as well as hear from key speakers including livestock and shareholder services general manager Heather Stacy, and marketing general manager Peter Russell, who will offer his insight and knowledge on branding and why it is important.
Stacy said women made up half of the co-operative’s shareholders and they made vital contributions to its success.
‘‘We want to take women along the Alliance journey by encouraging them to attend our workshops where they can learn more about our co-operative and give them an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience.’’
Stacy began working with Alliance towards the end of last year. After previously working in the dairy industry, which she said was very good at engaging with women, Stacy was impressed to see Alliance was also working to value the contribution women made in the industry.
It was good to see the cooperative was recognising some of the challenges half of the partnership had, when they often had family and work commitments outside of the farming business, she said.
The year’s event will also include a talk on knife care, with an opportunity to purchase a highquality knife.
Stacy said the workshops would give women the opportunity to develop their understanding of how the co-operative operated in a safe and comfortable environment.
At the workshops she will speak about the company but also her own background. While the agricultural industry was often thought of as a bit of a boys’ club, there were many women working for Alliance, she said.
Shareholders were often curious about how she got to where she was in her career, but Stacy also found she had a lot in common with the women who chose to be shareholders, she said.
‘‘They chose to be shareholders with Alliance and I chose to work for Alliance.’’
While the main focus of the workshops was to educate shareholders, there were also other benefits. Stacy said the women would be able to meet likeminded women from similar backgrounds.
‘‘The purpose is to introduce more insight into the company but the spinoff is that it does give people the opportunity to network.’’
The workshops were a great way to get women shareholders more involved in the business, but Stacy said there were still more opportunities for Alliance to engaged with them.
She saw opportunities to increase the family friendliness of general co-operative events so there would be wider attendance, including supervised child care, she said.
Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor said successful farming was about partnerships.
‘‘It’s no secret that women are among the key decision makers on the farm so it’s vital they have the information to make informed decisions to improve the productivity and profitability of their farms.’’
The workshops will be held in Invercargill at the Ascot Park Hotel on May 8 from 10am to 3pm and, in Gore at the Heartland Hotel on May 9 from 10am to 3pm and 6.30pm to 9.30pm.
To register email: communications@alliance.co.nz or phone 03 214 2734.