TOP CONTENDER: Stuart Urbahn is in the running for a national management award. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO
Whanganui supermarket manager Stuart Urbahn is in the running to become Countdown's Store Manager of the Year.
As manager for Countdown Victoria Ave, Mr Urbahn has been named top manager for the Lower North Island and is now in the running for the national title along with three other managers.
What started as an after school job over 20 years ago has become a career for Mr Urbahn who started stacking shelves in Hawera as a 16-year-old.
"I worked at the old Write Price in Hawera which is long gone now but it gave me a great start.
"A full time job came up and I wanted to leave school because I loved the idea of working full time.