Exporting passion leads to award

Catherine Simmons, export manager for Mainfreight International at Mount Maunganui, is continually amazed at the resilience of Bay of Plenty exporters.
Despite the high kiwi dollar, high compliance costs, rampant fuel prices and tight shipping space, the exporters are continuing to move and sell their quality products overseas.
Mrs Simmons said the specialist food manufacturers never really suffered during the recession but orders and sales slowed for locally-built machinery and components, particularly forestry and agriculture equipment.
"They all seem to be up and running again, and that's fantastic. We've been extremely busy this year and it's a reflection of what is happening out there. At the end of the day, we are exporting great products. Customers had not bought them for awhile and, sooner or later, they needed to buy them again," she said.
Mrs Simmons said it was "pretty incredible" that under present conditions local machinery manufacturers could ship their products to the other side of the world and compete with countries such as Germany.
"We have the innovation here, and the exporters - they already have a strong domestic base - have learned to do things smarter and more efficiently. I take my hat off to those who are exporting successfully. They are just an amazing bunch of resilient people," she said.
Mrs Simmons could have been easily talking about herself. Over the 18 years, she has championed the cause of exporters.
A former president of Export NZ Bay of Plenty (it was called Export Institute BOP in her day), Mrs Simmons was presented with the Zespri International Service to Export Award on Friday night.
After attending 16 of the last 18 Bay of Plenty awards gala dinners, she had to take centre-stage this time. "I had no idea. In a million years, I never expected the award. On the night, I was shocked but lots of people have rung me (since) and I feel extremely honoured and absolutely delighted to receive the award."
She was the first woman to win this award which recognises her contribution to the industry. Previous winners have been exporting champions: Rob Jeffrey (Jeffco International), Jon Mayson (Port of Tauranga, NZ Trade and Enterprise chairman), Murray Hill (Sharp Tudhope), Murray Davies (Pacific Stone, former Export New Zealand president), Bob Sievwright (Trimax Mowing Systems), Alan Bougen (Comvita NZ), Lionel Crawley (NZ Trade and Enterprise) and Graeme Boyd (Comvita, Trimax).
Mrs Simmons, who has worked at Mainfreight for nearly six years, has become an expert in freight forwarding. That involves arranging shipping and airline services, documentation, warehousing domestic and overseas, customs clearances, and delivery to the door in the export market.
"We are a one-stop shop option for exporters," said Mrs Simmons, who looks after 10 leading exporters in the Bay and Waikato.
A Mainfreight service is offering to store product at one of its distribution/logistics centres overseas. "As far as the buyers are concerned, they think the product is just down the road, and the quicker delivery overcomes the long distance (from New Zealand) to markets. That's been a big change," Mrs Simmons said.
"Also, over the past few years a lot of vessels have gone out half empty and shipping lines have pulled some of the services. They got together and shared slots so the ships would be full.
"But now the shipping lines haven't brought the services back and space onboard the vessels is tight, and shipping prices haven't dropped. It's not a good time to negotiate good deals, but that will change again."
Mrs Simmons has learned a lot since the day, 18 years ago, she knocked on the door of one of the Owens Group's privately-owned companies, Freight Bureau International (FBi).
Former FBi manager Bruce Baggenstos remembered the day well. During the video presentation at the awards night, he said: "We needed a sales rep and someone with extensive industry knowledge and experience. Catherine had neither.
"She had come recommended by my sister-in-law who demanded she at least be given an interview. Besides, she said she looked like Jackie O. In my time, I have worked with exceptional people, and Catherine is one of these.
"She has the quality I rate highest of all - she cares about her clients and takes it personally. As a client what more could you want?"
Mrs Simmons said: "After all the travelling we had done, I was desperate to get into a career when we returned to Tauranga in 1993 and my daughter (Marcia) was at high school. I just grasped the opportunity and soaked up the information, and the industry speak. I'm the sort of person who has to find a passion and do the job properly. I got a real feel for the issues facing exporters and the difficulty of their journey to sell products offshore. My job was to get the goods safely to their destinations."
Five months after joining FBi, she replaced Mr Baggenstos on the Export Institute BOP committee and became president in 1996-97. During the second year, she led a 19-strong Bay of Plenty Trade Mission to Singapore and Malaysia - among those who joined her were: Ray Ellis of Ellis Agricultural; Ian Macrae of Page & Macrae, Rex Hayes of Spida Machinery, Bob Sievwright of Trimax and Stan Gregec of Tradenz.
In 2003, Mrs Simmons worked for Owens International after it bought FBi and, then three years later, finished up working for Mainfreight which took over Owens International. "I've been doing the same thing all along - but for different companies," she said.
Mrs Simmons is well and truly settled in the exporting industry after having an adventurous earlier life.
Her husband, David, an electrician, is a keen sailor. In Darwin, he rebuilt a boat and they sailed to Indonesia. "It was all very 1970s, if you know what I mean," she said.
David later built a 10-metre steel yacht called Tai Taki and they sailed around the Pacific for nearly seven years. They stayed on Hamilton Island and she worked for a yacht charter company.
After selling the boat in Brisbane, they lived in Vancouver for a year before returning to Tauranga in 1993.
David hasn't lost his adventurous streak. He went to the Caribbean in 2009 and bought a 13-metre Dufour yacht called Zia, which is berthed at Tauranga Marina in Sulphur Point. No doubt there will be more adventures in the Simmons family, but right now she is content to support and encourage local exporters to find continuing success overseas.