Sabrina Harms to co-ordinate Te Puke Business Excellence Awards

Sabrina Harms will co-ordinate this year's Te Puke Business Excellence Awards.

After a hiatus partly planned and partly enforced, Te Puke's Business Excellence Awards are back in 2021.

Last held in 2018, the awards were next to be held in 2020. However, like much of last year, they were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year's awards promise a fresh new look to the presentation ceremony, with American-Kiwi Sabrina Harms coming on board to co-ordinate things from start to finish, with the start coming this week as nominations open, and the end the awards ceremony on July 9.

Sabrina has a theatre background and says she sees her role as stage managing, or producing the awards.

''That put it in my language,'' she says.

But she will also be communicating with the community.

''I want to light the spark in the heart of Te Puke and get everybody excited about this and then throw a bit of a 'do' in July which will be quite fun.''

The awards are a Te Puke EDG initiative and managing director Mark Boyle says Sabrina has good organising skills.

''It's good to have somebody that's got high energy and it's fair to say she is going to be visible.

''Sabrina says the website www.tepukeawards.business is the place to go to make nominations.

''We'll also have information for the community and also for businesses so the businesses understand judges are just coming in to look at the wonderful things they are doing and looking at the great communities they are creating within their businesses and also within Te Puke and ease any stress they may have and help them understand what's going to be involved.''

Sabrina is also working on creating a mascot for the awards.

Sabrina's mum is a Kiwi from Rotorua and her dad is from Illinois in the USA.

While she was raised in Colorado, there were regular visits to New Zealand staying in the family bach at Pukehina Beach, but now the family has moved here permanently.

Sabrina went to study acting in Chicago.

''I was there for a while and had just shifted out to LA when the pandemic hit so I'm hoping I can make my big break in New Zealand instead.''

Sabrina is represented by Tanya Horo of TMH Management and conducts some classes with her in Tauranga.

''I was fortunate with the theatre communities that I, literally, grew up in,'' says Sabrina.

''The one in my local school was incredible and did some awesome things, but it was all hands on deck, so if you were in the play, you also went back and built the set, you went to the supermarket and asked for sponsorship.''

Working in Chicago was similar.

''There are a couple of theatres that are well off, but also a lot of people go there to create things that are really new and edgy and different, so that means you are all hands on desk - you are multi-tasking and you've got a day job and you've also got your acting job.''

Sabrina has also put together a one-woman comedy show that she performed in bars and theatres and has produced stage read-ins.

''It's where you still have scripts and can throw things in or work with a script that's not finished yet. I produced one through Women's History Month.

''As an actor you've got to get excited about stuff and got to be able to fall in love with just about anything and I think what I have done will lend itself really well to [the awards].''

While Sabrina's will be the face of the awards, she wants to create something that focuses on the spirit of Te Puke.

''But I will be the driving force behind getting it out there and coming up with ways of engaging people.''

There are five categories for nominations - retail, food and beverage, service, hort and ag and employee of the year - and a supreme winner.

''Step one is the nominations,'' says Mark. ''There's an online portal where people can nominate. Then the big job is collating the nominations, qualifying the nominations because they've got to want to be in it, then Sabrina will get the judges in.''

Nominations close on April 9.