Northpower bright sparks have scooped several top places in the annual national power and telecommunications industry awards.
Three staff were named the most outstanding trainees in their categories at the Electricity Supply Industry Training Organisation (ESITO) awards last week, including former Northland woman Aroha McLean who has earned the titleNetworks Trainee of the Year.
Northpower project manager Mike Hughes was named Advanced Trainee of the Year, and Warkworth-based John Donald took out the outstanding leader award for Top Foreman in the National Lines Mechanics' competition.
Other trainees and employees who placed highly were Northpower's Warkworth team comprising John Donald, Dave Lelo, Neil Wardle and Tom Winterbottom and coach Lyndon Connolly in the Line Mechanics competition, Brent Richards who was runner-up in the Cable Jointer competition, and Cam Miller, Pat Croul and Katherine Cosgrove who were finalists in various divisions.
"Mike, Aroha and John thoroughly deserve their awards, however the calibre of all entrants was high so even those who didn't walk away with awards should hold their heads high with the recognition they received," Northpower's general manager of business support, Barbara Harrison, said.
"This is good recognition for the commitment, drive, skill and potential of people who have dedicated themselves to ongoing study and upskilling."
Soon to qualify as a cable jointer, Ms McLean joined Northpower two years ago in an initiative between the company, ESITO and Electrix, designed to encourage more women into the traditionally male-dominated energy sector.
She has more recently been helping promote the project, Ultimit, (formerly Women in Power), launched in August.
