Whanganui entrepreneurs Abbi and Rodney Calman take out Innovate competition

Abbi and Rodney Calman at the Innovate Whanganui final last week. Photo / Supplied

The second edition of the Dragon's Den-style competition Innovate Whanganui came to a close last week at the War Memorial Centre.

Abbi and Rodney Calman beat three other finalists and claimed the $5000 first prize for their mobile wheel chock for heavy vehicles - the Safety Chock.

Innovate is a collaboration between economic development agency Whanganui & Partners and Palmerston North-based business collective The Factory.

The couple own Calman Engineering in Aramoho, and Abbi Calman said the idea stemmed from solving an issue for a customer.

"It was for their inwards goods.

"We made the chock then thought 'Actually, this is quite a good idea'.

"Obviously we are engineers not salespeople, so we contacted our accountant who put us in touch with Whanganui & Partners. They told us we would be good candidates for Innovate and it's all just gone from there."

The Calmans had been working on the chock for over a year before they were selected for Innovate's 10-week accelerator programme.

There they were paired with business mentors.

"Rodney and I are definitely not the kinds of people that put ourselves out there so we really had to push ourselves to do this [Innovate]," Calman said.

"You always hear people saying I had such-and-such an idea 20 years ago but someone's doing it now.

"We just said 'Let's not be those people, let's actually do something'. Hopefully we can help people save time and injuries."

Calman said the product was aimed at people who were in charge of health and safety for all people on a site.

"They [chocks] will be in warehouses and distribution centres, and perhaps even airports and petrol stations in the future.

"Basically, it's anywhere where people load and unload stuff."

The Calmans present their pitch for the Safety Chock. Photo / Paterson Brown

The chock was a wedge "made of sturdy material", put in front and behind a wheel to stop a vehicle from moving, Calman said.

Instead of the user crouching under the vehicle, the Safe Chock can be wheeled into place, avoiding unnecessary bending or lifting.

The $2000 second prize went to Julia Lee Hansen and her pet memorial jewellery that allows owners to keep a part of their animals with them after they die.

Last year's winner Vaughan Campbell is still getting Good Bones Distillery up and running.

The project, based out of the Lads Brewing facility in Whanganui East, converts surplus baked goods into premium vodka.

Campbell said his first batch was due in late spring.

"The guys at Lads have helped me a lot to get this across the line. A few things have been added to the building, safety precautions and things like that.

"Obviously we are dealing with health and safety red tape but it's nothing we can't handle.

"Every time you go into Lads for a beer you'll see my still, and you'll probably see me as well."

The first run of vodka would come in at around 60 bottles, Campbell said.

"I've got a baker on board and I've just had a chat with another today who will have surplus food I can use.

"This first batch is going to be made out of chocolate cake."

The next steps for the Safe Chock was marketing and branding, Calman said.

"We might need a better name for it as well.

"Now that Innovate is out of the way we can really focus on all the business side of things.

"Making the chock is the easy part, that's what we do. We need to work on progressing it and getting it out there to the public."

Whanganui & Partners chief executive Hannah Middleton said she was encouraged by the calibre of all the finalists.

"We were so proud of the contestants and their performance on finals night.

"They have all embraced the Innovate experience and their impressive pitches reflected the high stakes at hand."

Five finalists from Innovate Whanganui 2021 were back to support this year's event, Middleton said.