Contractor profile: Tairawhiti Contractors

Katareina Kaiwai has worked her way up the chain of the civil infrastructure industry to start her own contract roading service and now trains and encourages others to get into the business

Katareina (Kat) Kaiwai is living pretty much the opposite of the life she imagined when she was younger. The hard-working contractor has worked her way up the chain of the civil infrastructure industry to start her own contract roading service and now trains and encourages others to get into the business.

Kat says she never imagined running her own roading firm. But she does, and she loves it.

“I was going to be a supermodel with two Rottweilers, single, and no kids. Look at me now – I’m a single mum with three kids and my own business.”

So how did this happen?

Swapping places

Twelve years ago, Kat began work as a contract administrator with Fulton Hogan in their Wellington office. It was a job she enjoyed, but she admits she knew little about the practical aspects of roading. When she moved to Fulton Hogan’s Gisborne office, the opportunity came to go out in the field, and she jumped at it.

In fact, Kat liked it so much that she decided she’d start her Civil Infrastructure Apprenticeship with Connexis while on the job.

While it meant starting on the stop/go sign, Kat didn’t mind. She saw it as an opportunity to learn more about her profession.

“One of the first things I learned was how undervalued traffic management is. When I went out on my first day to help set up a work site, it took me a long time to figure out what to do. I used to think, ‘oh, these guys are holding us up and what an easy job.’ I came to realise it was much harder. You learn about public behaviour as well as traffic behaviour. Every day you do all sorts such as working in capital works, powerlines, and maintenance projects. Some days it can be busy, and you engage with others, and on some days, you can hear the crickets chirping, and there are only two cars all day.”

During her apprenticeship, Kat worked in as many different areas as possible. She gained her Wheels, Tracks and Rollers licence and Class two trucking licence.
She also worked on patrol crews to attend call-outs for road stabilising and dig-outs.”

Four years later, in December 2020, Kat completed her Civil Infrastructure Apprenticeship.

Kat says having such a thorough understanding of the industry helps enormously. Now she is also a trainer and assessor at Connexis.

Tairāwhiti Contractors

When Kat had her third child and was still completing her apprenticeship, she planned on being a stay-at-home mum. But when a colleague asked if she’d start a contract drainage crew, she decided to go for it and start her own business.

“I put an advertisement out and found a couple of people on the coast who wanted to give traffic management a go, so I taught them until they qualified. I was then asked to start another crew. One contract led to another.”

Kat now employs a staff of 23 and is based in Ruatoria. Many of her staff come from the East Coast region and a quarter of them are women.

She knows the challenges of this northeastern corner of the North Island well.

Severe weather events regularly threaten the network.

“It has been a challenge, especially with recent heavy rainfalls. Every time it rains, things move. It was a huge challenge when the Mangahauini Bridge in Tokomaru Bay washed out in March this year.”

Thanks to a massive effort by a team of contractors (including Tairāwhiti Contractors), the bridge was repaired 11 days earlier than expected.”

Most of their current work is traffic management because that’s needed most needed.  

“Downers might need us on SH2, or Fulton Hogan might need us on western contracts.”

Kat sees a massive number of employment opportunities in civil infrastructure. She reels off a list: “You can be a project manager, an operator, a Health & Safety representative, an estimator, a foreman, or a supervisor.”

“We held the Connexis, Girls in Hi-Vis event here last year – the first one in our region – and 66 secondary students attended, and two of those young women are now working for me.

“We had a variety of female tutors: a driving instructor, a cable locator, and a fibre optic cable locator; I wanted to show these young women that it’s not just a truck or a roller you can drive; there’s a whole range of options. Because it’s a male-dominated industry, they may not have considered this.”

An encouraging mentor

Kat credits Grant Radovanovich, customer service account manager at Connexis, for encouraging her to stay focused as she completed her apprenticeship.

“He never gave up on me. He kept pushing me. He’d say, ‘You’ve already got this many credits, so all you have to do is complete them.’ So, I went hard out for two months and completed everything. It wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for Grant.”

As a result, Kat is now qualified to train and assess others.

“Previously no one on the East Coast had this qualification. It has broken down a big barrier up here for many people; some who have never received a qualification of any kind before,” she says.

Kat also gives credit to Anita and Johanna, business managers at Fulton Hogan in Gisborne, who were her mentors.

“They were role models for me. They paved the way; they were always supportive. I was like one of their little ducklings.”

Proud whānau

Kat grew up in Wellington with her two brothers and her dad Tanara (Dunn) Kaiwai, a solo father.

“Dad didn’t have gender-specific roles. If something needed to be done, we did it. He’d hang out the washing, do the dishes, and we had to mow lawns or do the cooking; you just did what you had to do.

“He was a good role model. He was always practical. No one commented that I couldn’t go to the wool shed and do boy’s stuff. In contrast, my brother stayed home with nana and the aunties and baked cakes: it was fine.

“However, I have also had to navigate the challenge of those who aren’t as accepting, which was a bit frustrating. At Fulton Hogan, when I was transitioning from the office to being out in the field, it felt like they were telling me I can only do washing down or admin. I had to push back against that attitude.”

Kat’s father passed away 14 years ago, and many people who know Kat comment that her dad would be proud of her.

Her children, son, Diarn, 21, who lives in Wellington and daughter, Ruira, 8 are also proud of their mum and Motureia, 3, loves all machinery.

Kat explains, “Ultimately, my efforts are to be a good role model for my children, just like my dad was for my siblings and me.”

The day we spoke, Kat was getting organised to start a contract for Lunches in Schools under the Ministry of Education to provide lunches to six schools in the district. It illustrates her enthusiasm to put her shoulder to the wheel and tackle just about anything. She likes that no day in her job is ever the same.

 “I can’t even plan a whole day from the morning until the afternoon and triple book myself all the time. Fortunately, I now have a PA, but even she can’t keep tabs on me.

Find new and used farm machinery for sale in NZ