Bindery tradesman Cheyne Lesa of Petone (Wellington)-based Printlink has been named the 2014 PrintNZ Apprentice of the Year at the Pride In Print Awards held at Wellington’s TSB Arena.
In his acceptance speech, Lesa thanked his family and his girlfriend for ‘all of the positive advice you have given me on this journey’ and also paid tribute to his fellow finalists. “I really have to give it over to the other four finalists. I have got to know them over the past day or so and they are really lovely people. Any one of us could have won it,” he said. Lesa also thanked his trainers and company management. “They have taught me so much and been so supportive that it made the whole journey so much easier for me. I have enjoyed the whole process.”
Printlink bindery manager Tom Jennings said Lesa had essentially followed in the family footsteps when joining the firm, which is a division of Blue Star Group New Zealand. “He is one of those special guys. He is lovely, always willing to do what he is asked and never moans. He attracts people, he is a leader and has a lovely family. A guy still has to have the ability, and it’s the ability and mana that he has,” said Jennings.
PrintNZ chairperson Dan Blackbourn said this year’s decision was a ‘very close call’ given the high calibre of finalists and added that Lesa was a ‘very worthy winner.’
The other 2014 PrintNZ Apprentice of the Year finalists were:
Drew Solakof (from EIL, a division of Permark Industries Ltd);
Brent Martens (from Gallagher Group Ltd);
Wayne Robinson (from Huhtamaki Henderson);
Rachael Smith (from printing.com @ TGM Creative).
“Cheyne is a very worthy representative of the title of Apprentice of the Year and we know he will have a hugely successful career in our industry, as will the other four finalists,” said PrintNZ general manager Ruth Cobb. “It is fantastic to see the calibre of people and the passion they have for their training, for the businesses they work in and for the industry.” Cobb says it was a highlight of her role to work with training partner Competenz and sponsor BJ Ball Papers to select the finalists and winner.
The Farrah’s Multigrain wrap, printed by the Branston Street, Christchurch, branch of Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific, won the Supreme Award at the 2015 Pride In Print Awards.
New Zealand Media & Entertainment (NZME) won the Newspaper Coldset Process prize in recognition of its production of Bite - a food, health and wellness publication inserted each Monday into the New Zealand Herald.
NZME also claimed six of the 12 Newspaper Gold Medals for production of its own titles Weekend Herald and Bite, Fairfax publication Manukau Courier, and external titles Chinese Herald 10/6/2014, Bay News and The Vision Times 8/2/2014. “It is a fantastic achievement for NZME Ellerslie,” said Dan Blackbourn, NZME property, print and production group manager.
For a full list of the award winners, click here.
[imagebrowser id=56]