The owner-operator of four Cartridge World franchises, Maxine Cochrane, and the managing director of the New Zealand Pump Company, Claire Jenkinson-Johns, last night had their contributions to business acknowledged.
Maxine Cochrane showed an early business bent, investing in property at the age of 18 before working as a laboratory technician.
After leaving the workforce and raising a family, she returned to work in sales and later bought her first Cartridge World franchise in Dunedin, later adding stores in Invercargill, Oamaru and Auckland, which she also manages.
On leaving Columba, Claire Jenkinson-Johns completed a BSc with first-class honours in microbiology and then a postgraduate diploma in dairy science and technology with distinction from Massey University.
In 1991, her husband established the New Zealand Pump Company in conjunction with the inventor of the patented pumping technology Ezi-action Drum Pumps.
After raising a family, she became a partner in 2000 and managing director in 2002 on the death of her husband.
Today, the company produces and sells 50,000 pumps a year from its Hamilton factory to markets around the world.
