But chief executive Paul Bisset said it was important all 95 staff, from the company’s Oamaru, Mackenzie, Central Otago and Dunedin depots, gathered to celebrate 30 years in business on July 6.
Wednesday marked exactly 30 years since Whitestone Contracting was established and, to celebrate, a special event was held at the Oamaru Opera House.
Mr Bisset, who took over as chief executive about six months ago, said it was an opportunity for everyone to reflect on how far the company had come, and contribute to its future direction.
The celebration also enabled everyone across the company to get to know each other. About half of Whitestone Contracting’s employees are based in Oamaru, while the others are spread across the Fairlie, Twizel, Cromwell, Queenstown, Alexandra and Dunedin depots.
"It’s not something that we do often," he said.
"Every now and then you’ve got to do it, just to get everyone together — so people in the Mackenzie get to know people in Central and Dunedin, and figure out what everyone’s about."
Whitestone Contracting was first established in 1992 as Whitestone Roading, as a result of the amalgamation of the Waitaki County, Waihemo County, Palmerston Borough and Oamaru Borough Councils.
"They all had their own contracting arms, and they all came together. Some councils sold off their Lates [local authority trading enterprises], and other councils kept them, like Waitaki [Distinct Council]," Mr Bisset said.
A lot has changed since then.
The council-controlled organisation has grown its reach far beyond Oamaru, with depots across the lower South Island. Key milestones included buying Mackenzie Contracting Services in 1998; forming Whitestone Landscape Services in the same year, when the parks operations business unit of the Waitaki District Council was transferred to Whitestone Roading; buying Dunedin’s Contract Cultivation in 2006, its own asphalt plant in 2012, and Dunstan Sprayers in Alexandra in 2013; and recording its first profit over $1 million in the 2005-06 financial year.
The company’s name was changed to Whitestone Ltd in 2000, and it has been known as Whitestone Contracting since 2007.
While the company had diversified a lot, its core business was the same, Mr Bisset said.
"Now, we’re just doing more of it and we’re doing it further afield — we’re not just doing it in Oamaru, we’re doing it in Mackenzie and Central and Queenstown and Dunedin."
