Business View Oceania | Volume 3, Issue 8

63 64 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 Southland (Stags), Active Southland, Sports Med Physio, Southern Sports Podiatry, Southland Secondary School Sports, and Academy Southland. Community involvement is a high priority for ILT Stadium Southland, and it has proven to go both ways. Following structural damage from a unique snowfall in 2010, the Southlands community rallied behind the stadium and raised upwards of five million dollars to go towards repair and refurbishment of the venue. Community assistance efforts undertaken by ILT Stadium Southland include charity fundraisers, financial support for community initiatives, and active employment of local students, Skelt explains. “We have been very proactive in the employment of young staff. One of the pillars of our mission document is that we will employ young people in our community. They come into I LT STADIUM SOUTHLAND The success of any stadium, entertainment or sporting venue depends, in large, on the quality of the user/patron experience. Quality seating is integral to that experience and Starena, an international seating company, is focussed on delivering just that. The client relationship is equally important and the company measures success by the benefits it brings to clients. All projects are managed with integrity and impeccable attention to detail. Working on projects around the world Starena is exposed to a diversity of people, ideas and cultures, providing a local and international knowledge base that is invaluable when seating people together in stadiums and venues worldwide. The range of seating solutions, all of bespoke design, is continually updated to provide maximum versatility, functionality and durability, as well as ensuring comfort and safety. Starena has been the principal stadium seating supplier to projects such as: • Sydney Olympics • Athens Olympics • Commonwealth Games, Auckland, Melbourne, New Delhi, Gold Coast • Kiev & Lviv Stadiums, Ukraine Ziggo Dome Arena, Amsterdam • Kuwait National Stadium • Cairo National Stadium • FIFA Under 19 World Championships Egypt – 6 x stadiums upgrade • Host of Australasian projects Starena has an outstanding track record in the design and manufacture of fixed stadium, retractable, theatre, educational, house of worship and auditorium seating. In recent times we have embraced, in conjunction with high end OEM suppliers, relationships for the supply of sports equipment and timber sports floor solutions providing value-add for a full turnkey product offering and project solution. Starena Australia is an innovative and progressive Australian company with its head office in Gosford on the Central Coast of New South Wales, with an international network of distributors. It is a manufacturer in its own right and also has strategic working relationships with other key suppliers. There is an ever growing number of stadiums and venues worldwide featuring its products. ...... For more information contact Starena Australia Pty Ltd – Noel Carty, Managing Director Unit 1, 8 Yandina Road, West Gosford NSW 2250 (T) +61-2-43239092 (E) info@starenaaust.com www.starenaaust.com the night to have an entertainment show the next day? Yes, we can. Throughout our 21-year history, we have never said no.” ILT Stadium Southland operates fully within a single building complex. A true one-stop- shop, the stadium boasts a unique working model. Community trustees provide the overarching governance checks and the ILT Stadium Southland Board work closely with the Management team in implementing policies. With upwards of 100 people working in the venue daily, plus community users and franchise sport teams, coaches, players and management, operations are in full force under one roof. A number of full-time tenants call the building home, including Cycling Southland, Tennis Southland, Invercargill Netball Centre, Netball South (Steel Franchise), Touch Southland, Basketball Southland (Sharks Franchise), Rugby play for younger kids. So, we cover every age group and provide a range of things that they can do.” Part of the reason for ILT Stadium Southland’s success is the ‘never say no’ approach taken by their team. The stadium is committed to providing a space for any event or activity imaginable, Skelt shares. “We are very much committed to saying yes. We encourage a can-do attitude in all our staff; our team is amazing and so vital to our success. We have had animals, vehicles, food, and all sorts of wild entertainment events in the venue. We’ve even had a poultry show with over 2000 animals in the venue over two nights. Setup and clean up was pretty complicated and challenging, but we did it regardless, and that makes us unlike any other venue. You need a false floor? Let’s put it down. Can we pack it all away and work through