Former Otago man Mike Kirkman, now European sales manager for Dunedin-based tech company Bison, has been back in Otago this week, along with the company’s vice-president of sales — North America Christa Klein, who is based in Houston.
The company, founded by brothers Greg and Mark Fahey in 2014, won the supreme award at the Otago Export Awards in 2019. It has developed a strong international niche in the container weighing and lifting market, and has demand from major multinationals and even international military customers.
Yesterday, Greg Fahey said it was nice to have the entire team of 23 together for the first time and show the two internationally-based employees what it did at its Kaikorai Valley Rd premises.
Bison, which was ending its financial year this week, was in "good health", posting its best year yet. It had a strong order pipeline ahead of it and confidence going into the new year.
It was looking at opportunities to grow its team offshore; despite Covid-19, the company had continued to grow and while the past three years had created some unique challenges, "we managed our way around those", Mr Fahey said.
Ms Klein was recruited in 2020 and doubled sales in the United States, which made up 50% of its sales, within a year. The Fahey brothers only met her two years after she came on board when they were able to travel again.
Growth sectors included defence, where the company was working with customers such as the British Army, and the renewable energy sector. Awareness of the business was building and Mr Fahey was delighted to see repeat business from existing customers.
