This is the introduction to Anita Dyne’s induction into the 2020 Hall of Fame.
Born in Balclutha on the 5th February 1948, our next inductee was brought up on a farm at Rongahere, South Otago.
This inductee was married in 1969, and moved to Tapanui, where her husband, Jim and his twin brother, John had bought a 5-truck general carrying transport business from Jim Cooper a few months earlier. With no cellphones or answer messages, adapting to transport life for this inductee meant being tied at home to landline and radio telephone.
The decade of the 1970’s was hectic for this inductee, with three children born and two more general transport businesses purchased.
Before we go on, it is time to announce our next inductee of the evening, and first ever female inductee to the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame, Anita Dynes .
In 1976, Dynes won the contract to cart a new product of woodchips from five sawmills in Otago to Port Chalmers and later Bluff.
In 1977, John moved north to run T D Haulage, a chip carting business they purchased. Two years later they split ownership, John with T D Haulage, Jim and Anita with Dynes Transport (Tapanui) Limited.
The business grew extensively during the 1980s with additional log and timber cartage. The management of cashflow was essential and was a critical part of Anita’s role.
Diversification came about with the family farm at Conical Hill being purchased, adding to the workload with Jim working the farm during the day and carting woodchips at night]. Family holidays were now farmstays for the weekends, to tackle lambing, tailing and haymaking amidst daily transport activities.
The term “superwoman” comes to mind as Anita’s capabilities were put to the test when Jim was ill with cancer. Her daily activities included driving Jim the four-hour round trip to Dunedin for treatment every day, running the transport, sorting the three kids and helping with the lambing beat on a now increased additional neighbours farm.
In 1991, NZ Rail applied for resource consent to reopen the line from Waipahi to Conical Hill Sawmill. Anita opposed the application, spending months accumulating information for a petition and the hearing. Opening the line did not happen.
During the mid-90s a new Tapanui depot was purchased, with a bigger yard, and the opportunity to move from the shoebox home office to the depot to accommodate additional staff.
Over next 15 years, multiple businesses were purchased and contracts won, including work with the Edendale dairy factory. This was enhanced by the successful ISO accreditation that Anita implemented within the business, with Dynes Transport being one of the first in the South Island to be accredited. This helped secure additional work for future years and is still current with their nationwide Fonterra contract today.
Dynes Transport’s solid foundations were set with the strong business partnership of Anita and Jim, their different strengths working collaboratively together to grow the business that it is today.
Anita’s strong work ethic, family values, and tenacity have been crucial to the success of Dynes Transport, and have been embedded in her children Debra, Peter and Shona, who have all worked in the business. Anita retired 2 years ago after working 50 years in the business.
In 2017, Anita, Jim and Peter sold 50% of the Dynes group to the HWR Group where both business and family values were in line for the future of the company. The Dynes Group has depots throughout NZ. Along with their passion in being solution architects for the dairy, forestry and wine industries, they are incredibly proud of their amazing people who have worked with the family for over 50 years to make what is today an iconic company within New Zealand.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, our first ever female inductee to the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame, Anita Dynes.