Two former board members were presented with life memberships at the EMA Annual General Meeting (AGM) this afternoon to honour their contribution to guiding the member business organisation.

Presented by current EMA Board Chairman Andrew Hunt, the first was to Margaret Brown who was on the board for 14 years, retiring from it earlier this year. During her time on the Board Mrs Brown, who is currently Managing Director at ViAGO International Ltd, was Chairwoman of the IT Committee and also a member of the BusinessNZ Council.

Acknowledgement of Holdson Games’ Simon Holdsworth’s contribution to the EMA Board was accepted posthumously by his wife Florence and daughter Victoria. Mr Holdsworth was previously an employee and President of the Auckland Employers Association from 1992 to 1995, and also President of the NZ Employers Federation. Holdson Games has been a business member of the EMA since 1964.

Andrew Hunt says both Mrs Brown and Mr Holdsworth made huge contributions and thanked them and their families for their invaluable service.

“The EMA’s strength is its members, and their willingness to contribute to the wider business community. We acknowledge the work of Simon and Margaret by giving freely of their time, and willingly sharing their extensive and practical business experience to guide the business member-focused strategy of the EMA,” he says.

Mr Hunt says the EMA has been re-inventing itself to keep up to date with its business members’ needs for 134 years and will continue to do so by continually refreshing and diversifying its Board now and into the future.

Also at the AGM the EMA’s first online-only Annual Report for the financial year to June 30 2020 was released. It highlights a challenging year amid Covid-19 for the EMA and the business community as a whole, and agile initiatives to support them.