Rotorua based manufacturer, Peterson Portable Sawmills have made the difficult decision to postpone their digital and factory demonstration days due to nationwide Covid-19 Alert Levels being raised.
The company were due to host their demonstrations from the 11th to the 13th of March and were expecting visitors from all over the country, including Auckland which is currently in Alert Level 3. This means that Auckland residents are currently unable to leave their region.
With the restrictions on events held in Alert Level 2, and the possibility of Auckland visitors being unable to attend, Peterson Portable Sawmills CEO, Kerris Browne made the call to postpone for one month.
“When we hold a demonstration day, we go all out,” said Browne. “We set up every sawmill model and accessory we have, order in a stack of logs, hire videographers, photographers and have a full crew of staff on-hand to assist our visitors. I’m not a person who does things by half and neither are my team.”
When asked if cancelling the demonstrations was ever an option, Browne said she never considered it.
“Our demonstrations are an in depth look at our products and how to operate them effectively. They’re invaluable to our local and International customers, so the show will go on, just not this month.”
Since the effects of Covid-19 took hold in 2020, Peterson Portable Sawmills have seen a huge upturn in business with more interest and sales than they have experienced in years.
Sales manager, Aaron Kalan puts this down to timber prices and availability, as well as people simply wanting to become more self-sufficient.
“Many of our customers either have their own land and trees, or have access to logs,” said Kalan. “They want to be able to cut their timber and build their own structures, or provide custom sawmilling services to others to help them do the same.”
New Zealand Covid-19 guidelines state that those who are living at Alert Level 2 can travel anywhere in New Zealand that is at Alert Level 1 or 2, but that they consider avoiding large gatherings.
Kalan agreed that while he was looking forward to the demonstration days, postponing was a good call to make.
“We don’t want to tell people from Auckland that they can’t come if they’re still in Alert Level 3, or keep them separated at Level 2, it’s just not how we do things. Our team agreed that we’d rather delay our demos and hope that things will have improved again in a month’s time so that everyone can attend.”
Peterson Portable Sawmills digital demonstration day will now take place on Thursday 15th April, with Factory Demonstration Days on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th of April at their premises at 15 Hyland Cresent, Rotorua.
More information at: https://petersonsawmills.com/company/show-schedule/
