A story of a young boy with a dream to give back to the community and make a difference….. the Trow Group experience is mostly self-funded by the above team and the other businesses that they run
Saia Latu-Founder/CEO/Managing Director
With 15 plus years in the equipment hire/civil infrastructure industry, Saia has spent a lot of these years creating a network of customers/relationships who trust and rely on him to provide solutions to their problems. He is the driving sales force of the group of companies he is involved with.
His vision is to help the community and give opportunities and support to people who wouldn’t normally have them, this includes seeing a struggling business and helping them get them back on track with mentoring and support as well as giving back to our communities where possible with time and recycled/upcycled materials. After growing up in south Auckland, leaving school at form 4 and struggling to get anywhere in life, almost heading down the wrong path many times. He fought hard for every opportunity that he got. He knows that there are millions out there like him, they just need an opportunity to show what they can do. This gives me the passion I need to create growth and opportunity in everything that I do. His dream to return to Tonga and give back to his people is in the process of coming true, just watch the space!
Joe Vagana – Operations Manager
Former NZ Warrior and Kiwi League Legend Joe Vagana. Joe’s professional career spanned over 14 years , playing over 350 1st grade games for both then called Auckland Warriors (6yrs) in the Australian competition and the Bradford Bulls (8yrs) in the English Super League Competition. Joe Also represented both Samoa (3) and the New Zealand Kiwis (27) in the 1995 and 2000 Rugby League World Cups respectively.
After retirement at the end of the 2008 English season Vagana returned to New Zealand and formed a non for profit charitable trust “ REACHES Youth Mentoring Trust “ incorporating disciplines such “Attitude” , “Hardwork” , “Comittment” and Self Belief “ and his passion for youth to assist / mentor their pathways.
In March 2013 Joe came across the opportunity to be involved in a group of companies with Saia Latu, firstly building up the Hire Connect machine leasing business then moving onto the civil and community project business Trow Group where they have learned a lot along this journey, they both had very similar visions and beliefs and the rest is history
Julie Latu – Office Manager
Julie is Saia’s wife! She has worked in the IT industry for 20 plus years mainly in the ERP space, across all roles including helpdesk, consulting, project management, business analysis, support management, Account Management & Service Delivery Management where she managed teams across NZ and Australia. Her strengths are in relationship management, team building and business process analysis and design.
Recently the decision was made to leave the high stress role in IT behind and move across to her husband’s business to help with systems and administration as well as some operational management tasks. This role spans across all the entities that her husband is involved in – Trow Group, SFL, Hand Up, Hire Connect. Saia and Julie have a daughter Bella who is the most important thing in their life so working together has meant there is the ability for a work life balance, as well as enjoy sharing in her husband’s vision of giving back! Life is good!