The rural lifestyle is in Chris’s blood. He was born and bred in Waihi to parents who were raised on dairy farms, and it was during his childhood that he gained an appreciation for the rural sector and the hard-working farmers within it.
Chris graduated from the University of Waikato in 1997 and formed BlackmanSpargo with Ian Blackman in 2003.
Since then, Chris has worked hard to involve himself in the rural community while putting his legal talents to good use. In 2011, he attended the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme, a course designed to develop emerging agribusiness leaders. He also chaired the 2014 New Zealand Law Society Rural Law Conference and presented a paper on Fonterra at that conference again in 2017.
In 2014, Chris was appointed to the Geyser Community Foundation Board of Trustees, a foundation designed to ensure charitable gifts are managed as originally intended for the chosen charity or the benefit of the Rotorua and Taupo communities.
But it’s not all work and no play for Chris. In his spare time, he enjoys sports, family time, and playing the role of kart mechanic to his motor-sporting son.