Lure for skilled migrants applauded

Tina Jennen (front) with Robotics Plus chief executive Alistair Scarfe. Photo / George Novak

Skilled and entrepreneurial migrants will bring benefits to the Bay in a new government push to lure migrants away from Auckland, city leaders say.

New migrants to the country will get incentives to choose a base outside Auckland in their residency applications from November, Prime Minister John Key announced at the weekend.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan Gregec said Tauranga was likely to be one of the first places that skilled migrants would look to settle outside Auckland.

"Not only is it a great place to live but it has opportunity, diversity and scale for people moving from overseas, as well as being not too far from Auckland.

"Certainly, more skilled workers, whether immigrants or not, that slot into the growing parts of our local economy, would be very welcome here."

Mr Gregec said more skilled migrants coming to Tauranga might put further pressure on the overheated housing sector and educational resources.

"But from a business and economic perspective, Tauranga is probably in a good position to gain a strong overall benefit."

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby supported the initiative and said he would be interested to see the mechanics of how it would work.

"From my perspective, it's skills not just for today but, more importantly, to growing our economy and diversifying our economy that would benefit our city. I would also like to see overseas investment come to our city rather than just Auckland."

Western Bay Mayor Ross Paterson said the region had the need for skilled and talented people in a whole range of jobs.

"We believe the jobs are here, we just need to get the good people. I'm positive about the Government looking at some ways the regions can benefit from some of the national trend in economic growth."

Mr Paterson could see places for more high-tech industries and said some had already located in Katikati, where there was good access to broadband internet.

The Western Bay had the right infrastructure in place to manage a growing population, but the biggest problem would be State Highway 2 north of Tauranga. He said the council was in talks with the NZ Transport Agency about the road.

Priority One chief executive Andrew Coker said Tauranga was well positioned with its proximity to Auckland and also had the lifestyle attributes entrepreneurs were looking for, combined with the city's rapidly growing innovation ecosystem.

"With the investment we have here and the new university campus, we're seeing a lot of interest for people looking to relocate here."

Executive chose Tauranga over Auckland as home

Entrepreneur Tina Jennen researched Tauranga thoroughly before deciding to make the city her permanent home.

Formerly of the United States, Ms Jennen moved to Tauranga in 2010 with her children and is a New Zealand citizen.

She chose Tauranga as her new home because it had everything.

"It has the perfect balance between a really growing and thriving environment for business, but it's also got that amazing sleepy village feel for raising a family."

Ms Jennen "ran the numbers" before moving to the Bay. She looked into the Port of Tauranga and how it stacked up against Auckland, she compared the rainfall versus the sunshine hours and also discovered she could do half her Master of Business Administration through the University of Waikato in Tauranga.

Ms Jennen is a "leased executive", working as an executive across a cluster of companies in the city. She is also the national facilitator for Startup Weekend.

"My core work and most favourite work is with the Plus Group. I work with some of the early stage stuff, one of which is Robotics Plus who are doing very cutting edge robotic technology in the primary sector."