"This collaboration also occurs at a critical time in the planning of the Tauranga University campus, in association with University of Waikato, and the proposed development of an Elite Sports training facility, which could easily operate in conjunction with a sports sciences faculty within the new Tauranga Campus."
Mr Adams understands the importance of education. Born in Wellington and brought up in a state house in the blue-collar Lower Hutt suburb of Naenae, he has built an extensive property empire, with significant developments in the Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Auckland.
He always had his heart set on becoming a civil engineer, beginning with a New Zealand Certificate of Engineering, then going to work at the Wellington Harbour Board as an engineering cadet while he completed his degree part-time at Victoria University. Memorable moments included being part of the team that helped recover bodies in the wake of the Wahine disaster in 1968 and then had to plot the wreck's exact location to warn global shipping.
When he graduated in 1970, Mr Adams left the Harbour Board and went to work for Cameron Construction, where he worked his way up to general manager and became involved in projects including the construction of the new Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua.
His involvement in the Bay of Plenty came in the early 1980s when, after setting up his own engineering consultancy in Lower Hutt, he became involved in a number of kiwifruit syndicates. He ended up moving to Tauranga in 1982.
"I saw the business opportunity in kiwifruit," said Mr Adams.
He set up Bay Horticultural Services, eventually owning one million trays of kiwifruit and developing a post-harvest company, which he sold to Fletcher Challenge. An opponent of the single point of entry global marketing system the industry adopted in the mid-1980s, he eventually sold down his kiwifruit interests and got back into property.
Mr Adams established Carrus Corporation in 1990, which has since become the Bay of Plenty's biggest land developer. An initial project saw him converting one of his orchards in Moffat Road into Bethlehem Heights, one of the first major developments in the suburb. Carrus has built some 4000 residential units in the Bay of Plenty, including The Lakes in Tauranga, as well as major residential and commercial developments in Wellington and Auckland.
His projects include buying the former National Museum in a deal that saw it eventually given to Massey University and Maori interests represented in the Wellington Tent's Trust; redevelopment of the State Insurance Building in Wellington, and developing and eventually reselling to Fletcher its head office in Auckland.
Mr Adams says he has a small closely knit team which has worked with him for many years, including Jim Lochhead, the general manager of Carrus Corporation. His son, Scott, is director and general manager of Carrus Properties.
"I'm trying to slow down," he said. "The reality is I now spend as many hours working as before, but mostly with not-for profits."
Mr Adams is also a founder and life member of Tauranga's Priority One. The economic agency's chief executive, Andrew Coker, described him as playing a key role in the economic growth of the Tauranga region. "He was an early and important player in the kiwifruit industry's evolution, and is one of the country's leading developers."
Work widely recognised
Paul Adams' achievements have won him wide recognition, locally and nationally. He was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in this year's New Year honours and in 2013 won the Westpac Tauranga Business Leadership Award.
"Paul's been extraordinarily generous with his time and input to our direction and economic development initiatives," said Priority One chief executive Andrew Coker.
"He is passionate about moving Tauranga from an over-reliance on population growth as its economic driver, and realised that we needed productive businesses, jobs and tertiary education opportunities here."
Mr Adams also serves as patron of IHC Bay of Plenty and chairs the 100 per cent IHC-owned social housing not-for-profit Accessible Properties.
He chairs Waipuna Hospice Building Committee and is a trustee of the Waipuna Foundation, patron of the Te Tuinga Whanau Trust, a board member of and trustee of Te Kura (The Correspondence School), and a member of the University of Waikato's Council.
He is also a member of the NZ Initiative (formerly the Business Roundtable), a chartered fellow of the Institute of Directors and a member of the Institute of Professional Engineers of New Zealand.
Mr Adams has emerged as a leading advocate for merging the Tauranga City Council and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
"What we want to do is bring Western Bay and Tauranga together," he said.
"It's not going to reduce rates, but you're going to get one strategy, one set of rules and unified governance with one set of councillors and one chief executive."
Life of little leisure time
Paul Adams is married to Cheryl and they have a daughter, Sarah, and son, Scott.
Mr Adams said he did not get much time outside work for recreation, but was a huge rugby and cricket fan.
"I golf, badly," said Mr Adams, who sponsors the Carrus Open and is also a former sponsor of the Magic netball team.
"But I don't get a lot of leisure time."
As well as sport Mr Adams is a keen fan of music, plays guitar, and still treasures a photo signed by the original line-up of the Rolling Stones, obtained when he inveigled his way backstage during their Wellington performance in 1966.
The family has a place in Lake Rotoiti and owns a classic 1924 kauri yacht built locally. But his real weakness is cars.
Mr Adams prefers not to go into details of the vehicles he owns, but says he loves quality cars.
Paul Adams
Role - founder of Carrus Corporation (in 1990)
Born - Wellington, New Zealand
Age - 66
First job - civil engineering cadet
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