Seminars seen as way to push Hawke's Bay recovery

An export-led recovery of Hawke's Bay has become easier with the announcement of a series of seminars supported by Kiwibank and presented by Export New Zealand.
Hawke's Bay is the first region chosen for the launch. Wellington-based Kiwibank chief executive Paul Brock claimed it was just a coincidence that the seminars would be in the region in which he grew up.
"Our key people have reported very good feedback from Hawke's Bay businesses, so it was a good place to start," he said.
At the announcement ceremony yesterday at The Mission Estate Winery Chapel, Phil O'Reilly, chief executive of business-advocacy group Business New Zealand, said now was the time for companies to step up a level.
"We are now dealing with business survivors who came through the recession," he said. "If you came through the recession that meant you did something different and are now fit for growth."
He said the NZ currency was helping by becoming more favourable for exporters.
"If you have managed to survive the last couple of years through all the difficulties, like the global financial crisis and the impacts on the NZ economy, then you are in much better nick than you would have been a few years ago."
Mr O'Reilly said many indicators suggested the worst was over, "daffodils in the wind" indicating the hard times were ending.
The Government was spending time and resources on science innovation and getting good buy-in from the business sector.
"There are hundreds of businesses turning up at functions." .
His favourite function was the one that put academics together with business people, he said.
"As you know, they don't talk the same language, we're very different culturally.
"So what we do is we invite a whole lot of business people into a university and put in a whole lot of academics with them.
"Then we put the best translational device I've ever seen in a room - alcohol."
He said the results of the meetings had been fantastic.
Many compelling social reasons existed for growth to take place, with 25 per cent of 15-19-year-olds unemployed: "We need to get on and do something."