Hawkes's Bay A&P Bayleys wine awards. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawkes's Bay A&P Bayleys wine awards. Photo / Warren Buckland
In the past couple of months I have been very fortunate to be invited by a number of local business people and organisations to hear about their plans for ventures in the Bay.
Some of these plans are very big and will take a while to come about. In factthey are more like visions, but quite achievable. Others are shorter, sharper plans of action that will yield fruit in the short term.
One thing all these people have in common is that they are passionate about Hawke's Bay and want our region to succeed. They get tired of the negative statistics that come out of our province, but it does not deter them, it makes them more determined.
Many of these people are self-made success stories. They have gone into business and made a name for themselves or they are at the top of their game in their chosen field. We are lucky to have them here. Some of them could live anywhere in the world, but they have chosen the Bay.
There is plenty that we do well here. Take this weekend for example. We have seen the start of ten days of the Food and Wine Classic, which in three years has become a feature on the local calendar. The weather is perfect for us to showcase what we do well. F.A.W.C! is one of a number of events that make this province shine, including Horse of the Year, the Hawke's Bay Show and the Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards.
But these are all events and we also need other sustainable ideas to grow the province.
The great thing is that judging by the calibre of forward thinkers and decision makers we have here, I have no doubt that we are poised to grow.
The main thing is that we have a constant flow of ideas coming through. Some of them may be aspirational but at least they get us thinking in the right direction.
