The Institute will see the country's 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics brought together to operate as a single national campus network.
Today, Hipkins revealed the 10 members of the Establishment Board, which will be based in Christchurch, including that Kim Ngarimu, who is currently on the EIT Council and based in Gisborne, will be the Deputy Chair.
It will start work from Monday and continue until it is superseded by the governing council of the Institute, when it starts operating on April 1, 2020," Hipkins said.
Despite the strong push, Hazlehurst said while we do not fully understand the details of the reform, her "biggest concern for our community is losing the ability to be flexible and reactionary with a centralised model".
"We need a well-trained skilled workforce which is able to be responsive and support regional growth."
Central Hawke's Bay Mayor and chairwoman of the Mayoral Forum, Alex Walker, said the region has an "incredibly strong case to be that place," however, she has concerns about what is being proposed and particularly about "how small communities like ours will continue to be responded to".
"I think that this is big, and it's bold, and it potentially could have some positive effects, but there's also some risks with the proposal as well."
EIT Council Chairwoman Geraldine Travers said "there's a lot to be said for having the headquarters in a region that currently doesn't have a university".
Former Labour candidate Anna Lorck said it was a golden opportunity.
"Together, we can and should put forward a strong united case so we finally gain the tertiary education status and reputation Hawke's Bay deserves," she said.
"Regional division cost us the chance to become a university region once - let's not repeat history. In the past, Hawke's Bay loses out, because the decision-makers in Wellington see us split, not working together."
Lorck said our region's best interests are served when we put Hawke's Bay first.
"I've always said a region-led supportive, positive campaign is what's needed. I know when we do work together, united for our region, we are the strongest, and this is how we can make Wellington take notice."
Tukituki National MP Lawrence Yule, who began a "Save EIT" campaign, said he did not want to work against what proposal, but it doesn't change his "fundamental view".
New Zealand Apples and Pears capability manager Erin Simpson said the changes give them the ability to have "some consistency of our training throughout the country, which is brilliant".
"This is absolutely our preferred future in terms of the Minister's announcements, so we're highly supportive of EIT for the future and see that it is going to be a really strong benefit, certainly for apples and pears but for horticulture in general.
He said it had been something they had been working for.
"We've been working on a strategy around our engagement and attraction for the horticulture industry for a number of years and this is very well aligned with our strategy that we had in place," Simpson said.
"It enables us to work through from an education system, from in the schools, through into industry training and then also align it in with universities, which gives us a solid pipeline through our whole value chain.
"So, It really gives us the ability to work very closely with the providers to ensure we get exactly what we're looking for for the future.
Learning Hawke's Bay regional manager Wenhua Yang said they hope the new institution will continue to be a valuable player in Hawke's Bay's international education work, as EIT "has always done".
