James Rowe: Common vision lifts our region

James Rowe

The one common denominator in every discussion about the future of Hawke's Bay is the need to increase job opportunities and to enhance the economic prosperity of the region. This view is shared by both sides of the amalgamation debate. Economic development is one area where the local councils must work together in order to bring new job opportunities to the region.

New jobs and wealth can be garnered by businesses relocating to the region or locally grown by expanding an existing firm or starting new businesses. We need to concurrently pursue both alternatives.

So it is important to understand what constitutes economic development. It is generally accepted that the goal of economic development is to create new jobs, investment and improve the wealth of individuals and the community. I believe that economic development can be explained as a complex process that is created from a successful fusion of entrepreneurship, education and skills of the community, driven largely by market forces. A favourable business environment and a supportive regulatory framework are important conditions of economic growth and development. In my opinion, the region has a very favourable business climate, an outstanding lifestyle, very competitive cost of doing business, affordable housing and many of the other attributes required for attracting new businesses.

One of the top priorities for every council in the region is economic development. Each local council and the regional council endeavours to enhance their local economy through various initiatives. Each council has a unit or person devoted to economic development. In addition, Business Hawke's Bay (BHB) has been established as the regional economic development facilitator. BHB is funded by the three major councils and the business community.

The organisation has recently started discussions on updating and revising the Regional Economic Development Strategy.

In my experience, my economic development colleagues have a common vision and work well together.

Most of the council's economic development initiatives and activities are designed to enhance a local community's ability to create and retain employment.

As a result, economic development strategies often are designed to encourage business start-ups, innovation, entrepreneurship and the growth of firms already existing within a region.

Fortunately, Hawke's Bay is already well served by various business support services such as the IceHouse, the Chamber of Commerce, Callaghan Innovation and Business Mentors.

Since the region has strong existing business support capabilities, we now need to devote our collective energies to developing an inward investment marketing programme as part of a Business Attraction Strategy.

At present, the region's councils and BHB are collaborating on developing a regional Business Attraction Strategy.

The first step is to determine the region's competitive advantages and to ascertain which type of business would most likely consider relocating to the bay.

This research will inform the development of an inward investment marketing programme.

Such a marketing programme needs to be regional because any business considering relocating to the area will investigate and consider the best available sites or existing facilities in the wider region. For instance, a potential company will never just consider locating in Napier without also examining sites in Hastings or, depending on their particular requirements, the firm may expand their search to Wairoa or Waipukurau.

A win for Hastings is also a win for Napier because commuters do not recognise local council boundaries.

A significant number of people live in Napier and work in Hastings and vice versa. A new business location anywhere in the Hawke's Bay is a win for everyone in the region.

There are a number of models and frameworks from which to approach economic development.

Different approaches are being pursued because each of the subregions within the Hawke's Bay has their own strengths and weaknesses.

The present system works because the ED managers are able to focus on the area they know to the benefit of the whole of Hawke's Bay. A regional approach is being facilitated by BHB and the councils are working well together.

As a result of our collaborative effort, Hawke's Bay will be able to compete with the larger regions and garner the benefits of a successful inward investment programme. Collaboration is the key to a successful and prosperous future.

-James Rowe is the Economic Development Manager for Napier City Council.

-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion. and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz.