Chester Borrows: Plenty for city to be proud of

Chester Borrows

RECENTLY Minister for Small Business Jacqui Dean was in the region to speak at the MBIE Small Business Roadshow. It was one of the Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation's best-attended seminars around the country so far, and I was proud to MC a lunchtime event which attracted people from 90 local enterprises.

At my stage of the journey I guess it's natural to reflect on how far this business community has come in my 12 years as MP. Back in 2005, there was a lot of babble about what we didn't have and what was disappearing in a changing economy, rather than what we could do well or what we needed to explore as opportunities. More than a decade on and the mood is much improved to a city with its chin up, and it's great to be part of. There's much more of that "we will look at it and give it a go" stance that is needed when expanding the thinking around new business possibilities.

On the morning the Small Business Minister was in Whanganui, I decided to do a quick "showcase" of some possibly lesser-known and smaller enterprises that the region can be really proud of.

It was a "whistle-stop" tour, but the minister was more than impressed with the diversity of operations we saw and the hard work, obvious initiative and positivity of the people in charge.

Jacqui Dean was put back in touch with her days as a children's television presenter when we called at the Paua Early Child Care business started and run by Raewyn and Tony Overton-Stuart. There, from her Play School days, were Big Ted and Little Ted at the educational resources shop of what started out as a Whanganui home-based business and is now operating from Kaitaia to Christchurch. Hundreds of early childhood educators are now part of the Paua team.

Over at AMF Boat Company, Brian and Jodi truly demonstrated that their byline "offshore power" is a very genuine statement, as their specialised craft, manufactured in Taupo Quay, are purchased all over the world.

Impressed: Jacqui Dean speaks at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre last month. Photo/file

Building in the marine industry is never easy, but seeing the pictures around the walls of the New Zealand Coastguard vessels we all recognise, reminds us of a niche market that AMF operates in. It's an incredible achievement with such a small full-time team.

In Victoria Court the minister met and spent some interesting time with Graeme Musson at On Call Central. I am sure Graeme won't mind me saying that he is in the autumn of his working years, but I need to do that to demonstrate the point about the contribution that very experienced people can make in a business community. After years in the more corporate world of recruitment, Graeme has carved out a niche in placing both casual and full-time employees. After almost two years footing it on his own, he is no longer "a one-man band".

Both the Minister and I could easily see that Graeme's many years in the business of getting people into jobs was an absolute asset in helping candidates with those vital interviewing skills and CV preparation.

Wanganui Auto Wreckers have only been in their new Liffiton St recovery and dismantling premises for about a year. Tony Swain joined the business first, working after school. Then he was manager by the age of 17 and took it over as his own business at 21. Today, the operation he and his wife, Carolyn, run is light years away from the old house on Wilson St with parts on shelves in the former bedrooms and a huge guard dog on duty at the front gate.

The market they served back then was all within a 20km radius of the city. These days, with a total team of just five, the 24-hour recovery and dismantling operation recycles and responsibly disposes of car components and sells parts all over New Zealand.

I particularly liked the story that Tony told us about a bumper recently ordered by a Christchurch panelbeater one afternoon at 3pm that was dispatched from Whanganui around 4pm.

The repairer rang from Canterbury at 8.30am the next morning to say a big thank-you and to say that the bumper was already in the paint shop and would be fitted to the customers' car later that day.

To my mind, Whanganui has spent far too many years in defence mode, making excuses for itself and exacerbating the problem by believing its own bad press. Whanganui is now both "chin-up" and "upmarket" with innovations in our biggest and smallest businesses. There is certainly a lot going on here to be justifiably proud of.