I would suggest that if the good people of HB were polled, many would think it is about luring as many businesses to our region as possible in the hope that they will create jobs and put dollars into our economy. 

On the face of it that seems like a good idea, but sadly it’s not as simple as it seems.

Think about why a business might come to HB. 

Motu Research found that while factors like climate and lifestyle may influence individuals, they are not the primary drivers of business location decisions. Businesses tend to prioritise factors like access to skilled labour, proximity to markets, infrastructure, and cost of doing business. This research echoes a broad body of international research that says to be successful in luring businesses to a region there needs to be a mix of robust infrastructure, incentives, skilled labour, government support, a business-friendly environment, a positive regional brand, and more. It only works when those things are in place and there is a deliberate, targeted marketing strategy.

Luring businesses is part of an overall economic development strategy for our region but it will only be successful if we are sure we have the right conditions in which both homegrown and newcomer businesses can flourish. 

Economic development is about improving the economic, political, and social well-being of people – about lifting overall living standards. It is broader than just thinking about GDP, which is a raw number that says something about the state of an economy but nothing about how healthy people are, what is happening to life expectancy, educational outcomes, water quality, or general happiness or wellbeing. 

If we are interested in economic development we need to be working on our ‘enablers’ or the conditions for people (which, by extension, means businesses) to flourish. These include high-performing schools and tertiary education and training providers, a workforce with the right skills, resilient infrastructure, a strong health system, a connected, engaged business community that supports each other and facilitates investment and entrepreneurship, and parks, events, art, sports facilities, and all the things that contribute to wellbeing and lifestyle.

Our region is made up of 184,800 people with their own hopes and dreams. Businesses, iwi/hapū, councils, the government, and a whole bunch of other organisations who are working together on issues that affect our economy – those enablers. It’s hard yakka getting people  and organisations to work together. It’s hard when there are different ideas of what success looks like. It is hard when cyclones knock about infrastructure or global economic conditions ratchet up unemployment or the cost of capital. It’s hard when some are banging their own drums. 

But we also know we can work together, adapt, try new tactics, re-examine assumptions, argue constructively, and keep at it. We showed that after the 1931 earthquake, after the removal of primary sector subsidies in the 1980s, and of course after the cyclone.

Economic development agencies are just a small piece of the puzzle. Often working behind the scenes, joining dots, doing business cases, undertaking research, trying to understand the issues and potential solutions, testing ideas, challenging thinking, lobbying and advocating. The work is not and shouldn’t be flashy or ‘edge of your seat’.

It is fruitless trying to get everyone in the region to agree with ideas to build our economic enablers, but we shouldn’t let that stop the willing from joining forces and giving well-considered, broadly supported ideas a jolly good go.

Historical image from Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand