Waikato Business News July/August 2017

BAY NEWS
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2017
61
City leaders outline
contrasting views on
Tauranga’s future
The recent Tauranga City Leaders’ Lunch
sparked more attention than usual for this
annual event, largely because of Western
Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller’s comment
that historic rates rises had not been high
enough to meet the council's vision for
the city.
By DAVID PORTER
Mayor Greg Brownless
floated the idea of
Government sharing
some of the GST income it raises
to help cities like Tauranga
that are growing faster than
their rates base allowed for
new infrastructure and services.
And Toi Ohomai Institute
of Technology chief executive
Leon Fourie laid out a substantive
vision for the Bay in which
educating to meet the needs of
a changing world figured high,
a view supported by all of the
speakers.
Stan Gregec, chief executive
of the Tauranga Chamber
of Commerce, which hosts the
annual lunch, said it was an
opportunity to hear the views
of city leaders on Tauranga’s
growth opportunities.
“Each speaker looked out
boldly ahead and shared a
common theme around change,
technology and how we need to
think differently for the future
to meet our individual and
community needs.”
Todd Muller had been
responding to a question from
the floor on funding for more
amenities and infrastructure,
saying it was his personal
observation as a longtime
city ratepayer that any dispassionate
observer could see the
council had underinvested in
community amenities over the
past 40 years.
Historic rates rises had not
been high enough to meet the
council's vision for the city and
the council needed to "sell the
vision", and make the case for
the investment that was needed,
he said.
“They should be very clear
about what amenities they
think Tauranga needs over the
next 10 years, and they should
be very upfront about the costs.
I think there's a greater appetite
for that in the community than
we've ever seen before.”
Mayor Greg Brownless
responded that he did not
believe people were clamouring
for rates rises beyond
reasonable limits, and suggested
the current rating system
placed too much burden on
homeowners. Meanwhile, local
councils were assuming more
of what had previously been
central government’s responsibilities.
Muller, in his main address
to the lunch meeting - which
attracted more than 100 local
business people and community
leaders - noted that the city
was still having debates around
buildings and amenities.
“They are critical debates
to have and critical building
blocks for success,” he said.
But the city’s real maturity
would come when it could
focus on the people who would
innovate and imagine the
future, he said.
“I think we’re on the cusp
of huge opportunity for this
country and this city,” he said.
“The main opportunity for
me is our people - I do not
Looking ahead: Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless, WBOP MP
Todd Muller and Toi Ohomai chief executive Leon Fourie.
believe we invest enough in
our people. We need to reflect
on how we value our people
and how we are going to invest
in their capability. We need
a culture that learning is not
[just] something that happens
at educational institutions, but
is something invested in by
your employer and yourself
over your career. And if you
don’t, then you run the risk of
being left behind.”
Muller said Tauranga had
more connectivity between the
formal and the informal education
sector than most other
regions, but that the benchmark
needed to be set high.
“We have to push ourselves
and our business and educational
institutions to be able
to respond to the needs of the
future.”
Mayor Brownless noted
the huge challenges posed by
growth. While acknowledging
the recent interest free loan
made available by the government’s
Housing Infrastructure
Fund, Brownless said the
growth pressures raised the
issue of local government virtually
relying on a property
rates system for its income.
“As I’m looking to the
future in this speech, I should
say that we need other sources
of funding and the one that is
becoming more obvious to me
is a portion of the GST raised
in this area.”
The mayor also noted the
challenges created by being an
ageing community.
Already 18 percent of
Tauranga’s population is over
65 compared with 13 percent
nationally, with nine people
aged over 65 for every 10 children
aged 0 to 14.
“There will be major changes
in the job market... most
people will have to change jobs
seven or eight times during
their working life... The good
news is that the experts predict
there will be plenty of jobs, just
in different fields.”
Brownless noted that immigration
could fill any skills
shortages. “If we are to counter
that we will have to completely
modify our education and
training and will need to ensure
it responds quickly to change.”
Dominion Salt wins this year’s Export Awards
By DAVID PORTER
Dominion Salt is enjoying
“a quiet sense of
achievement on a longer-term
journey” says its CEO
Shane Dufaur upon winning the
top NZ Export Bay of Plenty
Award recently. The 75-yearold
company took out the Top
Exporter of the Year prize at
the Bay of Plenty ExportNZ
awards.
Local exporters from across
Bay of Plenty came together to
celebrate the business people
and companies raising the bar
for export success at the 2017
export wards, sponsored by
Zespri International. All five
winners were announced at a
Rio Carnival-themed event at
ASB Baypark Stadium Lounge.
“Export Awards judging has
been a rewarding experience
again for all involved this year.
It is so important to recognise
and celebrate the achievements
of our Bay of Plenty Export
businesses,” said head judge
Kelvin Trask of Productiv.
Bay of plenty
Dominion Salt took out
the Sharp Tudhope Lawyers
Exporter of the Year Award,
with George & Willy winning
the YOU Travel Emerging
Exporter of the Year Award.
Well-known and respected
local businessman and
managing director of Oasis
Engineering Andy Cameron,
who has a passion for giving
back to the community, was the
surprised and humble recipient
of the New Zealand Trade
& Enterprise Service to Export
Award for his outstanding contributions
within the Bay business
and export community.
Ian Macrae, founder of
Page Macrae Engineering, said
Cameron was described by his
colleagues as an honest and
trustworthy quiet achiever.
“Andy got involved in
TIDA (the Titanium Industry
Development Association), as a
founding board member. TIDA
is introducing powder metallurgy
to the New Zealand industry.
Today he chairs TIDA Trust
and also represents the trust
on the RAM (Rapid Advanced
For more information get in contact with our Bay of
Plenty Business News team today: 07 838 1333 or
info@bopbusiness.co.nz
View more news online today at...
www.bopbusinessnews.co.nz
Top award winner: (from left) Dominion Salt sales manager Brett Hobson, operations manager Hamish Reid, export
sales manager Robin Piggott, chief executive Shane Dufaur, Sharp Tudhope partner Kylie van Heerden, logistics
manager Andy Reynolds, and health, safety, quality and environment manager Royce Downes.
Manufacturing) board. RAM is
a spinoff from TIDA for the
commercial 3D printing of metal
powders with a wide customer
base both in New Zealand and
overseas printing everything
from parts for America’s Cup
yachts to space.”
Oasis Engineering also figured
in the highly contested
Beca Export Achievement
category. Among a group of
strong finalists, Felipe Aguilera,
a technical sales engineer at
Oasis was recognised by the
judges as “an integral cog in the
Oasis wheel.”
Steens® Honey won the
Page Macrae Engineering
Innovation in Export Award
for its innovative business practises.
Overall winner Dominion
Salt’s strong client and export
focus has seen it grow its export
business from 25 per cent of
turnover in 2012, to just under
40 percent this year, with more
than 40 countries now served.
Further international customer
growth is targeted - an exporting
figure of just over 50 percent
is forecast by 2020.
Dufaur says most of this
projected growth will come
from its pharmaceutical and
high-grade added food business,
making it a model example
of a New Zealand company
moving from a price-sensitive
commodity market into a premium
value-add category.
“At Dominion Salt, we
have a strong focus on people
both internally and externally,
which means understanding
what national and international
customers want and value, and
then building a team culture that
delivers,” he says.
Tauranga is the home of
the company’s exporting division,
but Dominion Salt’s production
capabilities are firmly
entrenched in the salt plains of
the Marlborough region, where
it was established by George
Skellerup in 1942.
“This award is as much about
our people in Marlborough as it
is about the people in Bay of
Plenty,” said Dufaur. “We are
a tight-knit and focused team
with a mission to supply a global
market with life’s most essential
minerals via the world’s
safest hands.”
However, while the pristine
Marlborough environment provides
the perfect conditions for
salt harvesting, Dufaur credited
the decision to establish the
Northern plant in the Bay in
1973 as integral to the company’s
business success.
“From the outset, we have
been fortunate to work alongside
innovative leaders at
the Port of Tauranga and in
local government,” he said.
“Together, they have created
and delivered on a vision
that has gone from strength to
strength, and we’ve ridden the
wave with them. Now we have
a world-class port that is literally
at our back door, with an
infrastructure that is the envy of
exporters globally.”
Dominion Salt’s success at
the Export Awards comes on
the back of a series of recent
awards, many conferred by
their clients around the globe.
“Awards are secondary, but
nonetheless, much appreciated
by our customers and staff alike,
as it validates their decision and
proves that they’ve chosen a
good team in Dominion Salt. It
sends a signal to our customers
and staff that we are working to
world-class standards and leading
the way in our industry.”