Waikato Business News September/October 2018

WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS September/October 2018
17
Te Waka ‘another step in the journey’
From page 11
established Business Growth
Team, I'm the first to come
on board and chief operating
officer Harvey Brookes is
a very important part of the
team. Over the next few years
we'll beef up. It all depends on
funding and support - possibly
three to five additional staff.
Where does your funding
come from?
Central government, local
and regional government, and
business. It's not actually the
agencies that do economic
development, it’s the businesses
that employ staff and
take the risk and invest and
make things happen. Agencies
can provide the collaboration
and the framework to allow
that to happen more easily, so
we need to improve our linkages
with business. In coming
together, the current staff of six
predominantly comes from the
Business Growth Team, funded
by central government. They
have three things they do, one
is they coordinate a business
mentor service, the second is a
NZ Trade and Enterprise programme,
a capability voucher
system. The third area is with
Callaghan Innovation which
offers R&D grant funding to
businesses in a matched way.
With those three areas the team
engages with more than 600
businesses, it disperses half a
million dollars, talking round
figures, in capability vouchers
and millions in R&D grants.
so that's a huge injection of
targeted investment to assist
businesses.
Is that going to continue?
That will absolutely continue,
and where appropriate they
might align some of their activity
or focus towards the priorities
of the region. Alongside
the Business Growth Team,
the second strand coming
into Te Waka is the Waikato
Means Business work streams,
funded by local and regional
government, and there's been
a number of initiatives in that.
As an example there’s a South
Waikato economic action plan
which involved the districts in
South Waikato and is focused
on their area and their aspirations.
The third area of work
coming into Te Waka is this
prioritised list that comes out
of the summit.
Is the Waikato model
different from other
development agency
models?
They're all different. Informing
Te Waka, we've certainly tried
to take the best parts of the
learning to date out of the good
things that have been done.
You come from that yourself
as a former manager of
economic development in
Hawke’s Bay?
Yes, and I was chair of Economic
Development Associations
of NZ for a number of
years, so I've been involved in
the national agenda and seen
how a lot of these organisations
have performed, and in
some cases struggled. This
is a challenging environment
so hopefully we've learned
and will continue to learn and
share.
What are some of the
learning points that you've
taken from your previous
roles?
I think collaboration and partnership,
that is a good thing
that we want to continue with.
These things often go in cycles,
and the cycle in Waikato at
the moment is around formation
and coming together as
one voice, as they say in the
Waikato Plan. This isn't an
exact science.
I do acknowledge the journey
that the region has been on
in getting here and the good
work that's been involved in
doing that - Dallas leading
Waikato Means Business and
the transition into Te Waka,
but the local councils and the
businesses have all played a
part. So Te Waka’s another
step in the journey and it's a
true partnership between central
government, regional and
local government and business.
What is your background?
Tell me a bit about yourself.
I spent my teens and a decent
part of my 20s actively
involved in sport in a national
and international stage, with
top 10 world rankings - kayaking,
and surf lifesaving is still
my passion, with that swimming,
running, triathlons. I
spent a lot of time at Massey
University through that period
as well, studying physics -
electronics initially. I did a
BSc, then a Master’s. And
I ran some of my own sport
businesses, building kayaks,
and selling them nationally
and internationally. Towards
the end of my 20s I thought
I'd better get a real job and
the ICT industry was looking
pretty exciting at the time. I
got stuck in as a software engineer,
project manager, went on
to sales and marketing. I was
based in Australia for a while,
and also Latin America, and
did a lot of work in Southeast
Asia and Eastern Europe, in
executive roles for big organisations
like Ericsson. And
then I came back and did an
MBA through Massey towards
the end of my 30s, and got
involved in running some of
my own businesses, including
technology businesses
and health and fitness centres
that won international awards.
That was the first part of my
40s, and I spent the latter part
of my 40s getting involved in
economic development and
with that leading large scale
water infrastructure, building
dams and distribution networks
for urban water and
agricultural purposes with
Water Wairarapa, employed
by the Wellington Regional
Council.
You've come back to your
hometown Hamilton with
family?
Our son is in his 20s and at
Waikato University. We've got
a daughter in her first year at
Canterbury, and our youngest
is finishing year 12 at Napier
Girls’ High School. I commute
weekly for the next month or
so while we just work through
the transition with my wife
and daughter.
What's it like being back?
I love it. I love the vibrancy
here, I have fond memories.
My schools included Hukanui
Primary and Fairfield College.
I remember us skidding across
the concrete slabs that is now
Chartwell Square in the ice
on my way to school in bare
feet, as you did back in those
days. A lot of memories. But
there's been a lot of change
here too. I love the river, love
the opportunity with both
coasts here. And getting out
and about in the region, it has
so much to offer in its natural
environment.
Auld Mug on show at Ullrich opening
The America’s Cup took pride
of place as guests had their
photos taken with Sean Regan.
The America’s Cup took
pride of place at Ullrich
Aluminium’s opening of
its Hamilton national distribution
centre in September.
The event saw Tom Waterhouse
and Sean Regan of
Emirates Team New Zealand
tell a large audience, including
about 50 from Australia, about
their successful Bermuda campaign
and touch on upcoming
developments at the Viaduct
in preparation for their 2021
defence.
Ullrich have been longterm
Cup sponsors, with many
in the audience lining up to
have their photograph taken
with Sean and the Auld Mug.
CEO Gilbert Ullrich said
over the years Hamilton had
become a strong aluminium
manufacturing base, and
acknowledged the other two
aluminium companies in the
city.
“This is a significant day for
our company. As you are aware
we have had a major upgrade
in our plant here and a major
extension.
“Waikato has been kind to
us and we would like to say
thank you to it.
“Even though the head of
the company may be in Auckland,
the heart of the company,
I think, is here in Waikato.”
He also referred to the 20
percent tariff imposed by the
US on New Zealand aluminium,
saying it had slowed business.
“We've been very lucky as
an aluminium company to get
into some of the key businesses
that we're in because it's going
to be a pretty bumpy ride economically
the way things are
going.”
However, he said despite
publicity about bad economic
times in New Zealand, it was
a fallacy that the economy was
“falling apart”.
“That doesn't hold much
water with me,” he said.
The opening at the Maui
St plant included a walkthrough
of the manufacturing
plant before Gilbert unveiled
a plaque for the new Ernest E
Ullrich National Distribution
Centre, named after Gilbert’s
brother.
Ernest accepted the honour
while quipping that it should
have been a gold plaque, marking
his 57 years with the company.
It was the fifth expansion
at the site in Ullrich’s 32-year
Hamilton history.
Chairman Ray Burgess said
from a small start in a converted
garage in South Auckland
58 years ago, the company
has grown to encompass
46 trans-Tasman facilities and
has about 740 employees - “a
true trans-Tasman operation”.
“We are proud to call Hamilton
the engine room of our
New Zealand operations.”
Brothers Gilbert, left, and Ernest at the opening.
Gilbert Ullrich, centre, with Lesa Tyrell and Andrew Skinner at the opening.