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Waikato Business News November/December 2019

Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.

Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.

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6 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>November</strong>/<strong>December</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />

DHB staff<br />

begin shifting<br />

<strong>Waikato</strong> DHB staff have begun<br />

moving into the former Famers<br />

building on the corner of<br />

Alexandria and Collingwood<br />

Streets. The move will be<br />

done in stages, with 750 staff<br />

expected to move into the<br />

two-level “Waiora CBD” support<br />

centre over a six-month period.<br />

Services will include information<br />

systems, health share, payroll,<br />

accounts, public health strategy<br />

and funding, and a number of<br />

community focused services as<br />

well as Disability Support Link.<br />

Transport hub<br />

underway<br />

A sod-turning ceremony<br />

officially launched the start of<br />

construction for the Rotokauri<br />

Transport Hub, which will<br />

be a key connection for<br />

the Hamilton to Auckland<br />

passenger rail service, and a<br />

link in the city’s bus network.<br />

Labour MP Jamie Strange,<br />

Hamilton Mayor Paula<br />

Southgate and local iwi were<br />

joined by other stakeholders<br />

at the ceremony. Once<br />

completed the Hub will include<br />

a park and ride facility for rail<br />

and bus passengers, including<br />

mobility spaces, electric<br />

vehicle charging spaces, drop<br />

off and pick up zones and taxi<br />

stands. The total project cost<br />

is $29M, of which $18.5M is<br />

contributed by government.<br />

The new passenger rail service<br />

is scheduled to start in mid-<br />

2020<br />

Support for Māori<br />

tech entrepreneurs<br />

The search is on for the next<br />

kapa (group) of Mā ori tech<br />

entrepreneurs, innovators<br />

and start-ups to take part in a<br />

unique kaupapa-led business<br />

accelerator programme. Kō kiri<br />

is an intensive three-month<br />

programme for start-ups that<br />

have high-growth potential.<br />

Up to 10 successful teams<br />

will receive mentoring,<br />

education, founder capability<br />

development, and networking<br />

opportunities, as well as a<br />

start-up grant of $10,000.<br />

Te Wā nanga o Aotearoa has<br />

partnered with Callaghan<br />

Innovation and industry<br />

leaders in the Mā ori economy<br />

to deliver the programme.<br />

Applications opened on<br />

<strong>December</strong> 1 and successful<br />

applicants will be announced<br />

in February before the<br />

programme kicks off in April.<br />

Fieldays sets marker<br />

for next 25 years<br />

You know the one about today’s news being<br />

tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper? This one is<br />

about today’s news being 2044’s artefact.<br />

A<br />

copy of <strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong><br />

<strong>News</strong> will be<br />

among the items buried<br />

in a Fieldays time capsule in<br />

<strong>December</strong>, to be relifted in 25<br />

years.<br />

The Fieldays version of this<br />

year’s WBN will share space<br />

with a USB of Mystery Creek<br />

Magic, a book co-authored<br />

by Geoff Taylor and Richard<br />

Walker marking 50 years of<br />

Fieldays, as well as copies of<br />

programmes from 25 years, an<br />

exhibitor handbook and a staff<br />

From the editor<br />

Kia ora<br />

I had the pleasure<br />

just over a year ago of<br />

interviewing Dave Connell,<br />

managing director of Connell<br />

Contractors, the company he<br />

and his wife Margo had set up<br />

in 1985. The occasion was his<br />

being made a life member of<br />

Civil Contractors New Zealand.<br />

It was a richly deserved<br />

accolade, I discovered, as it<br />

came after Dave had played<br />

a pivotal role in transformational<br />

changes to the industry,<br />

including the formation of a<br />

single body and the introduc-<br />

photo – along with assorted<br />

letters from invited writers<br />

answering the question: “What<br />

will New Zealand look like in<br />

2044?”<br />

The capsule, which will<br />

also include other newspapers,<br />

will be filled and sealed at this<br />

year’s Fieldays Society AGM<br />

on Thursday <strong>December</strong> 5, and<br />

will be lowered into the ground<br />

the following week.<br />

The capsule will be down<br />

for 25 years and will be lifted at<br />

the 2044 AGM.<br />

tion of a trade qualification.<br />

These were major accomplishments.<br />

What impressed<br />

me most from the hour I<br />

spent in his company - apart<br />

from his admirable openness<br />

- was his focus on strategic<br />

thinking. That saw Connell<br />

Contractors turn its back on<br />

commercial contracting to<br />

focus solely on civil contracting<br />

after the GFC crash,<br />

allowing them to take a much<br />

more planned approach. It<br />

also saw them seize the challenge<br />

of setting up in Christchurch<br />

post-earthquake and,<br />

It will also include letters<br />

buried with the last capsule and<br />

a mobile with both Fieldays<br />

and Equidays apps on it plus<br />

charger. In an astute piece of<br />

future proofing, the organisers<br />

will include instructions for the<br />

phone and apps’ use. Not only<br />

that, but a Greta Thunberg dissertation<br />

on climate change will<br />

be among the artefacts.<br />

Meanwhile, <strong>2019</strong> was a<br />

strong year for Fieldays as the<br />

event generated $549 million in<br />

sales revenue for New Zealand<br />

firms, with $183 million going<br />

into the <strong>Waikato</strong> region. The<br />

national figure is an increase of<br />

more than $50 million on last<br />

year’s figures.<br />

Based on the official event<br />

perhaps most tellingly, establish<br />

an independent board in<br />

2011 which has helped them<br />

through some testing times.<br />

attendance figures for <strong>2019</strong> of<br />

128,747, each person though<br />

the gate contributes on average<br />

around $4200 to the economy.<br />

The figures come from an<br />

Economic Impact Report conducted<br />

by Dr Warren Hughes<br />

of the New Zealand Institute for<br />

<strong>Business</strong> Research at the University<br />

of <strong>Waikato</strong>.<br />

New Zealand National Fieldays<br />

Society general manager<br />

of commercial Nick Dromgool<br />

said the numbers were encouraging.<br />

“We heard from several<br />

of our bigger exhibitors that this<br />

Fieldays <strong>2019</strong> drew the crowds<br />

and posted impressive figures.<br />

was a good year for them so it’s<br />

great to have this backed up by<br />

the numbers,” Dromgool said.<br />

The report states that more<br />

than 2000 full-year jobs have<br />

been sustained in the New<br />

Zealand economy from the<br />

<strong>2019</strong> event with almost 900 in<br />

<strong>Waikato</strong>.<br />

A total of $247 million of<br />

additional GDP was generated<br />

for the New Zealand economy<br />

which is an increase of $21 million<br />

on the previous year. $80<br />

million was added to <strong>Waikato</strong>’s<br />

GDP.<br />

A year after interviewing<br />

Dave, I was delighted to see<br />

Connell Contracting named<br />

Supreme Winner of the Westpac<br />

<strong>Waikato</strong> <strong>Business</strong> Awards.<br />

When he spoke to <strong>Waikato</strong><br />

<strong>Business</strong> <strong>News</strong> in the aftermath<br />

of the company’s latest<br />

impressive achievement, he<br />

made it clear there have been<br />

some challenging times. But<br />

their focus on strategic thinking<br />

has paid off for them, and<br />

they are eyeing a bright future.<br />

I have also had the pleasure,<br />

since the awards, of<br />

interviewing Tesh Randall<br />

from Raglan Coconut<br />

Yoghurt.<br />

It was heartening to talk<br />

to a woman from a new generation,<br />

one who genuinely<br />

cares about the environment<br />

and puts her business where<br />

her mouth is, paying the living<br />

wage as a minimum and<br />

achieving carboNZero accreditation.<br />

She is an entrepreneur,<br />

an environmentalist and a successful<br />

businesswoman, all at<br />

the age of 29. Watch for our<br />

more extensive story on her in<br />

the new year.<br />

Congratulations to all the<br />

awards finalists and winners;<br />

they were a truly impressive<br />

group.<br />

Ngā mihi nui<br />

Richard Walker<br />

Editor<br />

richard@dpmedia.co.nz<br />

cjwbuild.co.nz

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