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