Review prompts Hawke's bay business agency to consider closure

A Hawke's Bay council review has found the region has too many business support groups trying to do the same thing.

One of the groups fears its days are numbered and that its removal could hobble the region's economy.

The review of local government investment in business and industry support across the region found that there were no major gaps in services but there were questions about who exactly did what.

In the region there are groups and brands such as Hawke's Bay NZ, Great Things Grow Here, Be in the Bay, Business Hawke's Bay and the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce but many people do not understand the role of each.

Gus Charteris of Giblin Group, who completed the review, explained that "some of the feedback from the councils themselves was that it wasn't always clear who had the lead on different things".

The councils want to create a new regional entity, but this could take a year or more.

Business Hawke's Bay is an independent, business-led economic development agency in the region, but it's considering shutting up shop after this review.

It gets $330,000 a year from local councils, but they have repeatedly denied it extra funding.

It often shares responsibilities with the Chamber of Commerce or other groups in the Hawke's Bay Business Hub.

Business Hawke's Bay chairman Stu McLauchlan understood there were concerns.

"A couple of things were made pretty clear in that report, that you know, we need to do better in terms of delivery of economic development in Hawke's Bay. It's a bit fragmented and there's duplication, potentially competition."

But he said if Business Hawke's Bay had to close within a few weeks, that would leave a significant gap until a new group was formed.

"If Business Hawke's Bay did wind up in the near future, there's potentially a vacuum for a period ... the concern we've got is all the momentum that we've created, the IP, the projects, the programmes could be lost."

However, the councils said the request by Business Hawke's Bay for the extra funding was unrealistic. Speaking on behalf of all the councils, Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker said their calls were "ad-hoc".

"There had been growing calls from [Business Hawke's Bay] about their funding and there had been growing calls from councils back to them about displaying the value that they were adding and making sure that that added up."

There was also discussion around the region that the underlying regional economic development strategy for the region that helps drive these groups, called Matariki is a failure.

Contrasting views on Matariki

Matariki was launched by then economic development minister Steven Joyce in 2016, with an aim of accelerating job growth and innovation in Hawke's Bay.

At a regional council meeting today, deputy chairman Rick Barker questioned if Matariki was working.

He laughed when the council chairman told him one of their achievements was the strategy's leaders had a meeting.

"The fact that you list one of its achievements as they've met is about the same as me getting to an exam and putting my name at the top of the exam paper expecting 10 percent marks for that.

"I'm frustrated that we put all this money in and I can't see it runs on the ball to be honest with you, I'm being the curmudgeon here, I think someone sort of has to call it."

But Walker said such views were "out of touch" and "outdated".

As co-chair of the strategy's governance group, she called Matariki a "triumph".

"The Matariki strategy has supported more than $200 million worth of Provincial Growth Fund funding coming into the region.

"We've had outstanding employment statistics in the last six months which have been supported by all our Matariki partners and the work we have been doing."

Councils will get the next phase of the review underway, seeking ideas for a new overarching economic development entity together.

The community is expected to get its say in the middle of this year.