As Hawke’s Bay’s new economic development agency begins to take shape, the organisations chair Alasdair McLeod, has a very clear view of where it will make its most impact.

The new regional development agency was announced in December 2021 with a $1.7 million annual funding commitment for three years, delivering on the existing Matariki Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS).

Alasdair was named chair in late 2022 along with inaugural board members of Shayne Walker, Erin Simpson, Rawinia Kamau and Caren Rangi. One position remains open. As he looks to create a successful economic development agency, Alasdair is mindful that it remains clearly grounded to deliver on a strategy aimed at having a positive impact on as many people in the region as possible.

Alasdair has a long track record of involvement with economic development agencies, the first being over 20 years ago with the development of the Wellington ED agency, through to the creation of REDS in 2016-2017. Alasdair says the strategy isn’t about helping the fat cats getting fatter, but instead stays true to the vision of REDS that ‘every whānau and every household is actively engaged in and benefiting from growing a thriving Hawke’s Bay economy.’

It’s a tall ask, to deliver on a strategy that benefits over 180,000 residents from Central Hawke’s Bay to Wairoa but Alasdair only needs to point to feedback from Māori in the development of the initial strategy, which they said lacked meaningful engagement with Māori.

“We need to make sure that we have a strategy that facilitates and enables sustainable economic growth to the widest possible part of the community. It’s not about growth at all costs, it’s about protecting the household and whanau across our region.

Alasdair McLeod, Hawke’s Bay’s new economic development agency chairman. Alasdair recognises that Māori haven’t had the same opportunities as others and he is determined to ensure the likes of his young Big Brother, Big Sister mentee Kaine, are given every opportunity to succeed.

With each decision Alasdair only needs to fall back on some of conversations in 2016-2017 with the likes of Hamo McNeill, who was an adviser to Ngati Kahungunu, along with an unlikely encounter with mob leader Rex Timu as well as his Big Brother mentor role.

“If we are going to build a better Hawke’s Bay, it’s for everybody, not just a few at the top. “Kaine comes from a tough background and didn’t have the same opportunities as my own children. Yet he’s just as bright and for me, if I can change one life, like Kaine’s then I have done my job.

“He’s now in the workforce and can set his horizons higher.

“If we look at corporate opportunities through the lens of what does it mean for people that aren’t currently employed or are under-employed – how do we bridge the gaps because labour shortages come up time and time again – the issue isn’t labour shortages, the issue is we do a terrible job of encouraging, training, investing and promoting behaviours and skills that can change lives.

“I am absolutely determined the REDA will never lose sight of that lens, and we can’t have a booming economy that creates a wealth divide. That isn’t a win.”

The cyclone recovery offers a big opportunity for the region but decisions and investment need to happen quickly. The REDA will oversee the economic pou within the regional cyclone recovery framework and it will become one of the first tasks of an incoming chief executive.

“Cyclone Gabrielle has knocked us for six but we need to make sure that we have a strong progressive procurement strategy and any businesses that come into the region have to employ and train local people. “I am also looking at what steps we can take to protect local businesses and that they get recovery work.

My understanding is that didn’t happen after the Christchurch earthquakes and the local construction industry got completely swamped by the big conglomerates that came in and there was nothing to protect the little guys. Looking after our own capability is really important.

“We want to say Hawke’s Bay is open for business again – but we can’t do that until we have reliable infrastructure, particularly road, rail, sea and air networks.” A key step is working with Waka Kotahi and build some new decent infrastructure rather than fixing up what we have.

The primary sector has been the worst hit and Alasdair said it is important primary producers don’t fall back to traditional old-school ways but instead take the opportunity to challenge tradition and transform. He points to the challenges that the Merino wool sector has faced and how in 2010, The New Zealand Merino Company (NZM) and Government’s Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) undertook a $36 million, 5 year initiative designed to amplify the momentum and economic returns already evident in New Zealand’s fine wool sector, with substantial spillover for the benefit of the entire New Zealand sheep industry and the New Zealand economy.

“Primary Sector leaders went over to Stanford University and were exposed to the highest level of challenging thinking that just forced them to transform their models. It was a brilliant programme. We might not be able to get some of our leaders to Stanford but we might be able to bring Stanford to Hawke’s Bay or somewhere close to Hawke’s Bay … it is worth considering.”

The economic development agency is based at the new Business Hub in the former Post Office Building in Hastings, which also is the base for the Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce, NZ Trade & Enterprise, Business Central and Export Hawke’s Bay.

Russell Roads chief executive Gavin O’Connor is proud of how businesses that usually compete against each other “left their company badges at the door” and worked together to clear debris and repair roads across Hawke’s Bay.

“Everyone really pulled together to get our communities reconnected.  For the most part the company badges have been left at the door and people have collaborated and worked together to deliver what’s best for the community.”

Russell Roads was called on by Fulton Hogan to help out in Hastings while it worked with Higgins on State Highway clearing and repairs. Gavin says the round the clock work did have a toll on his staff, many who had personally been impacted by the cyclone.

“A lot of our people were dealing with their own challenges following the cyclone with one staff member’s home washed off its foundations, yet he still returned to work, helped with response work in Puketapu and led our crew on SH5.  “Eventually we were able to send our crew and equipment to his place for a working bee to help with his personal recovery.”

As a business Russell Roads used it’s charitable trust, the George Foundation, to support families find property, pay property expenses and purchase essential furniture as well as buying 18 cords of wood for those in need coming in to winter.

Russell Roads was also significantly impacted by the cyclone with its three quarries damaged with the largest in Maraekakaho suffering extensive damage with loss of product, damaged machinery and general site damage.

Gavin says as we start to look to the future, there needs to be a big conversation about vital lifeline routes such as Napier to Wairoa.

“The Napier/Wairoa road is consistently under threat of closure due to slips and undermining.  Whilst efforts are ongoing to reopen the existing route right now, I believe a permanent solution could offer far more resilience which reduces risk of closure at the same time as delivering economic benefit through jobs, reducing travel time and costs.”

Unison Networks crews worked around the clock to rebuild their electricity network after Cyclone Gabrielle cut power to over 65,000 customers across the region.

It has been the most arduous challenge Unison has ever endured, with 25 crews clocking up over 60,000 hours repairing over 80 kilometres of lines, 230 power poles as well as reinstating sub-stations.

As well as 13 local crews, Unison called on the services of crews from Taranaki, Hamilton, Whakatane and Rotorua. As Unison’s Incident Controller and GM for Commercial says it was all hands on deck, with hundreds of men and women in hi-vis gear scaling infrastructure and working around the clock to restore power to Hawke’s Bay.

“We understand how hard it has been for communities to be without power for such a long time and our crews faced unique and significant challenges given the remote location and limited access to some sites as we repaired extensive damage our network.

“Our crews have gone house-by-house and street-by-street to inspect and liven flood-damaged properties, and to repair, tidy and reconfigure the network in areas remaining without power. “We are proud of our team, everyone has stepped up whether that be out in the field or back at our head office.

We have  pulled every stop and thinking outside the square to reconnect and restore power as quickly as possible.” During the early stages of the response solutions engineer Mark Cozens, who usually sits behind a desk, had donned his overalls and hard hat, leading the team at the Taradale Road switching yard.

“The effort was immense and our crews were working their backsides off,” Mark said. Unison’s response has now transitioned to recovery with a focus on completing temporary repairs to the network to provide the level of service and security there was prior to the cyclone as well as ongoing engagement with impacted communities. Unison has already attended over 25 community meetings.

“At each stage of our response we had a clear plan involving four key phases – phase three involved rural engagement and restoration. While we’ve moved to phase four, which focuses on our transition to recovery, we continue to undertake repairs in rural areas and to engage with our rural communities and keep them updated on progress,” he says.

The last stages of restoring the network back to where it was prior to the cyclone, is inspecting and reconnecting individual properties in areas where power has been restored, the clean-up and repair of Awatoto substation and securing full supply from the national grid.

“We’ve worked alongside Transpower to ensure supply into the region meets demand ahead of winter. “We have a firm plan in place to undertake the work required to build additional resilience and security in transmission supply, ahead of peak demand during the cooler months,” Jason says.

Excuse the pun, but for Drainways a lot of their existing work was lost down the drain after the cyclone hit.

“The impact on our business was massive in so many ways. All of our contract works stopped for more than a month,” says managing director Mark Currie.

“We returned back to work six days after the cyclone and only just managed to have enough work for one day so we went out and hunted for more work and just managed to get enough for the next day. This went on for more than two weeks and then we started getting a little bit more work in front of us.”

However, selflessly, the team quickly turned to helping out where they could, becoming a regular feature outside the Hawke’s Bay Emergency Management Centre in Hastings, taking on tasks such as finding generators and getting them to where they were most needed.

“We were busy from supplying food and water and generators to supplying an excavator and truck to help clear the path to one of the Vodafone towers so they could restore power and get Wifi back on again. We also used all our machinery to help clear driveways and provide access to properties.”

Drainways was also instrumental in pulling together a convoy of diesel trailers that ran 24hrs for to keep the Hastings water treatment plant and the Clive sewer plant operational for the first few days after the cyclone.

“We managed to source diesel from one area of town that had power but it meant having a team of up to 10 utes constantly running tanker trailers. This included having to take them through flooded roads that were closed to public.

Our team rallied to the task and, along with the help of Apatu Farms giving up their diesel trailers the city was able to have a constant water supply as well as the sewer infrastructure.”

Mark says he will never underestimate mother nature again and will look to strengthen the resilience of their business, the wellbeing of its staff, while also jumping in to helping out in the community.

“Drainways has a team that’s very adaptable and willing to do whatever it takes. We’re helping with silt clean up right now but longer term we’d be looking to repair and build retaining walls and help in the building of smaller bridges to get the community back to some sort of normal as soon as possible.”

Going forward Mark sees a new work pipeline emerge as well as new employment for those that have lost their jobs.

“The cyclone has caused much damage but it has also brought a lot of work and employment to the region. It’s going to be a long time before it gets back on its feet again but that alone is an opportunity for so many people.”

Sophie McHardy and Richard Paul didn’t hesitate in finding ways that they and the company they work for, Mediaworks, could pitch in and help.

Richard, now based at the Mediaworks Auckland office, as their head of property, loaded up a ute of supplies and headed south to his beloved region as soon as he could, while locally Sophie and the team looked at ways that they could get involved.

”With power out and communications down we had to rely on getting updates on what was happening via local radio stations,” says Sophie. Sophie says Mediaworks responded immediately, powering up their generator to get back on the airwaves.

“Powered by our old faithful generator, our local Breeze station broadcast live from 6am to 7pm every day in the two weeks following the cyclone, offering up-to-date information to our listeners.

“For a while radio was the only connection with the outside world and our local announcers did a superb job at keeping the public informed.”  At the same time Richard was working with Mark Little, CEO of courier company, Aramex, in Auckland to send work supplies of generators, spades and boots to Hawke’s Bay.

“Mark and the Aramex team also rose to the occasion and provided full logistics, delivering pallets of equipment throughout the region and then we were out on the ground with Richard dropping off equipment and assisting the community in organising various logistics.”

After the early response, Sophie started hearing stories from her Ag-Pilot husband Alex McHardy about the impact on the rural communities cut off from town due to bridge damage. One simple life pleasure in normal times for farmers is a cold beer at the end of a hard day on the farm.

“The farmers were working long hours under trying conditions to ensure the wellbeing of their stock, a few mentioned to Alex that they would love a beer at the end of the day. “So, from this we set up a Facebook Page among friends called ‘Beers for the Boys’ – I did a shout out to friends to donate beer for the farmers that we could add to the flights when there was room in the planes.

“Obviously beer is not classed as an ‘essential’ supply but it offered the farmers a little normality after a hard day on their cyclone ravaged properties and a chance to check in with their neighbours and enjoy a cold one.”

Next on the agenda was the idea of uniting and lifting the spirits of the entire region and along with Hastings District Council, Sophie and the Mediaworks team worked on a campaign called
‘Hawke’s Bay Together in Black & White’.

“They all got on board and we set the wheels in motion to go live with a special community day on Thursday April 6. What was a small idea grew into something pretty big with the amazing support of the councils we launched a simple campaign to wear your heart on your sleeve by wearing our region’s colours of black and white as a show of togetherness.”

As well as wearing black ‘n white, a simple donation platform was set up with a text-to-give number for instant $3 donations to the Hawke’s Bay Mayoral Disaster Relief Fund. From a feeling of hopelessness of not being badly affected by the Cyclone, Sophie, Richard and their team can be proud of all they have achieved.

“I think the biggest impact on me personally was an overwhelming feeling of guilt and hopelessness that I had not been directly impacted by the cyclone when so many had lost everything, but I guess the cyclone has also given us another chance to start over, do things a little differently and rebuild our beautiful region and nurture and care for its people.”

“The support the ‘Hawke’s Bay Together in Black & White’ initiative showed the togetherness of the people of Hawke’s Bay and was also proof of just how proud we all are of our region, our special part of Aotearoa.” Richard says the experience of being back home will last a lifetime. “Having driven through the night to get home and relieve my amazing wife from the tyranny of our three kids, I was shattered but equally invigorated.

“We managed to decanter and deliver 20 or so pallets directly into the hands of those on the front line over the period of 3 days, arranged tens of thousands of dollars of diesel to be delivered into cut off farms, arranged countless specific requests for specialist people and heavy equipment and sourced equipment and labour for the removal of window-height silt from two recoverable houses.

“Most of this was achieved primarily through the gifting and contacts of the Auckland community.”

The Rescuers Jimmy Guerin and his team at Helicopters Hawke’s Bay pulled hundreds of people from roofs, risking their own lives in doing so.

Weeks on from the cyclone, Jimmy says those rescues remain a blur, as they spent hours and hours in the most impacted areas of Hastings and Napier searching for people and animals to rescue.

“It was all day, every day searching the worst hit areas such as Swamp Road, Dartmoor, Omaranui Road, Koropiko and Pakowhai. “What I do recall is that most of the people were emotionless when we picked them up, they were in such a state of shock and it wasn’t until we got them to safety that their emotions kicked in on what they had just gone through and a sense of loss.

Jimmy is well known in the rural sector with his helicopters usually used for crop protection and aerial spraying and like many involved in the response, the cyclone’s ferocity was unexpected.

“We heard reports to expect about 200 millimetres of rain, but have since heard stories of over one metre of rain, and when you are in the air, you could see the impact of all of that water.

He says if the flooding following the storm had been during the night, there would have been many more lives lost, as he recalls one rescue 36 hours after the cyclone struck.

His only vivid recollection is rescuing a farmer, his wife and their farm dogs.

“We went to one of the Joan Fernie Trust Farms and picked up a farmer and his wife off their roof and could also see that the farm dogs were on the kennel’s roof, that’s something that I will always remember along with seeing the stock loss and human loss. A few people didn’t want to leave, it was like they were the captain of a sinking ship and they wanted to stay, but it was just too dangerous.”

Ironically a few days before the cyclone hit, the Hawke’s Bay Emergency Management Group held a meeting about general civil defence plans, which Jimmy says focused more on the likelihood of earthquakes and Tsunamis.

“It’s a bit uncanny really that we had that meeting as we weren’t expecting that a natural disaster was just around the corner and here we were talking about rescue landing sites. He says that the region needs to lift it’s game in preparedness for future natural disasters, especially forecasted weather events where out of region helicopters are brought in on standby.

Locally Jimmy says there’s about 10 helicopters that can be called into action but with a cyclone it makes it difficult to get more helicopters quickly into the region after the eye of the storm has hit.

“Hopefully I don’t have to be involved in something like this again in my lifetime, but we are told that we should expect more regular weather events into the future, so with that in mind we do need to be better prepared.”

Since the early days of the cyclone response, Jimmy and his team have turned to supplying remote areas still cut off or with limited access to town with much needed supplies such as fuel, food, medical supplies and animal feed.

He says the road ahead for the region and many of his rural clients is long but “they’re a resilient bunch and they’ll probably stick to their knitting and rebuild. Time is a good healer.”

Jimmy is also grateful to the many people that supported his team during the round the clock rescues, many dropping off food and other supplies to their base at the Bridge Pa airport.

“That was pretty awesome really, we had all our hands on deck, but other people just turned up to help as well. Our families were also incredibly supportive, helping where they could, especially with us working such long hours.”