New Hastings HIVE manager Claire St John Pedlar is stamping her own mark on Hastings HIVE bringing her “can-do” attitude and creative flair to the HIVE at a time when COVID-19 has been an unwelcome disruption to all.

From positive affirmations and quotes on the fridge in the café area, through to a morning coworkers’ quiz to kick off the day, Claire is enjoying her role as manager whilst operating her own marketing businesses from a desk in the shared “i-desk” coworking area.

“It’s such a great place to come and work from. There’s a wide cross-section of people here and that adds to the atmosphere. We have all faced challenges recently, but we also uplift each other.

The HIVE will become even more vibrant when Stage 3 opens. The smaller format offices have proven very popular with all but one Stage 2 office now taken. And hopefully we can soon emerge from COVID restrictions and reintroduce our get togethers in the central café area and create an awesome co-working vibe.

We can’t wait.”

Stage 3 construction underway 

A vision to create the Hawke’s Bay’s first large-scale co-working space is reaching its final stage of completion, having welcomed many new businesses since their launch in January 2020.

Inspired by shared work place concepts pioneered in international trading centres like London, New York and Toronto, Rob and Jenny Gill’s vision is to create a modern co-working space with all the benefits of a corporate office space but with a super affordable and flexible rental model, for small and emerging businesses.

In hindsight not the greatest timing the Gills will admit, but they are thrilled now to need the third and final Stage 3 area to meet the demand for flexible office space. Local Hastings based MCL Construction are providing and managing the Stage 3 fit out with a completion date in June this year.

There have been many challenges in the last two years but they are proud to have provided a new home to many local, national and international businesses, keen to participate in the Hawke’s Bay growth story. Hastings HIVE now has over 20 organisations on site, from one person start-ups to larger companies with multiple teams.

Stage 3 is set to welcome yet more businesses with five new four-person offices, another video conferencing suite and three more sound-proofed i-booths for those personal phone calls, or one-on-one zoom meets.

It is also really pleasing that the HIVE has become the base for a number of not-for-profit organisations such as recent addition, the Graeme Dingle Foundation, who provide inspirational programmes supporting NZ youth; Volunteering Hawke’s Bay who support volunteer organisations within the Bay; Puhoro Trust who provide targeted tuition for young Maori to achieve excellence in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths); and The Wharariki Trust providing grass root support to Flaxmere and its diverse community.

Some recent corporate additions include DCA Architects, The Recruitment Network, Newline (bathroom fit-out specialists) and Sandpiper Communications.

A recent big mover in the HIVE is BECA. Their Hawke’s Bay Market Leader and Senior Associate Matt Sanders says the Hive is the perfect spot for dynamic businesses, providing flexibility to grow as the business and team grow.

“The HIVE has allowed us to quickly establish our permanent office in Te Matau-a-Māui. We started in one of the mid-sized offices, and on the back of supporting our clients in the region have grown rapidly and now occupy a large office fronting onto Market Street.

Rob and Claire (HIVE community manager) were fantastic to work with during our move, and the flexibility offered allowed us to increase our footprint without any disruption to our business.

Hawke’s Bay Airport today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Trustpower Ltd as part of the proposed commercial solar farm development to be built on land adjacent to the runway. The partnership will allow the development to move to the next phase, which will involve community consultation and seeking resource consent for the construction and operation of the farm.

Upon completion of the sale of its multi-utility retail business, Trustpower will be rebranded Manawa Energy, and will be New Zealand’s largest independent electricity generator and renewables developer, representing around 5% of New Zealand’s existing generation capacity. The airport development will be Trustpower’s first solar energy project, and is an example of the partnership approach Manawa Energy will take to funding and developing renewables projects in New Zealand.

Chief Executive David Prentice says the partnership with Hawke’s Bay Airport shows the company is making good on its commitment to increasing New Zealand’s renewable generation capacity.

“We are excited to be part of this important development in Hawke’s Bay, and look forward to working with our partners to deliver locally sourced renewable energy to the region” says Prentice.

The airport development will be Trustpower’s second renewables project in the region, after it commissioned the 4-megawatt Esk River Hydro-electric Power Scheme in northern Hawke’s Bay, which has been generating since 2013.

Hawke’s Bay Airport Board Chair Wendie Harvey was thrilled with news of the partnership. “It’s fantastic the solar farm project is going forward with Manawa Energy; a company that understands and is aligned to Hawke’s Bay Airport’s commitment to safeguarding the future and creating the long-term resilience and sustainability of airport land.”

“We can now move ahead with next steps of the project, which will ultimately help us achieve our vision of carbon neutrality by 2030.”

Under the current plans, when complete the solar farm will have 52,000 solar panels capable of generating 24 megawatts of electricity, or 36,000 megawatt hours. The output would be enough to power 5000-6000 households per year.

Mitre 10 MEGA Trade Hastings has taken out the much coveted Mitre 10 MEGA Trade store of the year award for 2021.

Mitre 10 MEGA Trade General Manager Tristan Seccombe says the award win has been something the team has been working on for the last six years and is well deserved and tops off the continued growth in market share for both the Hastings and Napier stores.

“We have worked very hard to be the building supplies provider of choice for many building and trade businesses across Hawke’s Bay and the award recognition is something we are all very proud of.”

Tristan says the two Hawke’s Bay Mitre 10 MEGA Trade stores have focussed on making it easier for local building firms, investing in back-end systems that streamlines ordering building materials.

He adds that a key point of difference with Mitre 10 MEGA Trade is being able to supply everything from a ‘buildings foundations to the fence-line.

“We can provide a much wider offering from materials for foundations to kitchens, bathrooms, plants, permanent fencing and everything in between and this appeals to small and large building firms.”

Tristan says an example of the wider service and product offering is winning a tender last year to supply a Recognised Seasonal Worker accommodation complex with everything from building materials right through to beds and linen.

In winning the award local owners Graeme and Stephen Ricketts praised the team for their win.

“We couldn’t be prouder of the teams achievements and they definitely deserve this recognition,” says Graeme Ricketts.

Regional Trade Development Manager Tony Scott  says Mitre 10 MEGA Hastings has raised the bar for the way we service our customers’ needs, at the same time continually looking for new ways to strengthen and grow the relationships they have with their customers.

“Having achieved exponential sales growth in a challenging environment during a timber crisis, the Mitre 10 MEGA Trade team continue to strive for excellence ensuring the customers’ needs and expectations are met every single day.”

The summer events season is up in the air due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Hawke’s Bay is a magnet for major events over summer and as we remain at lockdown Level 2 (as of early October) our key events such as Horse of the Year, the Mission Concert, Art Deco  and many other outdoor concerts and festivals remain up in the air.

HOY and the Mission were also cancelled at the last minute in 2020 and although contingency plans are in place, if Auckland was to stay at a higher lockdown level or goes into a high lockdown level again, New Zealand’s largest equestrian event would be unlikely.

Already events such as Hawke’s Bay Racing’s Spring Carnival and the Hawke’s Bay A&P Show have been impacted, with the show being cancelled for only the second time in 158 years, the only other time being during World War 2.

The New Zealand Events Association has also postponed its own conference and awards event, which was due to be held in Napier in September, but has now been pushed out to December.

A hot topic at the event will be how the sector will recover from COVID-19. In fact the events headline name is ‘Eventing the Future’.

The conference, being held at the War Memorial Centre, has attracted some impressive key speakers such as Andrea Nelson, the CEO of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and Minister for Tourism Hon. Stuart Nash.

Last year the Government provided $60 million to the events sector – a $10m Domestic Event Fund (DEF) and a $50m Regional Events Fund (REF).

Stuart is likely to be put under the spotlight as the sector looks for support as it navigates the economic impact of the pandemic.

A letter was sent to the minister in September by the NZ Events Association which said level 2 had ‘brought the sector to its knees’.

The association has asked the government to consider five requests – targeted and extended financial support, a risk based approach to events at alert level 2, a government backed insurance facility for events, new ‘‘tools to the event toolbox” such as rapid COVID-19 testing and improved MIQ systems.

New Zealand Events Association survey found that a week into alert level 4, 182 events were cancelled and 231 events were postponed.

Of the 100 respondents 42 per cent said the disruption had a considerable financial impact on their organisation and 36 per cent reported a moderate financial impact.

The cost was conservatively estimated to be close to $6m and that doesn’t include many large events which did not respond to the survey, the association says.

Co-owner and chief executive of Duco Events, Rachael Carroll has 5 large scale events that take place between October and February. Each event expected more than 5000 people is one of many within the sector that are asking for greater support and direction by the Government.

Rachael says Duco has invested heavily into these events and tickets sales have been strong but it’s a case of fingers and toes crossed that they happen.

We are looking to NZ Government to provide a road map out of the pandemic with some guidance about what can happen when aligned to vaccination rates.

We currently do not know when these events can take place but remain optimistic. We are supportive of restrictions and controls to protect health, but the lack of uncertainty of the next 6 months puts pressure on event companies.

Rachael says Duco has a diverse portfolio of events, many of which have been postponed since March 2020 and with lack of international talent, they have shifted to using more local talent.

“Since the pandemic hit we have been able to shift focus to events with local NZ talent (eg SYNTHONY music event, T20 Black Clash and staging a local Joseph Parker heavyweight fight).

Whilst postponement by no means as dire as cancellation it takes time / energy and money and income is delayed putting pressure on business cash flow.”

Event organisers within the sector are all on the same page when it comes to the support needed by the Government.

Both Rachael and Chris Randle, Head of Event Success at Blerter and a board member of the New Zealand Event Association calling for a road map and having a different status from other mass gatherings.

“Within this road map events need to be considered differently to a mass gathering as  ticketed events are controlled and we have the ability to use mandatory masks, QR codes, and can separate audiences to support contact tracing,” Rachael says.

Chris adds that “there is no one size fits all and the industry is incredibly diverse so access to a system that acknowledges that and supports a risk based approach to decision making would be very helpful.”

“We need clear information, appropriate systems and consistency.”

Chris says as summer arrives  there is a mix of optimism and anxiety across the sector although time and continued uncertainty is one of the biggest challenges many face.

Chris says as well as the economic benefits events bring to New Zealand and host regions, events also have a positive impact on the wellbeing of those that attend and give the wider community a buzz, that an event is being held in their city.

“Economic impact is often the statistic that makes headlines when it comes to events.  However, events can connect and reconnect people and the profound positive impact that events can have on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of people and communities is important now more than ever.”

Hawke’s Bay events champion and Napier City Council Events Manager Kevin Murphy hopes that the new normal, will be less forgiving on the local events sector and the many businesses across Hawke’s Bay that benefit.

“It will be a pretty sad summer if we can’t get out and about and enjoy events such as  international cricket at McLean Park, Art Deco,concerts across the region and the big local free events like New Years Eve.

“It also has the potential to change the events scene for years to come, as the other sectors that rely on the economic windfall from events such as accommodation providers and bars and restaurants.”

Wairoa-based New Zealand Mecates grew out of founder Ilana Cheiban’s love of horses and her desire for quality, locally made gear.

When she couldn’t find the type of horse tack she wanted, Ilana decided to make it herself – and the business was born. It now produces top-quality, handmade horse gear and leather products to local and overseas markets.

NZ Mecates’ success earned Ilana the Judge’s Choice Award at this year’s ExportNZ ASB Hawke’s Bay Export Awards.

In winning the discretionary category award, the judges said Ilana had done “a supreme job” in carving out a company from scratch, and they unanimously wanted to acknowledge NZ Mecates, which exports about three-quarters of its products.

Ilana’s venture began when she sold halters for the first time at a local horse and tack auction.

“I sold 17 halters for $23 each. I remember realising that there was a market for the gear that I was making for my family, that there was something I could provide and a way to keep us afloat,” she says.

With a background in fine arts, a talent for using her hands and an eagerness to learn, she started her mecate-making craft journey in 2014 when she purchased a hand twister off eBay.

“Like any good business, we were born out of a backyard shed, supported enough to eventually risk quitting the day job. What started with halters soon branched out into rope and leather reins, headstalls and breastplates,” she says.

“I couldn’t help laughing when my daughter asked why I couldn’t just have a normal job like a normal mother when we were stretching out hides one day.”

The business grew to specialise in making Californian-style tack and Ilana believes she is the only manufacturer in the world producing wool-based mecates, equestrian ropes traditionally made out of horsehair.

She says it took a year of trial and error to develop the “recipes” for her unique mecates and her family was called into service.

“It took three people to make one mecate. We would spend every weekend walking the length of the veranda of our house, twisting up mecates, which often indulged in being difficult and obstinate. We spent many frustrated hours on that veranda.

“What we produce now are six-strand mecates that have a core of twisted wool. They are one-of-a-kind, bespoke mecates that are durable yet soft in your hand and have a wonderful life to them.”

Ilana says having learnt her craft “with the aid of nothing but a few books, YouTube and wit”, she plans to keep refining her skills so she can extend her range of products.

“I just love making what I make, and I keep adding new designs, refining and making the products better.”

Using New Zealand wool is a core aspect of the business, Ilana says, because it is a natural, sustainable, iconic Kiwi product and it is important to keep showcasing it to our international markets.

“It would be really nice to see more small businesses using wool in a way that is innovative, added value and got it offshore. It gives the farmers encouragement, gets them back in the woolshed. I’m lucky to be able to access really good quality and quantities of wool and it’s the best in the world. It’s the best fibre.”