Damon is the editor and publisher of The Profit. Damon has over 20 years experience as a journalist, content developer, marketer and public relations specialist. Damon is a huge advocate for Hawke's Bay businesses and The Profit was created as a platform to celebrate HB businesses and business people. Damon is also a director of Attn! marketing pr - www.attn.co.nz alongside wife Anna Lorck. He is also a Hastings District Councillor and chairman of Sport Hawke's Bay.
In his spare time he loves surfing, mountain biking, crossfit and spending time with his family, which includes five girls! If you've got a great story contact Damon on 021 2886 772 or damon@theprofit.co.nz
A Hastings landmark that closed due to earthquake risk has come alive as a stunning office, retail and hospitality precinct that rivals the best in New Zealand.
Property developers and passionate Hastings’ champions Rob and Barb Hansen have brought life back into the former Hawke’s Bay Herald Tribune buildings, transforming them into a modern social and business precinct that still acknowledges its past newspaper history.
The old red brick building on the corner of Karamu Road and Queen Street, which once housed the paper’s archives, has been strengthened and converted into a retail and café space; the old press printer area is now an expansive sun-capturing atrium with an array of commercial tenants; and the former paper dispatch area is now Brave Brewing Co. and bar.
More than 150 people across 25 businesses will be based at Tribune, bringing to life what had sadly become an eye sore since media outlet NZME moved to new premises many years ago.
“Right from the start we wanted to create a precinct with personality and heart that shows pride in the community of Hastings. That has remained our primary motivation while striving to create an attractive, aspirational place that attracts people from all over Hawke’s Bay and visitors to the region.
“We have always felt that Hastings has beautiful character buildings that haven’t been given the love and attention that has been seen in other parts of Hawke’s Bay,” says Barb Hansen.
“We had worked 100 metres down Karamu Road for many years and walked past the site every day.
“We acquired it in late 2018 but at that stage had no plans, consents or tenants.
There were six separate building projects at different stages so it has been hard to determine an actual completion date,” she says.
The dynamic couple have always loved the challenge of transforming character buildings into beautiful functional spaces and could see the potential for a mixed-use precinct of hospitality, retail and office spaces established in character settings with lots of greenery.
“We had many ideas for what the precinct could become and were inspired by some beautifully created urban spaces such as Britomart, Morningside, Osborne Lane and City Works Depot in Auckland, and there are many great examples in cities around the world.”
Barb says the project has been a real labour of love, more so with disruptions thanks to COVID-19 as well as convincing prospective tenants of their vision.
“We had a very strong vision of what we wanted the end result to be so it has been about constantly chipping away to get the right tenant mix to create it.
“We have seen it as an opportunity to create something amazing in Hastings but we have also had a real sense of responsibility to do it justice.” The precinct has progressively opened over the past 12 months, with Brave Brewing Co.
opening its doors first through to the latest (as of June) being organic baker and café OMGoodness Specialty Breads.
Businesses within Tribune include:
Kindred Road, BAZAAR, Brave Brewing Co., Morgan Lane, The Dental Institute, OMGoodness Specialty Breads, Tu Meke Don, Glenn Cook Technologies, GHD, Willis Legal, Midlands Mortgage Trust, Real World, Creative Marketing, Digital Circus, HPG, Animals Like Us, Gannon Fire, Advice 4 Life, HB Foundation, RWR Health, Goodman Rural, Extra- Mile Consulting, Atrium at Tribune, and two more yet to be announced!
Barb says completion is close with just a couple of premises to fill. “We’re almost there, just a few more tenancies to complete and lots of planting and lighting to soften the environment, which will give it more personality.”
For Barb, her favourite part of the precinct is the laneway between Kindred Road and BAZAAR/Morgan Lane running off Karamu Road.
“The mix of the new cedar building, the recycled brick of Kindred Road and the exposed concrete beams shows the integrity of the original building.”
Meanwhile, Rob is thrilled with the outcome of the challenging atrium roof.
“This was a real challenge in trying to make it work, including the use of glazing products that would ensure that there wasn’t massive heat build-up from the Hawke’s Bay sun, and ensuring that it had good sound insulation properties for events. The end result is really cool with interconnecting triangular shapes.”
Rob and Barb have worked tirelessly and been very hands-on. Barb says Rob’s vision for the project and tenacity to see it through to completion has been inspiring.
“Rob is an incredibly hard worker who has been all over every single part of the project, from design, consenting, tenants and financials to being relentless with optimism and a can-do attitude.”
Rob attributes Tribune’s success to Barb’s determination to get the right tenants that have bought into their vision.
“Barb has been amazing in her ability to work with a wide variety of people, to articulate our vision and convince them to come on our journey. She has been really successful in securing a large number of Tribune tenants and has been a fantastic sounding board, always coming up with logical solutions.”
Successful marketer pivots to provide career advice and coaching.
It might sound like an unusual move to retrain as a career advisor and coach whilst running a successful marketing business, but for Julia Kay the pivot was borne of a desire to help others find their ‘right fit’ career pathway.
Providing a comprehensive career service for teenagers from Y12 was the start point for her business, as that’s when decisions need to be made for the future. Julia works with her clients to identify individual skills, personality traits, strengths and interests before considering career options.
“Many of my teenage clients are a bit anxious and overwhelmed when we first meet as they’ve put off making any decisions, plus some feel pressure from their parents which can end up causing extra stress at home… The goal is for my client to understand themselves better when making choices. I want them to feel in control of what comes next, ideally so that they don’t waste time or money progressing down the wrong track.”
Over time it became clear there was also a need for a careers service for adults who were looking for support to achieve goals within their current role, or on the flipside were feeling unfulfilled in their job, were going through a restructure, or were looking to define the next step in their career.
Julia’s career service for adults is quite different to working with teenagers, as adult clients have built up a toolkit of transferable skills over the years and have the benefit of personal experience and hindsight.
“My adult clients usually have a pretty good idea of what’s important to them; they’re looking for unbiased support to explore their options and make wise decisions when taking their next steps.”
The missing piece of the puzzle was for Julia to gain qualifications as a coach, in addition to her career guidance qualifications. Although still in its infancy in New Zealand, coaching is incredibly popular overseas, with many progressive companies across the USA and Europe including coaching as an integral part of employment packages for staff at all levels.
“Coaching is not counselling or therapy. It’s a proactive way of addressing challenges whilst looking to the future and taking action to achieve goals. Overseas, businesses use coaching on an ongoing basis to support their employee’s health and wellbeing.”
It’s no surprise that the current situation with Covid, increased cost of living and geopolitical situations around the world are affecting stress and anxiety levels, which can have a flow on effect into the workplace.
A growing number of Julia’s clients are employers who want to provide impartial support and mentoring for their staff. Many staff find it helpful to be supported by a trusted outsider and, considering the challenges with the current tight job market, coaching can be a beneficial way to offer support and resolve any issues rather than lose a staff member.
“It’s fairly easy to say ‘this is what you should do, go do it’ but the real benefit is in providing impartial one-on-one support to the employee, listening objectively and helping to find solutions. I can bring fresh eyes to a situation and provide a perspective they may not have considered before. Providing this type of support to employees on a regular basis will help them to feel more valued.”
As an employer who has worked with SMEs, large corporates, government departments and not-for-profits, Julia understands the realities of the world of work from ‘lived experience’ rather than through an academic lens. She aims to provide pragmatic, practical advice and recommendations that support her clients to thrive.
“Let’s face it, we spend a huge amount of our waking hours at work, more time there than we do at home with our families and friends, so it’s important to get it right” says Julia. “If you want to find the best fit career direction for your teenager or yourself, or have staff who are in need of impartial support or guidance at work, I can help.”
Anthony Norris is sure he has made the RITE decision to take on the Hawke’s Bay franchise for Wash Rite, which is New Zealand’s largest exterior cleaning business with 23 franchises and growing.
Anthony is up for the challenge and he’s not daunted by taking on the exterior cleaning of large-scale buildings in any weather elements, as he loves working outside, something he did in his former career in the New Zealand Navy.
He spent 17 years as a Navy officer specialising in navigation and warfare and although Wash Rite is a land based business, it requires a similar set of skills of tackling projects that require good planning and implementation. He’ll probably be a pretty good aim with the water blaster as well!
“Wash Rite appealed as I wanted to be working outside and I love being able to help people and leave them with a smile on their face.
“I truly believe I can accomplish that and leave customers happy and also surprised at the difference we can make with our services.
“Wash Rite also appealed as it is a high profile award winning franchise which has excellent procedures in place and a proven track record with franchises and after speaking with other business owners and Troy (the founder of Wash Rite) I could tell this would be a good fit for me with good people, who are always willing to help each other out.”
Wash Rite was established in August 2015,by Troy Hillard and it has quickly grown to 23 franchises in operation in 26 cities in New Zealand, from Whangarei to Auckland, Hamilton to Wellington and from Christchurch to Dunedin and is also expanding into Australia.
Wash Rite NZ services both the residential and commercial markets, providing building cleaning services, including window cleaning, roof washing, deck and fence cleaning, pest and insect control, driveway and concrete path cleaning.
Over the past 7 years, Wash Rite has become known for high quality wash trucks within the exterior cleaning industry. So much so other exterior cleaning companies have tried to copy the Wash Rite design with various amounts of success.
Wash Rite’s 3rd generation wash trucks were designed with input from many of the franchisees and a key modification has been to place both engine and pumps on the passenger side of the truck, freeing up deck space while also improving operational safety.
“It means the operator did not have to go into the traffic lane to start the motors.
However the largest change to the trucks is a fabricated aluminium chemical drum holder mounted under the deck that allows 6 x 20lt water drums to be carried and freeing up deck space.
Troy sees huge potential for Anthony and Kim’s Wash Rite franchise in Hawke’s Bay and some large building jobs have already been priced up and the brand gaining strong interest due to Wash Rite’s innovations in cleaning products, soaps, and water run off covers that catch water, preventing run off into storm water drains.
“This is very appealing for many businesses, especially local councils and central government agencies that are committed to the environment, but also want to protect their biggest assets.
Troy says the same approach can be taken with residential homes and the importance of maintaining the exterior paint condition and their 10 year warranties.
“A house is usually someone’s biggest asset and it’s important to look after it, whether that’s a soft clean that protects the paint or cleaning gutters.
“We are also undertake a lot of pre-sale exterior cleaning as a first impression is very important.
Troy is excited about Anthony and wife Kim joining the Wash Rite franchise family. He says they are keen to learn and bring with them good work ethic and a desire to develop great client relationships.
“The Wash Rite brand is fortunate to have such experienced and qualified franchisees joining our brand and Anthony and Kim are a fantastic addition to our franchise family.
Anthony is looking forward to getting around Hawke’s Bay and quickly building a great reputation for quality workmanship that in turn grows his business.
“We will be starting off with just ourselves but we have goals which will require us to expand in due course and we’re willing to do that as soon as we can.
The doors shut to Hutchinson’s eight years ago, as well as the Municipal Building and beloved Assembly Hall, due to the building being earthquake prone.
Now the Municipal Building (‘Muni’) is springing back to life as part of the overall Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre rebuild project that began in 2016, costing over $45 million.
The ground floor has been transformed into three hospitality offerings, as well as being home to Hastings District Council’s new i-site visitor centre and a contemporary art gallery. After a nationwide promotion to attract new hospitality offerings, three well respected local hospitality identities have stepped up to the main stage.
They will showcase the best of local food, wine and craft beer in modern, chic venues more commonly enjoyed while in the big smokes of Auckland, Wellington or Melbourne. As well as street frontage onto Heretaunga Street, the Muni also opens out onto a newly created outdoor laneway connecting to the Hawke’s Bay Opera House.
Kristy Isaacson’s Long Island Delicatessen is nestled on the corner of Hastings Street and Heretaunga Street, alongside Akina Gallery, a new entrance foyer, Master of Wine Michael Henley’s Cellar 495 boutique wine cellar and bar, and then Damon McGinniss’ Craft & Social at the western end.
Damon McGinniss is raring to go and share his passion and craftsmanship as the owner and chef of Craft & Social.
“I’m really passionate about my industry and always look at all aspects of it as a craft, whether that’s creating food or being front of house with customers. Ultimately, people get together to enjoy well-crafted food and drinks in a social environment.”
Damon says he was prepared to significantly invest in establishing a new hospitality style with the confidence of the CBD’s revitalisation and council’s investment in the stunning Municipal Building.
He has eyed a gap in the market and likens Craft & Social to well-known celebrity chef Al Brown’s Depot Eatery in Auckland.
“The food will be flavour-driven small plates to share; it’s a style that I love doing.
“The Hastings CBD is going forward big time; more and more is happening and people now have a much wider choice and I’m ready to give it my all.
“I wanted to create a cool place to enjoy some food, beer or wine, where people can chill and have a good time.”
Kristy Isaacson experience and success in ‘ready to go’ food has led her to creating the Long Island Delicatessen which will offer takeaway lunch options such as a fresh salad bar, proteins, baked goods and sandwiches along with Havana coffee, sodas and smoothies.
Kristy has established a couple of other café and food offerings in the past and says that the Municipal Building setting is like no other in the Bay, replicating funky hospitality precincts usually found in larger CBDs in Auckland and Melbourne.
Long Island Delicatessen opens in mid-July and Kristy says it will be a fun place to call into and pick up something fresh and tasty to eat or drink to take back to the office, or to enjoy in the window seating or in the laneway.
“The building is awesome, and I really bought into the vision of council and councillors to create a new place to gather in town. The brick laneway is a stunning addition and will be well utilised.”
She is also excited about the complementary offerings of the new wine bar and Craft & Social.
“We are all different but will benefit from each other. I’m not licenced but the other two hospo offerings are, so together we offer a mix of healthy takeaway food options through to places that you can sit back and enjoy a meal or drink.”
Council group manager corporate Bruce Allan, who was the project lead for the Municipal Building restoration, says council is delighted at the range and quality of the businesses that have signed up as foundation tenants.
“We have secured world-class businesses run by people who are experienced leaders in their fields and council looks forward to introducing them in detail in the coming months.”
Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst says the introduction of the new tenants heralded another fantastic step forward for Hastings.
“Our city centre already has a stellar line-up of hospitality and retail businesses and we know these exciting new additions in the Municipal Building will appeal to Hawke’s Bay locals and visitors, and further enhance our great central city offering.”
Local wool scourer business WoolWorks received more than $4 million in co-funding from GIDI Fund to convert gas and coal boilers at their Awatoto (Napier) and Washdyke (near Timaru) sites to more modern and efficient hot water heat pump technology.
The new hot water pump at Awatoto, which will be one of the most sophisticated and largest in New Zealand, will replace the site’s natural gas-based hot water generation system, including a hot water boiler and steam heat exchangers.
WoolWorks will invest $2 million into the Awatoto project, with EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) contributing $455,000 through GIDI funding.
WoolWorks, which employs 150 people, is the largest wool scourer by volume in the world and handles 76 percent of all New Zealand wool.
The project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from scouring operations at the plant by 1,700 net tonnes per year, 24 percent of the total energy-related emissions from the site.
Every year, the company’s three sites wash more than 100,000,000 kilograms of wool, ranging from superfine merino to crossbred. Prior to processing into garments or carpets, wool needs to be cleaned and this is an energy intensive process reliant on coal boilers.
“We were on a path to reduce our dependence on coal but it would probably have been closer to 2030 before we got there,” says WoolWorks chief executive Nigel Hales.
The funding will be used to install an electrode boiler to produce steam and an industrial heat pump to generate hot water, reducing over 11,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, the equivalent of removing 3,021 cars from the road.
Nigel says the company has made significant gains in improving the efficiency of its world-class scour operations, leading the way globally for the total useful energy usage per kilogram of wool and reducing its carbon footprint.
EECA also funded an energy audit for the Awatoto site in 2020. The audit identified many opportunities that could be implemented to reduce energy consumption, and resulted in installing new low carbon technologies for process heat decarbonisation.
WoolWorks actively manages its energy consumption at its sites and through EECA has been able to appoint a process engineering graduate to focus on energy modelling, simulation and sustainable options.
Other energy efficiency initiatives at Awatoto include the insulation of high-temperature surfaces, including steam and condensate piping and modifying flow-down systems to maximise heat recovery. Every part of the scouring process is monitored, with water usage carefully controlled and waste streams recycled and re-used where possible.
“We will provide the New Zealand wool sector with a unique low-carbon start to the global supply chain, which will support increased demand for New Zealand wool. Rather than planting our way out of the climate change problem by purchasing pine trees to offset our greenhouse gas emissions, we are choosing to do the right thing by the environment and actually reduce our emissions,” says Nigel.
If reducing carbon emissions wasn’t a goal for your business before 2022, it certainly will be now, since the New Zealand Government released its first Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) in May.
Hawke’s Bay has felt the impact of climate change with a severe drought in the summer of 2020/21 and then major rain events along the East Coast during our most recent summer.
The drought impacted our farming community, while the rain and humid weather took its toll on the wine, apple and cherry growing sectors.
As local business owners, we know a poor harvest season sends economic ripples throughout the community as smaller crops and inferior produce hit profitability and wallets are tightened.
The ERP is the government’s move to place greater responsibility on businesses to take measures to reduce their environmental footprint, including setting emission reduction targets for specific sectors.
Emissions from energy and industry sectors make up 27 percent of total emissions and the plan will lead to estimated emissions reductions during the first budget period of:
● From Transport: 1.7 to 1.9 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent
● From Energy: 2.7 to 6.2 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent
● From Agriculture: 0.3 to 2.7 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent
● From Building and Construction: 0.9 to 1.7 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent. Overall, the plan aims to meet the nation’s first emissions budget of 72.4 million tonnes a year, reducing carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 11.5 million tonnes of carbon in the next three years.
The policies will be backed by $2.9 billion in proceeds of selling carbon credits to polluters under the Emissions Trading Scheme over the next four years, and Hawke’s Bay businesses can apply for funding support to launch their decarbonisation journey via the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund.
The fund has had a cash injection due to the launch of the ERP, jumping from $69 million to around $650 million to partner with major process heat energy users and help them cut costs as well as emissions.
The ERP announcement also included targeted investment at a regional level for projects that optimise low emission fuel use; funding for electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure upgrades to support fuel-switching; and the early adoption of high-decarbonisation energy technologies.
The original fund is regarded by government as a huge success funding fund 53 major industrial decarbonisation projects and estimated to save 7.46 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over a lifetime – the equivalent to taking 134,800 cars off the road.
Wool scouring business WoolWorks was one of the first to get GIDI funding, convert gas and oil boilers to efficient hot water heat pump technology – see story on page 11.
Unison powers up to meet business demand for decarbonisation initiatives
Already in Hawke’s Bay, power lines company Unison is providing support to some large processing and manufacturing businesses and is anticipating an increase in interest by other local businesses looking to reduce their reliance on industrial processed power, such as from coal, oil or gas boilers.
“From an electricity perspective, the direction of travel is very clear. Electricity is going to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of decarbonisation of transport fleets and converting industrial processes – especially those that rely on coal, oil or gas boilers – to electricity,” says Unison general manager commercial Nathan Strong.
“To the credit of many local businesses and industry, they have been thinking about de-carbonisation for the last three years, and maybe longer and we have already had a few knocks on the door in terms of our customers wanting to look at options to decarbonise as well as get an understanding of infrastructure impacts of any transition.
Unison relationships manager Danny Gough adds that the types of businesses introducing decarbonisation initiatives is very diverse but mostly include those within the production and manufacturing sectors who are looking to get away from utilising thermal heat.
“We’ve also seen interest from government agencies, as well as district health boards, schools and the residential retirement sector.”
Danny says businesses aren’t just looking at reducing their carbon footprint as ‘doing their bit’ to improve the environment, but also as part of their growth strategies and promoting their sustainability actions.
He says Unison is working closely with those organisations and their consultants to support their decarbonisation aspirations and sustainability goals.
“Our role is to provide relevant information and advice on fitfor-purpose optimal electrical solutions, and to assist them in determining their electrical requirements and the upfront and ongoing costs associated with infrastructure upgrades.”
Nathan says the GIDI Fund offers a major opportunity for local businesses as they consider how to fund their emission plan.
“The government has injected 10 shots of adrenaline in the arm with the fund, which will get businesses thinking about how they can afford the cost of accelerating the likes of a boiler replacement, so one of the challenges for Unison will be to manage demand from businesses that want to get underway quickly.
“One of the things we are doing as a business is making sure that we are resourcing up to meet expected demand while making sure that we are in front of the change.
“Our message is, talk to us early or risk joining a queue at some point in terms of getting the hardware and the infrastructure in place.”
Regional council adopts climate action network
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has launched a Hawke’s Bay Climate Action Network for businesses, a shared platform for peer-to-peer learning for businesses committed to reducing emissions, which will feed directly into council planning.
It meets every six weeks to discuss emissions reduction, sustainability and adapting to the changing climate.
The council is also aiming to launch its Regional Climate Action Plan by July 2023, outlining how the council will be carbon neutral by 2025 and the region by 2050.
The network and plan is being led by the council’s first climate action ambassador, Pippa McKelvie-Sebileau.
Pippa says climate change is already impacting our way of life, from being able to swim in the waterways we love to where we live around the coast.
“Successful adaptation to climate change is not only essential for economic resilience of our region but also for the wellbeing of our communities.
“This role is about climate action. The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council already has an excellent science base and team of scientists, so it will be about turning that knowledge into practical solutions for our community.
Pippa says the ERP offers businesses and organisations a significant financial commitment to support the transition to lower emissions activities.
“This plan marks the first steps to create the conditions we need for a long delayed journey towards a fairer low emissions and a more secure future for everyone.”
“Farmers are crying out for solutions to help them lower their agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and respond to a warming climate, so the investment and acceleration of research and development is welcome.
“But we cannot rely on breakthrough technology solutions to reduce emissions by the rate they need to be to keep warming under 1.5 degrees.”
Pippa also sees potential to create added value roles within traditional sectors such as construction.
“There is also no funding to retrofit houses with better insulation to reduce energy needs and make homes healthier, and it would be good to see a focus on shifting economic paradigms to support more sustainable models with lower inequality and greater social cohesion.”
Product stewardship firm leads by example
Hastings-based business and sustainability programme developer 3R introduced a carbon reduction plan in 2014, and reduced its greenhouse emissions by 32 per cent (129 tonnes) in the first year, surpassing its goal of 20 per cent by 2020.
It also gained accreditation to CEMARS (Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme), the world’s first internationally accredited greenhouse gas certification scheme to ISO14065.
3R chief executive Adelle Rose says much of the initial reduction was largely achieved by opening a depot in Christchurch, which meant material it collected in the South Island was no longer sent to the North Island.
3r Group – Adele Rose – Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, July 2020. Photo by John Cowpland / alphapix
“The following year we went a step further and gained carboNZero (now Toitū net carbonzero) certification through Toitū Envirocare. This certification isn’t simply about measuring emissions and offsetting them through carbon credits, but rather identifying and taking actions to reduce emissions.”
Adelle says with freight being its largest source of emissions, 3R constantly reviewed travel routes and alternative freight service options, overlapping collections and where possible collaboration across stewardship schemes. Efficiency in these aspects helps drive down our emissions even as we grow the volume of materials we collect for recycling.
“However, our next step to reduce emissions is a big one – changing our fleet to low-emissions options – and this requires significant investment along with infrastructure to support it, which isn’t necessarily available nationally at present.
“This means we need to focus on small incremental changes that can help such as minimizing employee travel, using other Toitū net carbonzero certified suppliers like power provider Ecotricity, driver training and regular vehicle maintenance, improving web conferencing technology, and staying on top of our organic waste to landfill.”
Adelle says 3R is the only Hawke’s Bay based member of the Climate Leaders’ Coalition , which has a highly ambitious commitment to accelerate our transition towards a zero carbon and resilient future.
As part of commitments, 3R is also starting to work with staff and suppliers to reduce their emissions.
Adelle says the ERP is a step in the right direction, adding its mostly up to government and industry to do the hard yards in tackling climate change.
“While the actions of individuals to tackle human contribution to climate change are important, the most impactful and far-reaching are those taken by government and industry. It’s therefore significant that the plan released by government sets out a way forward for reducing the country’s emissions but shows that climate action is the new business as usual, as well as showing New Zealand’s leadership on the issue on the global stage.”
Going forward, Adelle is looking for a greater partnership between government and the private sector with the introduction of an advisory group.
“For us and our work designing product stewardship schemes, partnerships are essential, and we would have liked to see a closer relationship between government and the private sector when developing the plan.
“Government still has the opportunity to improve this aspect as it moves forward with the implementation of the plan.
An advisory group that allows the private sector to have its voice heard and included in the conversation would be very welcome.”
The ERP also offers 3R an opportunity to help other businesses in Hawke’s Bay and around New Zealand by introducing new product stewardship programmes, such as a new recovery programme for synthetic refrigerant gases – one of the most potent greenhouse gases, thousands of times more so than carbon dioxide.
Having achieved its own targets five years earlier than planned, 3R has now reset its targets to a 12 percent reduction of total emissions (excluding air travel, waste and freight) by 2025 and 38 percent by 2030, and a 12 percent reduction of all emissions by 2030.
CHB is not the sleepy part of Hawke’s Bay any longer and under the combined leadership of for chief executive Monique Davidson and Mayor Alex Walker, the district has overcome many challenges to bring its THRIVE vision to life. Doug Tate has been part of that journey as the council’s group manager of customer and community partnership but with Monique heading home to the CE role with Horowhenua District Council, the council wisely promoted from within.
Doug is ready to continue with the hard work and build on the momentum of Monique’s legacy.
Where are you from?
Levin is where I was brought up and where Mum and Dad still are. Before heading over to Hawke’s Bay in 2018 we were in the Manawatū.
What is your career background?
Local government has been where I’ve really made my career. After finishing university in the middle of the global financial crisis, I worked for a short time with Dad – who is a builder – and was lucky enough to fall into local government. Since then, I’ve had nearly 20 years of working across just about every aspect of local government.
Why do you think is it great that an appointment has been made from within the organisation?
It demonstrates that the deliberate leadership position taken when developing Project Thrive in 2017,that of focusing on people as our District’s greatest assets, is paying off.
What do you see as the benefits of promoting from within?
In this instance it is allowing us to continue with the momentum and mana that we’ve established over the last few years, enabling a quick transition, and allowing me to build on the existing local and regional relationships we have.
Has your career journey being about aiming for a chief executive role?
Leading in local government has always for me been about achieving outstanding outcomes for the communities we serve. The opportunity to lead and serve in Central Hawke’s Bay as Chief Executive is about timing and being the right person to contribute to a thriving Central Hawke’s Bay.
Describe your leadership style?
Others have described me as authentic, genuine, collaborative and visionary. Personally I’d like to think that the teams I lead and the communities I serve are better off for me being part of them.
What did you learn under the former CE Monique Davidson?
Monique and I share very similar values, particularly around the unique role of local government and the spirit of public service – others before self. This speaks very much to what we have achieved as a team. The simple advice of always backing yourself is probably my biggest takeaway from Monique.
You have a young senior management team, are you all up for the challenge?
I’ll take young! Age is just a number – it’s ultimately the skill, curiosity, passion and commitment that you bring which will determine your success Being one of only two Councils in New Zealand to achieve the highest awarded CouncilMARK ranking of AA in 2021, up three grades from our 2018 assessment, tells me we are on the right track.
Monique and Mayor Alex formed a strong partnership, what do you see as different to how you will work well with Alex and councillors?
I’m fortunate to have already been part of the unique governance and management relationship we’ve had over the last three years. Our relationship will be different, but I’m confident we’ve got a solid base to work from.
What are the big challenges you see in the role over the next 3-5 years?
Leading through the multitude of unprecedented government reform programmes and unprecedented growth are our key challenges, but both present unique opportunities for us to positively place Central Hawke’s Bay in a position of strength for the future.
If you were to pitch CHB as a place to live, work and play to a business owner considering relocating to the area, what would you say?
The secret that is Central Hawke’s Bay is out – the District is experiencing a surge of optimism, positivity and growth not seen since the 1960s. Come and be part of the next generation of business and community leaders who understand the value and potential of this community as we work to build a thriving Central Hawke’s Bay for the future.
How in your CE role can you place a focus on enabling business to proper within CHB?
We’ve already got a solid platform and understanding of what we need to collectively achieve to see business succeed in the long-term. This isn’t just one thing, it’s about us staying the course on the varied work programmes that we have underway from continuing to deliver a reliable transport network that supports the backbone of our rural economy, enabling housing in the district or continuing to fill local support gaps for business with programmes like our Jobs in Central Hawke’s Bay initiative.
As a collective of Councils across Hawke’s Bay what can you collectively work on in the next 12 months?
There are some natural synergies and things already outlined in the five Councils Triennial Agreement where there are existing and emerging regional opportunities. Housing, Transport and enhancing social inclusivity are some of those.
You are the new CE within our local Councils, how do you see the 5 of you working together?
The regional partnership at CE level is strong and collegial. All four Chief Executives attended my mihi whakatau on my first day, which gives a great indication for how we continue to work in a collaborative way for the region and respective communities we serve.
What do you do in your spare time?
Weekends are usually spent out on the Tukituki Trails on the bike or on the sidelines of the ripper rugby field with the boys. Three children under 6 keeps me busy!
Less than six months into their partnership, Hawke’s Bay based property-tech company Re-Leased, and web development boot camp specialists, Dev Academy Aotearoa are successfully bolstering a previously shallow tech talent pool by creating work-ready developers in 15 weeks, and they have no intention to stop.
In 2021, Re-Leased (an international business, developing innovative commercial property management software out of their Ahuriri office) was struggling to meet the demands of its rapid growth due to the limited talent pool for qualified coders and developers in Hawke’s Bay.
Already an industry where the demand for talent significantly outstripped the supply, the border closure in 2020 meant that those businesses working in technology now needed to focus on increasing home-grown talent sustainably.
For Re-Leased this opened the opportunity to work alongside Dev Academy – New Zealand’s most immersive online coding course. The course was also able to be offered free to successful applicants thanks to the Government Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF), which supports learners undertaking vocational training without fees.
Following their initial outreach for applicants in late 2021,Dev Academy was overwhelmed with responses, which they believed, “reflected how many people in the region were thinking about changing careers, and were curious about a pathway to programming.”
Encouraged by the local enthusiasm to train in tech, Re-Leased and Dev Academy have continued to successfully collaborate and to date have commenced three cohorts, which will result in 11 new graduates, contributing significantly to the continued growth in this sector in Hawke’s Bay.
For Re-Leased, the benefits are obvious, “Partnering with Dev Academy has been the best initiative we’ve put in place to boost our Junior Developer talent pipeline.” states Talent and Engagement Consultant, Helena van’t Sant. “Not only are we able to offer full-time employment opportunities to several Dev Academy students each year, but we get to significantly contribute to the software development talent pool in Hawke’s Bay, and that benefits not only our industry specifically but our region in general.”
The partnership’s commitment and support to growing the tech talent in Hawke’s Bay is well-considered, and together the collaboration is successfully creating well-rounded, work-ready candidates, suitable to take on any number of roles within this burgeoning industry.
Tom King, Bridge Builder and Recruiter from Dev Academy explains that “The tech sector is increasingly looking for soft skills (Human Skills) as coding can be learned, but being able to be a good team member is much harder to teach. Because we teach these Human Skills as part of our curriculum, and Re-Leased provides each student a dedicated mentor for the course of the program which gives a “real-world” lens to their learning, our graduates can lean away from the more traditional coding route and find success in areas such as Testing, QA, Data Analysis, Customer Success, UX/UI, Business Analysis, Product, Agile/Scrum Coach, etc. All of which are in short supply country-wide.”
One recent graduate from this course and subsequent new hire of Re-Leased, Carol Silva is thrilled to have successfully graduated from the programme and excited to begin her new career at Re-Leased. Previously an Accounts Payable Team Leader for a local business, she decided to further progress a long-held interest and “finally learn about web development and how to code properly.”
Although the course work was fast-paced and demanded more energy than she imagined, the inclusion of Re-Leased on-site mentors helped tremendously, stating “The mentors helped a lot during the full course. When we were looking for different ways of developing a problem, faced technical and emotional challenges, or chatting about the work force and the real environment of a tech company, they were always available.”
It is this cohesive teamwork between Re-Leased and Dev Academy that is creating an environment of excellence and achieving world-class graduate developers, ready, willing, and able to help build the region’s ever-growing economy.
Given this successful partnership is now well entrenched, and agreed to continue for the foreseeable future, the focus now pivots to aligning with other Hawke’s Bay businesses looking to increase their recruitment pipeline.
Tom confirms that “70-80% of graduates from this course have historically been employed in the industry within a year (and most of those within six months), so the priority is keeping these new grads in Hawke’s Bay. We are now actively seeking to grow our relationships within the region to ease the transition of our students into their new career paths”.
“If you are a business looking to fill tech roles, we would love to hear from you.”
Basketball in Hawke’s Bay is at an all- time high in regards to participation.
In 2021, more than 4,000 registered players regularly played, and that number swelled with youngsters playing ‘ball’ at their local outdoor court thanks to a partnership between councils and regional sport organisation Basketball Hawke’s Bay.
Basketball Hawke’s Bay’s general manager Nick Hogan says the growth in basketball is due to the sport seen as part of popular culture – with the NBA, its global stars and its alignment with sport brands such as Nike and Adidas – but also as an alternative to the physical nature of our national game, rugby.
Nick sees no let-up in participation growth.
“As other sports battle with the perception of concussion and the risks that run with that, basketball does not have these same issues.
“We continue to trend in an upward direction and the modifications within the sport to adapt to more 3-on-3 competitions and shorter modules are only going to help to increase this. The investment in community courts will place more pressure on indoor court space, where all competition is played.”
The investment in six extra courts at PGA is long overdue and will ease scheduling pressures, which have seen young participants playing at a time when they’re usually being tucked into bed.
“We have eight-year-olds playing basketball at 8pm at night and as indoor sports become more and more popular, we need to keep ahead of demand in court space.”
Nick hopes to see the region hosting national tournaments, which will prove economically beneficial to the local accommodation, hospitality and tourism sectors.
“The PGA’s expansion puts Hawke’s Bay in a prime position to bid for prestigious national age group tournaments at under 15 and 17 years as well as secondary school nationals.
“With nine courts in the one place, we would be set-up perfectly to run tournaments of this size and magnitude. These currently are the show pieces of Basketball New Zealand’s calendar.
“Multiple venues such as PGA, the Centennial Hall and the Hastings Sports Centre allow us to run tournaments but also allows the region to have multiple events on simultaneously. In the past it hasn’t been possible to run tournaments at the same time as other regular-user sports. With more facilities it should allow for tournaments to be run while not displacing other sports or events both within and externally to basketball.”
“In Hawke’s Bay we are really very lucky with the facilities that we have, as well as our great climate. Whenever we have an event here, visitors just say we are so lucky.
Sport Hawke’s Bay chief executive Mark Aspden agrees that there are opportunities to attract large events. “I know there is a willingness on the part of facility owners to work together. There is often a lot of competition for events, but Hawke’s Bay will be very well placed – our facilities will be up with the best.”
Just 10 kilometres away from the Mitre 10 Park is the home of indoor court sport, the Pettigrew.Green Arena (PGA), which was built in 2002.
Operated by the arena’s trust, participation has well outgrown court space availability, leaving children as young as seven and eight years old playing volleyball and basketball at a time when they’re usually heading to bed.
Trust chairman Craig Waterhouse is leading a $20 million new-build project providing six courts to be used for basketball, futsal and netball or twelve volleyball courts and is aimed exclusively for community use.
In 2002, Hastings District Council (HDC), Napier City Council and EIT worked collaboratively to build PGA but so far only Napier City Council has committed to funding, contributing $4.1 million; the biggest funders are the government’s Provincial Growth Fund, which pledged $6.4 million, and Lottery Significant Projects Fund, which gave $3 million.
Craig is hoping to cover the shortfall with a last ditch effort for funds from HDC, as well as private funders, in the hope of not pushing the recovery of the shortfall on to codes and participants via increases in hire fees.
“HDC drove the original build through the previous mayor (Lawrence Yule) as well as pushed for an operational restructure when it was in financial trouble five years ago.”
Craig says the fact that the venue is physically in Napier shouldn’t stop funding support from Hastings as it is regarded as a regional facility that mutually benefits Hastings and Napier residents.
“When the current facility was built in 2002, Taradale was regarded as the best central location by both councils. It was opposite EIT (the region’s tertiary education institute), was on a major bus route and fitted with the major roading networks proposed to be built.”
Facility use by Napier and Hastings residents is close to equal, and 90 percent of current PGA users are under 19 years of age.
“The project will provide positive benefits for the health and well-being of the people of Hawke’s Bay. The arena complex will increase Hawke’s Bay’s ability to look after its own recreational needs and help it to grow a stronger, healthier community.”
As well as being short of funds for the new facility, Craig is also concerned about future funding for community, much of which comes from gambling and gaming machine trusts.
Gaming trusts have provided funding for the new courts as well as sports equipment over the past 20 years and the trusts also directly fund user organisations such as Basketball
Hawke’s Bay and Netball Hawke’s Bay, helping keep player and hire fees more affordable.
“Our business model will likely collapse when gaming machine trusts are eliminated. The arena trust gets funds to operate, and all regular-user sports clubs and associations receive funds for staff and arena court fees. Sport codes’ costs will go up significantly and income will go down if this type of funding disappears.
“Who fixes this? I have no idea, I assume councils, which are the organisations that ultimately decide on the number of gaming machines operated.”
Gaming trusts have provided funding for the new courts as well as sports equipment over the past 20 years and the trusts also directly fund user organisations such as Basketball
Hawke’s Bay and Netball Hawke’s Bay, helping keep player and hire fees more affordable.
“Our business model will likely collapse when gaming machine trusts are eliminated. The arena trust gets funds to operate, and all regular-user sports clubs and associations receive funds for staff and arena court fees. Sport codes’ costs will go up significantly and income will go down if this type of funding disappears.
“Who fixes this? I have no idea, I assume councils, which are the organisations that ultimately decide on the number of gaming machines operated.”
