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Mixing surfing and software development at Haumoana
A lifestyle property near Haumoana is the unexpected global headquarters of developer David Frampton’s Majic Jungle Software. Through Majic Jungle, David built The Blockheads simulation app that has been downloaded and played by millions of mobile gamers around the world. A game developer since 2003, David moved from Wellington to Hawke’s Bay in 2012 after a search for the perfect...
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New Hawke’s Bay business a game changer for women
Hawke’s Bay woman Robyn McLean is having fun with her new business venture that is a game changer in women’s health. Robyn and long-time friend Mary Bond, based in Wellington, have launched the Hello Cup Company producing a range of menstrual cups – something that has released them from their bugbear of buying single-use tampons. Hello Cups not only save...
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Co-working and Shared Spaces – Join the Movement
Co-working (shared worked spaces) is gaining in popularity in the Bay, with a wide range of businesses and people co- located in shared spaces. While it is common to attract start-up businesses, self-employed professionals or freelancers, for others it’s an opportunity to reconnect outside of working from home, or to further develop a not for profit or social enterprise. Cultivate...
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Hawke’s Bay Deer Velvet Goes International
It’s only been two years since Josh Buckman took the reins of the well- known Hawke’s Bay deer velvet company Gevir but already he is charging ahead, exporting the product to new markets with a unique proposition for natural health seekers. Gevir is now exporting to China and the United States with plans to be in six other countries by...
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Farmers Breed Success For Vet Services
For longer than most people in the Bay can remember, animal industry stalwart Vet Services Hawke’s Bay (VSHB) has been ensuring all beasts – from sheep to bearded dragons – get the care they need. Over the past seven decades, the business has grown from a one-vet practice in CHB to an incorporated business of five practices located in Napier,...
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Heads in the Cloud, Boots on the Ground
Forward thinking has allowed one CHB start-up to move farmers into the 21st century – by keeping their heads in the cloud and their boots on the ground. You wouldn't know that Cloud Farmer took flight from a farm half an hour out of Waipukurau with scant access to the Internet four years ago. Designed by AgRecord, the program has...
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Central Hawke’s Bay – all set to thrive
With a brand new council comes a bold new vision that will see Central Hawke’s Bay thrive well into the future. Less than a year into the new triennial and with a drive to understand what their constituents want for the future of the district, the newly elected councillors of CHB ventured out into the community. As part of the...
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CHB – Central to the Hawke’s Bay economy
Central Hawke’s Bay is defined by its boundaries, from the base of the 200-million-year-old Ruahine Range out to the Pacific Ocean on the East Coast. State Highway 2 runs through the centre of the region, with Napier’s port and airport around 70 kilometres away. Central Hawke’s Bay (or CHB as it’s usually referred to) is also well served by rail,...
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Local brewers get crafty
It took a while to take off, but the Hawke’s Bay craft brewing industry is now going from strength to strength as demand grows for fresh, local beers. There’s plenty of fizz in Hawke’s Bay’s growing craft beer scene at the moment – just ask Giant Brewing’s Chris Ormond (pictured above) and Matt Smith of Brave. Chris is shifting Giant’s...
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Airport Expansion takes off
A major redevelopment of the Hawke’s Bay Airport is underway that will ensure the terminal is fit for purpose after a 37 percent increase in passengers over the last two years. The airport is flying high at the moment, having reported a record net profit of $1.7m on a turnover of $6.1 million for the year ended June 2017. The...