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Northland Inc Quarterly Update - April 2014
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Welcome to the first issue of
Northland Inc's quarterly update


We are coming to you against a backdrop of increased business confidence supported by the recent quarterly infometrics figures and the Westpac business confidence survey. The primary sectors are continuing to pull their weight in the region’s exports with Dairy and Timber leading the way. Northland has also led the way in Tourism rated as the highest region for domestic visitors over summer and a recent visit to the Bay of Islands confirmed we are enjoying a long tail for international visitors.

Non-residential building consents were up a massive 61.7% in the year to December mainly of the back retail developments. These are good signs however unemployment remains a stubborn 9% compared to 6% nationally, regional GDP is growing but at a slower rate than Nationally (1.8% compared to 2.7%) and residential consents are lagging behind the national average (3.8% compared to 25.8%) with a net regional migration loss. Northland also does not do well with regards to household income and inequality.

Our challenge then is to both strengthen and diversify the economy in order to increase incomes and build long term resilience into the regional economy.  To do this we will need to be entrepreneurial, invest in research and development, create investment opportunities and sell higher value products and services. These are not easy things to do so we aim to keep you up-to-date with projects, regional business news, information about Northland’s key sectors, and celebrate our successes along the way. 
 
We look forward to working with you to create a prosperous future for Northlanders.

David Wilson, CEO
Northland Inc
Northland's Regional Economic Development Agency

Northland Inc welcomes Taitokerau Regional Growth Study


Northland Inc has been working hard behind the scenes with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to design the study, which is due for completion later this year.

We’re thrilled with the recent announcement by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and believe it will provide a great evidence-base for the region to then move to a separate, region-led 10-year action plan after the study has been conducted.

The study will provide a comprehensive analysis of Northland’s economy, its current comparative and competitive advantages, the constraints that need to be addressed and cataloguing the opportunities for development.
 
Most importantly the study will point towards actions that need to be taken to strengthen and diversify Northland’s economy, but the work cannot simply stop with the study’s completion later this year.

Full article here: Northland Inc welcomes Taitokerau Regional Growth Study >
Northland Advocate (April 11) Probe set into North economic health, potential >
Download Tourism 2025 (TIA) > (2mb)

Northland Inc working in conjunction with Whangarei District Council & Northpower Fibre


On 8 May Whangarei will be the first city in New Zealand where the new Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network will have been completely built.

Northland Inc believe the opportunities of this technology for Whangarei are so great that we’re pitching in with Northpower Fibre and Whangarei District Council to show you how. From 30 April until 8 May there will be an ICT hub operating in the old café at Forum North. Read more >
 
On Wednesday 7th May there will be a free event in the Cafler Suite at Forum North to help businesses assess their digital maturity. The Google Innovation Partnership has developed a new online tool. Read more and register >
 

Northland Inc helps Otangarei Marae get wired!

Northland Inc has been supporting the Otangarei Marae Youth Group to create a permanent ICT hub of its own. Local businesses Northpower Fibre, Potter Electrical, UIT and United Security have all stepped up to lend a hand.
 

UFB In brief:

Read about one of the city’s most exciting school holiday programmes ever >
Northland Inc supporting Otangarei Marae Youth Group to create permanent ICT hub >
Find out how to win a year's free broadband! >

The small Northland forestry group mark a robust discussion, and the chance to influence central government policy


Northland Inc facilitated a visit for the leader of the opposition the Hon David Cunliffe and Labours economic development spokesperson the Hon Shane Jones to Ruakaka late last month. The aim of the visit was to talk to various industry groups about regional development.

Discussions were held with Northport about the Port’s expansion plans and logistics; Refining NZ about the Te Mahi Hou $300 mil upgrade, Maintenir about their contract for the upgrade and maintenance contracts at NZ Refinery; a small group of forestry representatives about development opportunities for Forestry in Northland; and NIWA scientists about the potential for fin fish farming in Northland. The group was officially welcomed by Patuharakeke and the Mayor of Whangarei Sheryl Mai at NIWA.

Pictured clockwise from top left: Adrian Broughton (Director Waipapa Pine Ltd & Kiwi Timber Protection Ltd), Warwick Syers ( gen secretary for Taitokerau Forest Management  Ltd ), Hon David Cunliffe (Leader of the Opposition), Pita Tipene (Ngati Hine Forestry Trust and NEAG Forestry rep), Paul McCreedy (Forme Consulting), David Wilson (CEO, Northland Inc), Hon Shane Jones (economic development spokesperson for Labour), Shane Horan (Director Waipapa Pine Ltd & Kiwi Timber Protection Ltd).

Spotlight on: IPL - Recipients of Northland Inc assisted funding


IPL is a specialist petrochemical testing laboratory operating at Marsden Point. In addition, our environmental capabilities are constantly growing and so is the range of environment testing that we deliver. We provide quality lab testing services whilst delivering accurate and timely ISO 17025 accredited results. 
 
"We believe we are a high performing Northland company, and Northland Inc's vision and support is part of our success."

Read here > about how Northland Inc‘s Regional Business Partnership (RBP) team has assisted IPL to access funding to develop strong internal foundations for our business, and support its external growth strategy.
 

Face-to-face business assessments with Northland Inc

Northland Inc provide free, independent, non-bias, high level assessments on Northland Businesses to identify, and or validate opportunities and challenges to grow your business.

$ for $ funding allocated to businesses in last nine months $100k in capability training with the businesses matching this investment. The companies are representative of the major sectors that Northland Inc is focusing on, including; Farming, Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, ICT, Science, Infrastructure and Forestry.

Contact Northland Inc's Regional Business Partnership team >
 

The NRC has set up the Investment and Growth Reserve, a fund designed to spur economic development in Northland


It is an insightful intervention which, combined with other sources of capital can be used to partner with the community and to leverage further investment into Northland. This is a key economic development tool for Northland.
 
The NRC established the Investment and Growth Reserve in 2010-2011 and the aim is to find new ways to bring investment into the region and create rewarding business and employment opportunities. The principle of the investment and growth reserve is to consider loans, direct investments or equity investments that will deliver an appropriate rate of return taking into account the level of risk, revenue flows and anticipated economic development and well-being improvement. The key objectives of any investment are to increase jobs, GDP and household income
 

2014 Update

In February this year, the NRC introduced new funding category within the investment and growth reserve called ‘Impact Investment Funding’ which is targeted at projects that have the potential to lift the economic performance of Northland. Funding for impact investment funding is capped at $1 million.
 
As a result of the new funding category, a proposal has been developed and forwarded to Council for impact investment funding to investigate the Economic Development Opportunities from Better Water Management. Read full article >

Further detail in regard to the reserve can be found on our website >

'Twin Coast Discovery' - Touring Route Review Project


The Twin Coast Route was the first officially sign posted touring route launched back in 1999 in partnership with New Zealand Transport Authority ( NZTA ). Northland Inc is currently working with NZTA on a review project to identify improvements needed to the current signage & infrastructure along the route. If anyone has any inputs or ideas please email these to brian@northlandinc.co.nz.
 
The Project is also looking to substantially increase the marketing of the Twin Coast with an emphasis on “story telling“ with an expanded web site presence on Northlandnz.com & Aucklandnz.com, and the development of a touring APP. Further information on these 2 initiatives will be communicated in the coming months.

Promoting Northland in Australia

March event: Northland Inc attended Market Insights in Sydney, organised and hosted by Tourism New Zealand. Australia is an important market for Northland and NZ, accounting for almost half of all international visitors. We conducted one-on-one training sessions with decision makers from sixteen Australian wholesale travel companies, plus Tourism New Zealand’s trade development & PR teams, delivering updates on Northland’s travel industry, new (trade ready) product, and special interest categories.
 

International Famil visits

Northland Inc has been working hard to showcase the Northland region to International media and Travel Trade representatives. We have organised itineraries for over 150 participants in familiarisation visits to Northland for the 9+ months from 1 July 2013 to date. This is up from 100 famil participants for the whole of the previous financial year.

In this calendar year alone we have had over 60 people visit from trade and media outlets from around the world including Australia, North America, China, UK, Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia. A large proportion of these familiarisation visits are requested by Tourism New Zealand, and we are collaborating with them to ensure their continued support; allowing us to showcase even more great experiences from around the region.
 

Northland visitor stats at a glance

Northland is New Zealand’s most popular domestic summer holiday region capturing about 12% of the overnight visitor market during December to February and more than 14% of the total visitor nights. *The latest AA Traveller Monitor shows summer led to 1.5 million holiday visitor nights in Northland.
 
The latest Statistics New Zealand figures for the year ended February 2014 (compared with the previous year), show that overall guest nights to Northland rose 4.8% to 1,603,679. This is made up of International guest nights 572,839 (up 4.8% ) and Domestic guest nights 1,030,840 (up 4.7%)


Marketing opportunities for Northland tourism businesses:

View Official Northland Visitor Guide >
View Northland Trade & Conference Guide > (must be trade-ready to participate)
Northland's regional website: www.northlandnz.com
For more information regarding your Regional Tourism Organisation email us here >

The Northland brand - it's yours, and we want you to use it!


Northland's regional brand is proud and aspirational, just like Northlanders, and it's here to be used: www.northlandbrand.co.nz/library.

This is where you can access resources including logos, statements and images, to help you use the brand to its most powerful potential when promoting Northland.

Northland Inc

Northland's Regional Economic Development Agency.
P | 09 438 5110 | email us
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