GROWING BUSINESS: The power of partnerships

LATELY, there have been a couple of letters to the editor commenting negatively about Tauranga City Council partnerships with private providers in relation to the redevelopment of the waterfront.
The fact that the Kestrel at the Landing restaurant venture has not been successful - a great idea, but impacted by other factors - seems to be a reason given why partnerships with the private sector should be avoided.
There seems to be a lack of understanding on why the council has partnered up with private providers in the first place.
Not to put too fine a point on it, the council simply hasn't got the money to do anywhere near everything the community would like them to do, beyond the basics.
Worse, this is probably going to be the position for at least the next decade or two. The days are long gone when the Tauranga local authority had the luxury of sufficient financial resources to build and own public facilities, if in fact it ever did.
If we want more than the minimum community facilities in the next 10 to 20 years, it will have to be on the basis of partnerships with both the private sector, and other non-publicly owned entities.
Traditionally, local authorities avoid partnering with non-government entities, often because of the messiness and loss of control it implies.
The way local authorities operate is light years away from the typical entrepreneur's modus operandi. Council staff usually think in terms of very long time horizons, frequently in excess of 50 years.
Their view is that if the community has comprehensively shown it wants a facility then it should take the time to plan it well, and build it to last.
At the political level, de-risking is paramount because white elephants normally have a terminal effect at the next election.
The entrepreneur, on the other hand, sees and approaches opportunities from an entirely different mindset, often arising through the dynamics of change.
Much shorter time frames, and the ability to adopt innovative solutions to challenges along the way is all in a day's work for them.
Uncertainty is part of the game, and they build in a risk factor to account for occasional ventures that don't pan out.
If Tauranga is to develop more community assets through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), we need to address two main factors.
Firstly we need more focused leadership, primarily from the public sector, both at the political and the organisational level.
To be fair, Tauranga City Council has for some time been open to partnerships, as evidenced by examples such as the waterfront, Baypark Stadium, the Marine Precinct, The Elms, and United Greens.
To fulfil the promise of our future, however, a more proactive, or even aggressive searching of PPPs is required. Changing culture in any big political organisation is difficult, but with the right champions in the right places, it can be done.
The second factor is the real need for the private sector to get their heads around how political organisations think and act.
Getting some of the local entrepreneurs I know to be less impatient and more tolerant will be just as difficult as changing the culture in local government, but again not impossible.
Bureaucracies and businesspeople have been struggling to understand each other since the Egyptians were using sub-contractors to build the pyramids.
In our case, however, the old adage "necessity is the mother of invention" comes to the fore and both parties need to extend the hand of understanding if we are going to mutually profit.
The upcoming local body election is a perfect opportunity to select candidates who see that constructive partnerships are truly needed now more than ever before in our history.
We need candidates who can see over the horizon and who have the judgment and experience to actively promote PPPs for the betterment of all.
Our new council needs to rapidly move away from the old mindset where the only way to pay for community assets is through rates or loans.
Instead there is a need to forego the security blanket of control, proactively seek partners, take some risks, accept some failure, and utilise the creativity and commitment of our greatest untapped asset - our business community.
Max Mason is chief executive of Tauranga Chamber of Commerce, which provides networking and support services for local businesses. He can be contacted on email: max@tauranga.org.nz or phone: (07) 577 9823.