Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Priority One CEO signs off after 10 years

Carmen Hall
By Carmen Hall
Bay of Plenty Times·
7 Aug, 2016 08:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Andrew Coker is leaving Priority One after 10 years with the organisation.

Andrew Coker has signed off as chief executive of Priority One signalling the end of a ten-year tenure with the economic development agency.

He started in 2006 in a business development role before taking over the reins two years later.

"When I first started at Priority One in 2006 it was apparent that the region, just as Priority One, had the potential to take off and move from being reliant as an economy on retirement growth, especially from Auckland, to one that was innovation and education led with tertiary opportunities for our young people. We just had to work collectively to achieve them."

Reflecting on his time he said it was hard to pinpoint one highlight because the city had experienced significant growth but said "there's no doubt that the programme of tertiary and research provision, principally through the Bay of Plenty regional partnerships is one of the most exciting opportunities that I have seen emerge in the last ten years".

"It is huge for the region and opportunities are now arising as Iwi move from settlement mode into investment mode - that will provide another step change in our economic development in the future.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's been an exciting part of the job...we will become a university city."

The increase in businesses and proposed civic developments were also exciting, he said.

"We've seen a growing recognition of our city centre as the cultural, commercial and civic hub of the region. With the onset of the university precinct, the civic developments and significant private investor interest coming online we will see more and greater transformational change."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Trustpower moving to the CBD was an absolute vote of confidence and "a large number of businesses are following on their heels", he said.

Humbling was how Mr Coker described working with new businesses that had moved into the region.

"They are so committed to their individuals and teams and just seeing the reception here from the business committee and council, in terms of how they put their arms around those businesses is great.

"Tauranga is recognised nationally and increasingly internationally as a region that supports entrepreneurs, that is committed to innovation and is quickly growing as a place for young people to bring their ideas to fruition and achieve their business goals."

In his view Mr Coker said the key to the success of Priority One had been the strong partnerships with the business community and councils. "I've loved my time at Priority One."

"Getting out and meeting our members from large and smaller businesses, has been energising and made me even more passionate about the work we do. There's some incredible people living and working here. It's always been such a privilege."

He also credited his talented team and said "I will miss them, we had some fun times''.

Mr Coker was a co-director of 2+ NZ Limited - a green-tech start-up and said he would be dedicating his time to that and was now a business member of Priority One.

His role was currently being shortlisted, he said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'

Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

Bay of Plenty Times

Mighty ponga trees save driver as car plunges towards stream


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'
Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'

Stunning Bay of Plenty home used to be a Hare Krishna workshop.

15 Jul 08:10 AM
'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings
Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

15 Jul 06:00 AM
Mighty ponga trees save driver as car plunges towards stream
Bay of Plenty Times

Mighty ponga trees save driver as car plunges towards stream

15 Jul 05:23 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP