New panel keen to get things done

Hawke's Bay has had plenty of people looking at economic development but few doing anything about it, says regional development agency Business Hawke's Bay CEO Murray Douglas.

"We are really trying to change the paradigm of how we look at business," he said ahead of tonight's launch.

"Hawke's Bay Inc was run by three councils that produced a whole lot of reports. In 12 years we have had 12 chief executives, there were probably 12 different boards and a set of reports the size of a freight truck.

"Some reports were actually very good - we are using some of them. But our job is not to write reports - it's to do things."

"Ground breaking" initiatives would be announced tonight at the opening at the Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings.

But Mr Douglas said there were plenty of "old fashioned" goals.

"If we can get local businesses confident and profitable, then we can get employment."

Companies with global potential had the most to gain from Business Hawke's Bay, he said. "We have had retailers ask, what are you going to do for us, and we say, nothing. It is not that they are not important, but simply getting more shops won't help this part of the world."