From Wairoa to Woodville - every household and whanau in Hawke's Bay will soon benefit from a thriving regional economy, if residents and regional leaders take the next step in an action plan unveiled yesterday.
The Matariki - Hawke's Bay Regional Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan - was launched by ministers Steven Joyce, Te Ururoa Flavell, Nathan Guy and Craig Foss, with about 200 attending the occasion at Napier's MTG.
As well as central government support, the plan had been a collaborative effort from the region's councils, businesses and iwi.
Key initiatives of the strategy were aimed at diversifying and growing the region's economy, by increasing jobs, income and turning the region into a "beacon for investment".
Tukituki MP Mr Foss said yesterday was a transformational one for Hawke's Bay, as the action plan harnessed the region's traditional strengths and outlined opportunities to diversify and upskill.
Mr Foss said ratepayers and taxpayers could be proud that for the first time, councils, central government, iwi, hapu and industry leaders had "come together and put our name to this document for the greater good for us all".
"It is an absolute game changing opportunity, if we choose to continue down this path for Hawke's Bay," he said.
With 45 projects - from investigating the options of an agricultural training hub, or working with Rocket Lab, to investigating the possibility of a Napier to Gisborne cycle trail - the plan aimed to build on the region's natural advantages to make it the leading exporter of premium primary produce, a hub for business growth, and New Zealand's most innovative region. However, Economic Minister Mr Joyce said the power of the plan was not any one individual project, but of all the resources working together to achieve a better economic future for Hawke's Bay.
Investment also had to be attracted to the region, he said, whether through businesses already here to international investors, to inject more money, business and jobs.
Minister of Primary Industries Mr Guy said the plan was all about creating jobs.
MPI would be investing in several projects, including investigating the options of an agricultural training hub, working on the erosion issue in Wairoa and supporting farmers "to change their systems when Ruataniwha is built".
The plan was also heralded as the first which involved all parties of the region, from council to iwi.
Minister of Maori Development Mr Flavell was pleased with the iwi and hapu presence. "You cannot move forward unless iwi are involved in the planning and implementation of any strategy," he said. "That's clear from the fact that we are major players now and [iwi] in Hawke's Bay are major players in the economic development of the region."
Following the launch, ministers were given a tour of locations which would benefit, the first being Napier Port.
A $25 million package of three road access improvements to the port was announced, as part of the third tranche of the Government's accelerated regional roading programme.
These included improvements to intersections at Watchman Rd and Hyderabad Rd/Prebensen Drive as well as the SH50/SH2 expressway.
Design work for the proposed improvements to SH50 and at Hyderabad Rd/Prebensen Drive was expected to begin before the end of this year, with construction beginning in the first half of 2018.
Government support for a proposal to expand the National Aquarium of New Zealand was also announced. The government committed $50,000 toward scoping the feasibility of the proposal.
The project is being led by Napier City Council, in partnership with Hawke's Bay Regional Council and Waikato University, as well as several other public and research organisations.
The proposed expansion included creating the largest and deepest research display tanks in New Zealand with a submersible lift which would take visitors under water. Full scale living laboratories would enable scientists to study marine and fresh water ecosystems where environmental variables could be controlled.
A lunch at Bostock Organic Kitchen ended the tour, where strategies to improve pathways to, and through, employment were discussed.
Project 1000 was announced, as a scheme to provide 1000 new jobs for currently unemployed Hawke's Bay workers over the next three years.
It would bring together several employment-related initiatives for the region.
The project was a "key contributor" to the overall employment goal of the strategy, to add 5000 more jobs in Hawke's Bay over the five years of the plan.
The next steps of the plan included the parties involved putting together a process for delivering the project's aims.
As the development of the plan had been done through partnership, speakers at yesterday's launch said the opportunities it offered would only work through collaborative effort - from every household, to local authorities, to government agencies.
Yesterday Mr Joyce said, "The opportunity that we have is to get the resources of central government behind these programmes.
"This thing works if we've got the right players at the table."