New biz hub a one-stop shop

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Business Hawke's Bay chief executive Susan White at the new Business Hub in Ahuriri. PHOTO / DUNCAN BROWN

IT used to be the place to go if you wanted to buy a new sofa.

But the furniture sales staff have moved to new premises down the road and these days visitors to 36 Bridge St, Ahuriri, are most likely to be offered a cup of coffee and ushered into one of several meeting rooms to talk about business development.

The former bonded store, which became a Big Save Furniture retail outlet, has had another refit and is now the Hawke's Bay Business Hub - a group of business support services aimed at growing the region's economy.

The hub has its official opening on May 14 but the agencies involved - including Business Hawke's Bay, economic development divisions of the local councils, and government departments - have been in the building for the past two to three weeks.

The combined space has been well received by the new tenants, says Business Hawke's Bay chief executive Susan White, and offers a valuable mix of office space and break-out meeting rooms, as well as a well-equipped "front-of-house" private cafe and reception area.

Having a single point of entry for business development in the region, and making it accessible, will help achieve the region's goals for attracting new business initiatives and growing those which are already here, Ms White says.

Business Hawke's Bay has driven the hub initiative but acknowledges it has been a collaborative effort from across the business community.

An example of the support the project has received is the enthusiasm shown by its landlord, the McKimm family - major Ahuriri property owners, including of the hub's Bridge St building.

"An empathetic landlord is a definite requirement to make a service like this work. They've been outstanding," Ms White says.

But the new building is only part of the plan for economic growth. A range of groups, including central and local government, business and iwi, are currently working on a regional economic development strategy for Hawke's Bay.

At the same time, a "targeted industry study" is investigating the types of businesses to focus on for a marketing campaign to attract new opportunities to the region.

While there was no point reinventing the wheel, and the work was unlikely to throw up too many surprises about Hawke's Bay's business strengths, it was also important to ensure previous economic development studies were refreshed, Ms White said.

Hawke's Bay's primary sector focus clearly meant development of agri-business opportunities would come to the fore and the region needed to ensure it was getting the most out of one of its major assets - the port.