Willing to take a risk for future growth

ON THE VERGE: Michael Whittaker says the region needs guts "to take a risk and create something wonderful".

Kiwis are renowned for travelling the world and seeking new adventures and Hawke's Bay people are no exception. Hawke's Bay Today put 5 questions to Te Mata Mushroom Company owner.

1 What are your links to Hawke's Bay?

I was born and bred in the Bay. I spent most of my childhood in Havelock North and moved to Hastings during the later part of high school. Both of my parents have been active in the community over the years and, with the exception of one brother, my immediate family all still call Hawke's Bay home.

2 What did you do outside Hawke's Bay?

All sorts. From setting up a little ice-cream venture in Queenstown while I was still at Massey University, to founding a multinational healthcare business that currently operates around the world. I was primarily based in Auckland, but spent up to six months a year travelling for business as several of the ventures were multinational. As you can imagine that's not as glamorous as it sounds after 15 years or so of spending one night in four sleeping in an airline seat.

3 Why did you return to Hawke's Bay?

Hawke's Bay has always been home and I've spent most of my holidays here with family over the years and had intended to return here to live at some stage.

My parents' community spirit made a huge impression on me growing up and, as I got older and started my own family, I became more aware that I needed to put some of my time and energy back into the place I wanted to end up in.

About 10 years ago, we found a small property that we loved and started spending more time in the Bay " we made the final move about three years ago.

I hesitate to say that it's a lifestyle choice but, in many ways, that's what it's about - and family of course.

4 What do you do now?

I still have a number of interests out of the region, but locally the Te Mata Mushroom Company is my key focus. I'm also chairman of the Hastings Central Business Association, which involves spending a lot of time working out ways we can revitalise the centre of Hastings.

I'll be spending some time redeveloping the old Albert Hotel site over the next 12 months and also have some interests in the development of a robotic dairy farm, which we hope to have up and running in 2015 as well.

5 What do you see for Hawke's Bay's future?

We all need to put in a lot of hard work over the next decade to transform the region into one cohesive community.

We already have a great agricultural backbone - wine, fruit, vegetables - a strong tourism profile and the potential for a whole lot more.

But like most regional centres, the economy is struggling. We have to accept the current conditions are the new normal and move on.

We're on the verge of a period of considerable change that as a region we have to embrace. If we do, we will be a lot better off than we are today.

We have all the raw ingredients needed to create growth, we just need to have the guts to take a risk and create something wonderful.