Big push to attract families to North

Tony Collins chatting with Craig Robertson from Visualeyez optometrists. Photo / John Stone

From labour market challenges and our relationship with the "big smoke", to a need for increased business friendly companies and government agencies, the region's business community has its share of challenges. With about 400 members, the Chamber of Commerce Northland branch has a mandate to mediate and facilitate the debate for ease of business. Christine Allen speaks to chief executive Tony Collins about three of its major projects this year.

1: Pathways to employment

Northland's education and skill levels remain below the national average, notably among Maori learners.

In 2014, Northland's rate of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) was 20.3 per cent, higher than the NZ rate of 11.4 per cent and the highest of all regions in the country.

It's little wonder that the Chamber sees a need for change in the pathway from education to employment.

The Northland Regional Growth Study, published earlier this year, revealed the region struggled to attract sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff in forestry and wood processing, dairy, horticulture, marine manufacturing and tourism.

These are also Northland's top industries with a Statistics NZ report on July 24 showing that NZ's key exports were fruit, milk and milk products, meat and logs.

The Growth Study reported that primary sectors in Northland would need about 10,000 more employees by 2025 including on farm workers in horticulture, sheep and beef, and dairy farms, forestry and wood processing, drivers and plant operators and managers.

Collins says a chamber focus on education is directly related to ease of business.

"First, we need to enable a capable work force."

The chamber aims to help strengthen pathways between education and employers through its participation on the Tai Tokerau Regional Cross Sector Forum.

Working with the Mayors' Taskforce for Jobs and with organisations such as Career NZ, Ministry for Social Development, the chamber hopes to bring a smoother transition from school to employment.

"We also try to facilitate skills for business people to support those workers and cadets," he says.

On Friday, the chamber will host a meeting with industry leaders and David Turner, an independent consultant from Australia who works to boost collaboration between employers and schools. The Whangarei event will have input from MSD, Careers NZ, schools and councils.

Another benefit of better education standards was how that would attract new families to the region.

"It's important to have Northland seen as a place to live and work."

The availability of quality education was crucial to that.

After employment opportunities, people moving to the area look at educational facilities and standards - from early childcare to public and private schools - as people tend to move with family, he said.

When Collins moved here from Christchurch with his family 15 years ago, he said he had some apprehension.

"But we found it's not bad, but patchy."

There were successful catering and nursing departments at NorthTec, he said, and it was always trying to improve the courses it provided.

2: The Northland Promise

When you think of "The Northland Promise", your memory might return to the Northland by-election, and talk of bridges.

However, there is a promise being made which would actually benefit the region.

The chamber is working on a trial with Northland Regional Council to formulate the Northland Promise, a formal pledge to make the process of doing business with NRC as easy as the organisation can.

"This is about ease of business, which wraps around all projects that we are working on."

The long term hope of the chamber is that it would compile an online register of businesses in the region that have signed up to this promise.

Of course, before that happens, the chamber must first decipher what would be contained in that agreement.

NRC was the first to put its hand up.

"From Government organisations to businesses - we all focus on customer experience. This is about a commitment to, for example, support cadetships and work experience initiatives," Collins says.

The pledge would focus on a business friendly culture in the organisation and define an approach to service delivery.

It would look at the provision of points of contact for transactions, make use of customer feedback and work alongside other businesses to strengthen the business community.

This project would also communicate a perception of collaboration outside of the region that would be attractive to outside investors.

"The project is at concept stage but came from the chamber asking, well, 'how can we build better business?', during the Red Tape Reduction Bill process. We hear a lot of anecdotal evidence about the difficulty in doing business in Northland in general.

So Collins and the team asked "what can we influence?"

"We all talk about collaboration and partnership," he says. But the Northland Promise moves to ask organisations to walk the talk.

The chamber was already consulting with businesses to work out what could be contained.

"Each business is different."

He said once further consultation was complete the chamber would look at getting funding for business relations officer to help develop the register with businesses.

Tony Phipps, group manager customer services at NRC says improving business friendliness was high on the council's objectives and it was now getting feedback and insight into its level of friendliness from service users and businesses which engaged with its regulatory services.

He says some of the changes NRC had already made was through making some processes available online.

3: A better Bank St

Known as Cameron St's shabby sister, Whangarei's Bank St is under the spotlight thanks to the Bank Street Revitalisation Group.

Tomorrow, the group, made up of 12 business people, will meet with Whangarei District Council to discuss how the street can be invigorated and have its identity restored, or even renewed.

Heads Up on Bank salon owner Elaine MacKintosh says Bank St has become grotty, while Bernadette Norman from Malletts was embarrassed to take Auckland colleagues for a coffee on Bank St.

Empty shops, a lack of signage, shoddy pavements and a run down Rose St bus terminal all added to the concern.

Collins says the Chamber has only acted as an agent. Nonetheless, Chamber facilitated the discussion and helped connect the group to Council.

"The street needs invigorating ... this project is being driven by these business owners.

"It's a ground up movement," he said. "They don't want a hand out - just some support and permission."

Tomorrow's meeting would discuss what short and long-term changes could be factored into WDC's plans.