New Chamber chief out to make city stronger

John McRae

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh is predicting "exciting times" for the organisation under new president John McRae, partner with Deloitte Rotorua.

"We've got a new look board and some people with very good business heads," he said.

Mr McRae was the only name put forward for the presidency under the new system approved at last month's annual meeting, in which the president is chosen by the board rather than the membership at large.

The board, which named Gavin Long, of Westpac, as treasurer, also includes re-elected/new members Geoff Rice, Bryce Heard, Colin MacPhee, Allison Lawton and Richard Fullard, and co-opted members Tamati Coffey, Dharmen Prasad and Aladina Harunani.

Outgoing president Kathy Harker, who was entitled to remain an ex officio board member for a year, chose to tender her resignation. "I think it's a very exciting time for chamber," said Mr Walsh. "And that's taking nothing away from what Kathy has done on the board and for the past two years as president."

Mr McRae, who has an extensive accounting background, also has more than a decade of chief executive and director experience. He joined long-established accounting firm Hulton Patchell in 2009, which merged with Deloitte in 2013.

Mr McRae said he saw the need for the chamber to play a key role in developing commerce in Rotorua.

"That means working with the council and other key leaders within the community to make Rotorua stronger," he said. "Over the past decade or so, we haven't seen a lot of growth. There has probably been more in the past couple of years than in the previous 15 or 20 years."

Mr McRae said the chamber would be building on the work of Ms Hawker and previous presidents and working to accelerate progress to create a solid economic base.

"I think we can always lift our game," he said. "We can definitely make Rotorua a better place than it is."