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Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Praise for Whanganui business community calm through lockdown

Liz Wylie
By Liz Wylie
Multimedia Journalist, Whanganui Chronicle·Whanganui Chronicle·
16 Sep, 2021 05:00 PM2 mins to read

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Whanganui & Partners chairman Pahia Turia said the local business community had demonstrated a calm and considered response to the latest lockdown. Photo / NZME

Whanganui & Partners chairman Pahia Turia said the local business community had demonstrated a calm and considered response to the latest lockdown. Photo / NZME

Whanganui & Partners chairman Pahia Turia says local businesses were better prepared for a Covid-19 lockdown this time round.

"Although the level 4 announcement came as a surprise, we were better prepared," he said.

"We've all benefited from having been through this before."

Turia and acting Whanganui & Partners chief executive Jonathan Sykes presented the agency's quarterly report to a Whanganui District Council meeting this week and Turia said they had observed a "calm and considered" response from the local business community.

Sykes said Whanganui & Partners had supported employers in accessing Government support including the Wage Subsidy and Resurgence Support Payments.

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"They have been key tools that we have been helping to amplify and get across to local businesses," he said.

Whanganui & Partners had also seen an increased uptake in local businesses using Digital Boost, a programme providing tools for businesses to improve their presence and performance online.

The agency's report said 63.8 per cent of the Whanganui workforce was able to remain operational under level 4 and that rose to 84.3 per cent at level 3.

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Consumer spending for the week ending August 29 was down by 35.9 per cent for the same week last year although it was noted that Whanganui was at alert level 2 in August 2020.

Whanganui businesses that were fully operational at alert level 4 experienced some challenges in remaining fully staffed as there was a 100 per cent wellness requirement for essential workers.

There were 1635 people in Whanganui receiving jobseeker benefits in July which was a 14 per cent drop from the total in July 2020.

The report anticipated that the latest lockdown was likely to limit hiring and lead to possible job losses; however, the labour market was expected to bounce back as the level of spending increased with the lowering of alert levels.

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