Photo source: Hawke’s Bay NZ
Hawke’s Bay region is facing a decline in productivity, falling below the national average, a Martin Jenkins research has found.
The research commissioned by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Agency (HBREDA) has revealed that Hawke’s Bay is experiencing critical challenges that threaten its economic potential, including a fragile transport system, water and energy constraints, and low productivity levels, which contribute to lower household incomes compared to the national average.
Lucy Laitinen, chief executive of HBREDA, has identified productivity as the region’s foremost challenge; she noted that “we’ve got lower productivity across all of our industries compared to the national average in New Zealand, and New Zealand has already got low productivity, so that’s a real concern for Hawke’s Bay.”
Laitinen outlines that this decline in productivity is compounded by a skills shortage, which is partly driven by decreasing educational attainment levels. She emphasised the urgency of addressing education from early childhood through tertiary levels to improve local skills and attract higher-skilled workers to the region.
“Our educational attainment is really degrading, and we need to be focusing on that,” she noted.
Local business owners echo these sentiments, including Amber Forrest, who has run a beauty business in Wairoa for more than two decades and described the current economic climate as challenging.
In an article from RNZ, she cited issues like poor connectivity and infrastructure damage from recent natural disasters, including a pandemic and cyclone, as significant hurdles for local businesses.
“It has never been this hard,” Forrest remarked.
To combat the skills shortage and to bridge the gap in higher education access within her community, Forrest has initiated a business school alongside her beauty clinic.
“When you can lift one person, it has a positive flow on for ten more people in that whanau—so just showing there is opportunity if you are willing to work for it,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Laitinen pointed out that Hawke’s Bay’s fragile transport infrastructure is stifling economic growth. Specifically, she is advocating for increased investment to enhance the resilience of State Highway Two between Napier and Gisborne, which has suffered from cyclone damage. “Not only is it costing the economy in Wairoa to have a fragile roading network, but it’s also stifling investment in that region,” she stated.