Possibilties are endless’
$150,000 was a bonus, rather than a necessity, Straker says.
“We’re a multimillion-dollar company, so that [grant] wasn’t a big issue. It’s just a nice to have, so when we said ‘hey, we need to fly some of the staff down with their families for a quick tour’, it wasn’t coming out of somebody
[in the business’s] budget.
“We would’ve gone without the grant . . . but would we have got the same buy in, if we hadn’t been flying people down?”
There are still challenges to meet — while travelling to and from Gisborne’s airport is deliciously quick for an Aucklander, airfares are high, he says.
But he has high hopes for The Straker Group’s newest location — it could become one of the best tech hubs in the world.
“It’s one of the most stunning parts of the planet, and it’s got just enough critical infrastructure that you just get a bit of momentum and you could take a region like that and turn it from a bit of a backwater, with a few issues and people wanting to leave and go drive mining trucks in Australia, to a vibrant tech hub where you can start to get, especially young Ma¯ori, into tech at a young age.
“And, all changed it.”
Still, he cautions others that any move to the regions has to be for a core business reason, otherwise it’s unsustainable.
Their core business reason? Staff. of sudden, you’ve
“The risk you run in Auckland is if you don’t make it so they can get a house then they go looking for some other job that’s not the job they want, but it’s some big telco that might pay people loads of money and they’re doing something that’s not that creative.”
Gisborne is far from the only regional centre looking to attract more people and business.
A Local Government New Zealand spokesman says councils in the central and upper North Island are particularly looking to attract business from Auckland by developing business, transport and retail infrastructure.
In the South Island, Timaru District Council’s economic development agency launched a campaign to attract more business through their Aoraki Development arm.
Last year, accounting software firm Xero, founded by Kiwi entrepreneur Rod Drury, opened a Hawke’s Bay office in Napier, its first in regional New Zealand.
Drury, who stood down as chief executive this year, said at the time the move showed the importance of creating tech job opportunities in the regions.
“It used to be that people needed to live in the major cities to accelerate their technology careers, but that’s changing quickly. Opening this new office provides that opportunity to draw on talent across Hawke’s Bay and lessens the burden on housing and transport in cities like Auckland and Wellington — win-win.
“If we want New Zealand to be better we’ve got to get the regions strong.” Shopping. nightlife including international concerts, the arts, Sky Tower, beaches and Hauraki Gulf Islands.
YAttractions
Beaches, Rere Rockslide, wineries, Eastwoodhill Arboretum – The National Arboretum of New Zealand, watching the sun rise first in New Zealand.
Mayors
ou won’t get any argument from Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones.
The self-styled champion of the regions, who has been tasked with distributing the Government’s $3b Provincial Growth Fund over three years, says he backs “1000 per cent” any firm willing to “swim against the tide or enjoy the early mover advantage” by heading to the regions.
“This is part of what we believe we are doing. We’re seeking a way to motivate, influence people to relocate their economic activity out of crowded metropolitan bases.”
There is, at this stage, no relocation package as part of the Provincial Growth Fund criteria, Jones says.
“However, between ourselves and the independent transport authority, we will be investing for the next five years nigh on $380/390m around the Gizzy/Taira¯whiti area.
“That, among other things, is to ensure for those families who want to continue living there, businesses that want to relocate, that they can enjoy what we take for granted in the more bountiful parts of New Zealand.”
The MP, himself raised near Kaitaia, welcomed Gisborne’s latest residents to their new life away from the bustle of city life.
“They will enjoy the first rays of the sun, and they’ve got great surfing down there, and great weather.”
Sasamoto’s already brought his surfboard to the city, and Gudgin’s looking forward to the simple pleasure of cycling to and from work — a 5km journey that crosses the Taruheru River and continues alongside the waterfront esplanade — instead of spending close to an hour behind the wheel in Auckland traffic.
“It will be interesting to see how my life changes,” he says, thinking about having more free time in the sunshine of the East Coast.
His life might not be the only one. The Straker Group employees overseas have been keeping up with the new Gisborne office via an internal social media platform, Grant says, and more than a few are liking what they see.
“We’ve got lovely office locations, like the middle of Barcelona, in Dublin and Colorado, amazing places, but they’re all seeing pictures of the Gisborne office, and we’ve got all these people around the world wanting to work there because they’re seeing pictures of sunsets and sunrises and the sea and the fish that people are catching, and hearing all the stories.
“I think this office is going to have more attraction than we thought.”
They will enjoy the first rays of the sun, and they’ve got great surfing down there, and great weather. Shane Jones