New Wreda boss wants to bring the positivity back
In 1991 this very newspaper launched a campaign celebrating innovative business endeavour – Absolutely Positively Wellington. The campaign didn’t just speak to the corporate community, as was the original plan, it was embraced by the people of Wellington. They fell in love with their city all over again. The campaign was so successful that it became the brand adopted by Wellington.
Last week I started as the new chief executive of Wreda – the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency. One of the many questions scribbled in my bulging first week notebook is whether Wellington has lost the spirit of positivity that was the hallmark of that original campaign, and perhaps more importantly why that would be the case?
The case for positivity and optimism across the whole region remains incredibly strong.
Our claim to be the creative powerhouse of New Zealand remains firmly intact thanks to the wide and varied events we run, the major cultural icons who call Wellington home and the opportunities for studying the creative arts in Wellington.
From a business perspective we continue to see a conveyor belt of successful new businesses emerging within the Wellington region across all industries.
In particular we’re strong in technology and knowledge-based businesses that are fuelling the growth of economies and job creation globally.
We have just come off one of our bestever periods for tourism, passing over $2.5 billion in annual tourism spending for the first time.
Last year, Deutsche Bank rated Wellington as the world’s most liveable city.
Just last week the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Survey reported that Wellington was the region with the highest level of consumer confidence.
And after the summer we have just had, with fantastic events happening almost every weekend, who could possibly not rejoice in living here!
I appreciate that there are of course frustrations. We have been talking for some time about the important infrastructure projects that the region needs to continue to grow.
Projects like the Movie Museum and Convention Centre, Indoor Arena, Wellington airport extension and transport infrastructure – all of which will deliver significant economic benefits to the region.
These things are taking longer to
We need businesses, local and regional councils, central government and the wider community to pull together.
deliver than any of us would like – Wreda included.
Each of these projects has their challenges, not least of which is the vexed issue of funding in an environment where local and regional councils also need to consider other critical priorities like housing and resilience.
In simple terms we just can’t do everything.
Wreda will be looking to bring more data-driven insight to the table, which will help inform the decisions that need to be made. However, it’s not just down to us, or the local and regional councils to make these things happen. If we are to bring these projects to fruition then it will require the Wellington region to work collaboratively.
We need businesses, local and regional councils, central government and the wider community to pull together to focus on and accentuate the positive opportunities ahead of us, and not be distracted by negativity and indecision, which serves as a barrier to progress. As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘‘you cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today’’.
As I enter my second week at Wreda accentuating the positive is something that I want to be a hallmark of my time at the helm.
I believe that Wellingtonians choose to live and work here because they are genuinely passionate about the region. For our part Wreda will be working harder at spreading the word on all the great things happening in, and planned for, the region.
I want to see us taking the lead in making Wellington famous. We intend to be unashamedly positive in our outlook and call on others to join us to bring that once famous collective positivity back to the forefront. After all, this still is Absolutely Positively Wellington.
❚ Lance Walker is the new chief executive of Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency.