Grow Rotorua’s Plan For Growth

ROTORUA 19.06.13:  Spa and wellness centres, manuka honey plantations and processed timber exports are among the long list of opportunities Grow Rotorua plans to explore to drive economic growth for the Rotorua district.

Today [19 June] Grow Rotorua unveiled its plan to be a catalyst for growth, in its 2013/15 Statement of Intent, presented to the Rotorua District Council’s Corporate and Customer Services Committee. A requirement of the Local Government Act, the Statement of Intent sets out the objectives, scope and performance targets for Grow Rotorua for the next two years.

Grow Rotorua was established in 2012 by Rotorua District Council as a council controlled organisation (CCO), and is tasked with implementing the Rotorua Sustainable Economic Growth Strategy.  The desired outcomes of the growth strategy include more businesses, more jobs and more people living in Rotorua.  

Grow Rotorua chair John Green said the focus for the next year is on projects where there are synergies across sectors, to maximise growth opportunities.

“Our mandate is to focus on growing the four key sectors - geothermal, forestry, tourism and agribusiness.  Over the last six months the Board and staff have looked at ways we can maximise growth in these areas.  The focus is on projects that will deliver results in multiple areas.” said Mr Green.

“Our task now is to continue to increase our knowledge and apply a regional, independent perspective to refine and facilitate these opportunities,” he said.

The projects range from growing tourism through the spa and wellness sector, to increasing infrastructure and events for mountain biking, and using geothermal resources in direct heat applications.  In each project work will be undertaken next year to determine growth potential, analyse the barriers and investment opportunities and identify potential investors.

“Rotorua has an abundance of natural resources on our doorstep that puts us in a fantastic position to offer compelling investment opportunities to grow this region.  The opportunities to work with the business sector and especially Iwi are very exciting.  It is not only about business but creating real high value jobs, retaining our young people here and creating a real sense of pride in Rotorua,” said Mr Green.

“For example, Rotorua can lead the way globally on the sustainable use of geothermal resources.  We have the standards, stability and monitoring in place to utilise this resource sustainably and safely to drive economic growth.  

“Geothermal can increase our tourism through the spa and wellness segment, provide heating for the aged care and specialist living sectors and in agriculture be used in glasshouses, to name just a few possibilities.

“We need a very strong underlying economy with multiple sources of business so that we are not over-exposed to any one area.  In sectors such as tourism there are opportunities to re-define the attractiveness of Rotorua, get people staying longer and doing more. It is now time to develop these investment propositions and build the connections to identify potential investors,” said Mr Green.

Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters said the approach Grow Rotorua was taking reinforced his optimism for Rotorua’s future.

“Economic growth is vitally important for Rotorua and our community, and is a clear focus of council direction.  Establishing Grow Rotorua is a strong and proactive demonstration of the council’s commitment to economic development for our community.

“The highly experienced Grow Rotorua Board and its small team of talented staff have identified fifteen very promising project opportunities.  Excellent work is underway in each of these areas to understand their full potential and to identify who possible investors are,” said Mr Winters.

But Mr Green cautions that Grow Rotorua cannot grow the Rotorua economy in isolation.

“We will only be successful by working with local business leaders, business organisations, iwi organisations, tertiary and training institutions and the council.  With the support of the whole community we have an excellent platform for driving growth and change in Rotorua,” said Mr Green.

 
Additional information on Grow Rotorua’s projects:

Grow Rotorua has identified 15 projects to drive economic growth in the Rotorua region.  These include:

•           Spa & wellness – deliver a strategy to grow the spa and wellness sector across a range of differentiated facilities. 

•           Biking – grow tourism revenue through identifying opportunities for additional biking infrastructure, services and events.

•           Processed timber – work with local and national organisations to identify market segments and distribution channels to process and supply products from New Zealand pine. 

•           Specialist living – investigate options and opportunities for aged care and specialist living.  The focus is on utilising geothermal resources and wood for design and construction.

•           Innovation Park – assist in the development of an Innovation Centre to support economic growth.

•           Geothermal – identify the alternative uses and values of geothermal resources.

•           Geothermal direct heat opportunities – provide a strategy on available resources, opportunities and economics for utilising geothermal in direct heat applications e.g spa and wellness sector, timber drying, glasshouses etc.

•           Manuka honey – determine the opportunities for the region for manuka honey.  This encompasses seedling production, plantations, tourism, export development, training and further investment.

•           Land use change options – undertake research to determine the feasibility of alternative land uses across the region in conjunction with the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme.

•           Te Arawa investment opportunities – engage with Te Arawa trusts and businesses from the early stages in each project to identify and develop iwi investment opportunities.

•           Centres of Excellence – work with tertiary and research institutions to determine the feasibility and requirements for establishing Centres of Excellence based in Rotorua.

•           Start-up facilitation – establish programs in conjunction with other regional organisations to create a start-up community, provide a business incubation framework and develop an angel investor network.

•           Business retention and attraction – form programs with regional organisations to target businesses that would gain real value from re-locating to Rotorua.

•           Investment capital – build a confidential database of companies for capital investment that would bring additional benefits such as access to market channels, brand development and complementary businesses.

ENDS

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