Business South June 2021

6 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Southland Chamber of Commerce Southland - building on its strengths T T Richard Loader Funded by the Invercargill Licensing Trust, the new Langlands Hotel will open its doors to guests and patrons early 2022. “We need to get people thinking about Invercargill as a really supportive place to do business. If someone wanted to start a business here tomorrow we could get a whole lot of people around the table to help.” C elebrated for its lush rolling pastoral plains, dramatically rugged coastlines and two national parks right on its door- step, New Zealand’s deep south is a nature lover’s playground. Home to the Catlins, Te Anau and Milford Sound, lovers of New Zealand’s natural beauty will always discover something that is just a little bit special. While Southland is the gateway to Fiordland National Park, across the Foveaux Strait is the pristinely beautiful Rakiura/Stewart Island Na- tional Park, which was awarded the rare Dark Sky Sanctuary accreditation in 2019. And of course, Bluff is home to the deli- ciously famous Bluff Oysters, as thousands of lucky souls proved at the recently held annual Bluff Oyster Festival. Replete with rural service towns like Gore, Lumsden, Riverton, Tuatapere and Winton, Southland’s major city is Invercargill with a population of 57,000, a little over half the region’s total. The backbone of Southland’s economy is agriculture, while the production, processing and export of quality food is a significant contributor. Tiwai aluminium smelter near Bluff is the region’s largest non-agricultural manufactur- ing business. Education, professional scientific and technical services followed by construction are also key players. Despite the opportunities and the region’s obvious attractions there is a critical shortage of workers across all industries and profes- sions within the region and Sheree Carey, CEO of Southland Business Chamber, has a mission to help people discover Southland as the place to live, work and play. At the heart of the region and Invercargill are the people, and Sheree says that’s what really makes it truly special. “We need to get people thinking about Invercargill as a really supportive place to do business. If someone wanted to start a business here tomorrow we could get a whole lot of people around the table to help. We have a great start-up support network and an amazing community of business people willing to hold their hand all the way through.” While Invercargill may be a city of old fashioned Kiwi values it is about to receive an $80 million transformation that will see the city’s CBD transformed and modernised by the end of 2022, providing an additional three hundred retail jobs. A joint venture between the HW Richardson Group, the Invercargill City Council and a num- ber of smaller funders, the rebuild will provide new retail shops, a food court and a range of hospitality offerings. Adding to Invercargill’s new cityscape is The Langlands hotel. Funded by the Invercargill Licensing Trust, the new hotel will open its doors to guests and patrons early 2022. The city’s third major project is the develop- ment of the Hawthorndale Care Village. Based on a Dutch model of a dementia care village, residents living with dementia will be fully integrated as part of the wider village. A safe village environment within a village, com- plete with its own shops and street signs. A born and bred Southlander, Sheree has been CEO of Southland Business Chamber for the last five years and is passionate about the region. She says if people were to visit Invercargill at the start of 2023 they would be treated to a very different city. “The people here are full of ambition and excited about the future opportunities for their city and what we can do. We can get in- telligent and creative minds around the table to make some real change and we have the best community funding down here. “Community Trust South is in a really good position, and even after Covid Invercargill’s Licensing Trust is in a really good position for accessing grants for major projects.” Past community grants have included fund- ing for world-class facilities like the Velodrome and ILT Stadium. While Covid did not significantly impact the greater Southland region, which was protect- ed by essential industry and construction and not reliant on overseas tourism, Fiordland and Te Anau were hit extremely hard. “They were solely reliant on international visitors and we have just put some funding in to support Te Anau while Great South, the Economic Development Agency, has put an office in there to support businesses impact- ed. It’s unlikely the Australian bubble will provide any relief for Te Anau or Fiordland, as those tourists are more likely to focus on the ski fields. While it may be some time before borders open and international tourists flood back to those iconic spots, Southland has much to offer Kiwis with its natural beauty, jobs aplenty, a brand new city and a supportive business community embracing those who make the shift. “The world really is our oyster,” says Sheree. Education, professional, scientific and technical services are key players in the Southland region: left, SIT graduates, right, Invercargill technology firm Fi Innovations.