6 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Otago: Business South Well placed for a strong bounce back Karen Phelps Otago has plenty to offer Richard Loader Dunedin Airport 3 Benson Close Otago is about the people, the culture and the environment, with everything on its doorstep for an amazing place to live, work and play. “At its core Otago projects an open friendliness and safe family focused environment for businesses and people to thrive,” says Mike Collins, Chief Executive of the newly formed Business South Inc. “Everyone gives a lot back. The mentoring and support network is really significant, which is a sign that the culture here is really healthy. And there’s also a lot of opportunity with a lot of infrastructure investment going on.” Officially formed in October 2021 Business South is the amalgamation of the Otago Southland Employers Association and the Otago Chamber of Commerce. Mike says the rationale for the merger was that both organisations provided very similar services and there was benefit in strengthening those service offerings as one across the Otago/Southland region. Working in complementary partnership with the Southland Chamber of Commerce, the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce and Wanaka Chamber of Commerce, the new organisation’s purpose is to ensure a thriving business environment for the whole region. “We’re the largest geographically spread region in the country and set our border line from south of the Waitaki River including Oamaru, all the way down to Stewart Island.” Forty-two percent of Otago’s population of 247,000 is based in Dunedin. By comparison, Southland has a population of 102,000, Central Otago 25,000 and Queenstown Lakes is 48,000. Mike points to recent statistics showing Dunedin has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. “When we speak to businesses everyone is desperate for staff. I know one business that could employ sixty staff right now and another that could employ twenty-five staff — all in manufacturing. That demand for staff is prolific across the whole Otago/Southland region. There are great opportunities here and businesses have been putting that out for a while. But now it’s an extremely competitive employment market and employers are going to great lengths to gain staff, even partnering with marketing companies to present themselves strongly as an employer.” With businesses losing good staff through intense bidding around higher salaries and hourly rates Business South is advocating a focus on organisational culture. “To lose an employee is a real cost to the business. We had a breakfast seminar with one of the recruitment companies last week and they talked about the efforts going into retaining people. We’re telling businesses to provide as much professional development as possible to their staff so that they are highly employable, while creating a culture and environment they never want to leave. Employees want to know they are valued and have been invested in by the organisation they work for but that they also work in a positive work Pre Covid-19 Dunedin Airport was under pressure with 1.1 million passenger movements each year. A $14m project was undertaken to accommodate the increased demand, which saw the terminal building undergo a significant expansion adding 1200m2 to the first floor to provide a substantially enlarged security screening area and a new domestic lounge. The project was ready for the public March 2020 and then Covid-19 hit and the airport plunged from 32 flights per day to two flights per week just to ferry essential workers around New Zealand. The silver lining is that with the peak of Omicron and government border restrictions lifting the airport is well placed for strong bounce back, says Dunedin Airport general manager of Business Development Megan Crawford. The airport has had to ride the wave of uncertainty the pandemic has presented, which has seen it pivot to upscale and downscale to meet the changing demands driven by different restrictions. “We have had to constantly reassess the environment and it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride,” says Dunedin Airport CEO Richard Roberts. “We’ve never been able to plan too far ahead because we’ve never known what would happen. Now we can feel like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.” But they are both well aware that the challenges are not quite over yet and Dunedin Airport has been working closely with the city, region and businesses to ensure bounce back happens as quickly and as strongly as possible. The current economic environment is providing some challenges as Dunedin Airport aims to increase the size of its team as more people begin to move through New Zealand. environment with their colleagues. It maybe in a flexible working environment and maybe it’s about family first and maybe it’s outcomes focused rather than inputs focused. If businesses can identify and create that environment they have a better chance to retain staff.” A few years ago Dunedin won the Gigatown Competition, a joint initiative between Chorus and the New Zealand Government to award a New Zealand town the ‘fastest internet in the Southern Hemisphere’, through a social media competition. After winning that award Dunedin’s tech industry blossomed because businesses could offer work in a family friendly city and the attraction of surfing at St Clair Beach during the lunch break, all while running a multinational tech business. “So the tech industry is booming,” says Mike. “We currently have a substantial number of startups in Dunedin and the tech industry is significant. In 2019 the Government provided $11 million to develop a Dunedin based hub called the Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE), which is designed to progress the expansion of New Zealand’s growing video game development industry. ADInstruments is an international company based in Dunedin that produces data acquisition and analysis systems for the life sciences industry. Scott Technology is in Dunedin and is a significant producer of automation and robotics solutions. The Southern DHB is our biggest employer with 5000 staff and the next would be Otago University with a significant academic workforce.” With two world-class education providers, Otago University and Otago Polytechnic, Otago is known for its education sector that draws 30,000 - 40,000 students to Dunedin every year and contributes significantly to the local economy. Dunedin is also about to have largest investment in hospital infrastructure that the country has ever seen. The $1.4 billion infrastructure project is predicted to attract between 900 – 1000 contracting companies over the next ten years. “Business South has partnered with the new Dunedin Hospital Development to help develop a strategy to get workforce ready for that project. Any workers currently in the construction trade sectors are scarce and we have to build capacity.” Looking to Otago’s future Mike says Business South Inc. has received a lot of interest from businesses outside of region looking to relocate and he believes that comes down to the region’s supportive culture. “I see that all the time through the networking that happens here. For startups or organisations wanting to set up in Dunedin it’s quite an open environment to network and get going. Also the costs aren’t quite as significant as they are up north in terms of leases and land prices. So from a capital investment perspective it is quite attractive. Dunedin’s economic strategy really pushes the opportunity for growth and encouraging businesses to the region as a destination. If I talk to businesses that have come into town, they tell me the attraction is a balance between the economic side of things and the lifestyle with central Otago on their doorstep and a safe place to bring up their families.” “We are looking at all opportunities to ensure we can get our schedule back to pre-pandemic levels,” says Megan. “We are working very hard with airlines, businesses, chambers and the region to ensure Dunedin is a destination of choice for both local and international travellers.” Megan says feedback from airlines is positive with bookings starting to increase. High inflation is a challenge and there is still a degree of uncertainty over what the cost of flights will be and whether international low cost carrier will return to the market. “Capacity is starting to pick up as a result of bookings. People are starting to want to fly again and we are seeing our scheduling improving quickly,” she says. Corporates have not been able to have face to face meetings as easily during the pandemic and Megan thinks that this will play a part in the pent up demand as people seek to re-connect. “I know for Dunedin Airport we really value the relationships we have with our airline partners and that face to face contact is hard to beat.” Dunedin Airport is also pleased to offer a number of meeting/conference rooms, executive boardroom and interview rooms capable of accommodating business meetings and conferences of various sizes from small to up to around 50 people. Megan says that because Dunedin Airport commands spectacular views of the Maungatua Range, the Taieri Plains and airport life, the rooms make for a very special place to hold a meeting or conference. “People often fly in from different parts of the country and find that holding their meeting here is easier than having to then travel somewhere else,” explains Megan. “They can fly in, have the meeting and fly out.”
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