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One of the key support functions offered by DWC are loans which have helped many small businesses get a head start.

One of those businesses is West Coast Rewards, a unique marketing service that utilises the collective appeal of local businesses.

Its founder, Rachelle Hicks, took up a micro-loan from DWC to get started. She wanted to create a platform for local businesses to promote themselves while attracting and rewarding customers through a loyalty system.
“The aim of West Coast Rewards is to offer local businesses an advertising option which provides affordable, collaborative marketing through print, radio and social media,” Rachelle explains. “It also gives businesses a way of rewarding their loyal customers & clients, which can assist in creating repeat sales and attracting new customers.”

Rachelle says the benefits of being a member are many, but her motivation is to lessen the confusion for businesses that are trying to find the best way to spend their often limited marketing budgets.

Growing up locally and with a background in retail and hospitality, Rachelle understands the unique market and business environment of the West Coast. “I really wanted to provide an affordable option for businesses looking to get best value out of their marketing money by providing promotion through various platforms, as well as being able to offer my clients exclusive advertising & marketing deals from other West Coast suppliers,” Rachelle says.

She was pleased to have had the option of a micro loan from DWC when she was starting out as it enabled her to launch the website, westcoastrewards.co.nz. “DWC have also taken time to meet with me on many occasions and given me advice and support over the last couple of years, which is always useful.”

She says she would recommend the services DWC provides to anyone who is reaching for a new goal in business.

This year I have attended two open forums that have stirred me to consider the life style changes that we, as individuals, will face over the next ten or thirteen years. I say thirteen, not because it is a random or ominous number, but because 2030 has become somewhat of a deadline year for many reasons. I say ‘lifestyle’, but the same changes will also arise in the way we do business across the region, country and the globe. At least that’s what the scientists, world leaders and policy makers are telling us.

I refer to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which the NZ government has signed up to as well as New Zealand’s pledge under the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels, also by 2030.

Do we as a region look like we care? And, why should we? How will it benefit the economy of the region and us as individuals to start making changes now instead of inevitably having them forced on us?

At the Sustainable Farming Fund gathering held in Lincoln a couple of months ago delegates were asked for a show of hands in terms of how many owned electric vehicles. Zero hands were raised, although one courageous farmer confessed to having an electric bike.

We were then asked, “what will it take and how long will it take for you to change?’ – because in 10 years’ time we won’t be having this conversation, you will own one.” Those in my age group will have learned this lesson from the past. We reflect back with humour on our reaction to Bill Gates’ big audacious vision (in 1978), that there would be a computer in every home by 2008 – yea, right.

Whatever our personal opinions or political persuasions are regarding climate change, we can hardly ignore the national strategies and global agreements in place. We do contribute to the national GDP after all and presumably we would quite like to contribute more. At the other end of the equation our major regional employers are already aware that they need to reconsider their energy processes because their largest markets demand it of them. That’s the economic reality.

It’s not going to be easy for our farmers especially but it’s a process that is already being tackled by the sector at large in terms of being able to deliver a premium product to overseas markets.

“This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model, for the first time in human history,” said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC (the UN body overseeing the process of attaining a global treaty on climate change).

My second memorable forum attendance was down in Invercargill at the evaluation of the ‘Wood Fuels South’ project.

In 2014 the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) partnered with Venture Southland to deliver the Wood Energy South project in the Southland region. The project aimed to lower energy-related carbon emissions in Southland, improve air quality and demonstrate the cost and life cycle benefits of wood-chip and wood-pellet fueled boilers utilising local waste wood. It also provided local employment capacity building and business opportunities. And it wasn’t easy. The commercial benefits have proved to be positive and the investment story is a good one, not just for the wood suppliers but also for all the individual businesses, schools, and council amenities that took part.

I am not necessarily advocating that we do exactly the same project here but I learned a lot about the change process that had to be managed well in order to ensure long term sustainable benefits.

The Southland region also got to showcase the ability of both public and private sectors to have courage and work together on a regional project for the benefit of all. You can’t underestimate how attractive that is to potential investors.

As one of NZ’s regions that has a long tradition of mining and a lot invested in dairy farming the challenge ahead may look doubly hard for the West Coast. But is it?

There are several things in the region’s favour.

We are a pretty good looking little region and our landscape, our mountains and rainforests represent all that is best about New Zealand in the world’s eyes. We have the newly launched and award winning regional brand, Untamed Wilderness, that encapsulates our place and sells it so well. We already have the things that most of the world is running out of; space, water and clean(ish) air.

The recently announced funding for the NZ Institute for Minerals to Materials Research (NZIMMR) to be established here in the near future will have as one of its focuses, “using innovative research and manufacturing techniques to convert minerals into higher-value products” - presumably in an environmentally suitable and sustainable way. So the region is poised to lead the way in this sector. And if we are going to continue to extract coal for the purposes of adding value to it, well I presume we will need to use something else for process heat.

Meantime there are still plans in progress for a renewable energy plant for the Buller district and I am aware of the developing local interest in biomass planting as a way of diversifying land use.

Research into protecting the region against the impact of future events is underway and includes a government funded project focusing on the development of an electricity distribution resilience framework for the West Coast. More renewable hydro energy projects are in the pipeline. Climate change will perhaps not be as calamitous for our region as it will for others, we can cope with a bit more rain can’t we?

In terms of profiling our region to the world outside our borders it will be of benefit to have a collective and clear vision, especially one that can define a new competitive advantage. The recently launched West Coast Economic Action Plan is just the beginning.

I am not sharing this view as part of some personal green agenda. My job is to consider future opportunities for business growth and investment. We can’t just be offering cheap coal in an effort to bring new people, businesses and industry to the region. Those days are gone. We need a new story. If we bundle up all the new development activities happening in the region and planned for the near future we could sell an environmentally viable story and lead the way.

Economic development will always be about change. Understanding the changes that need to be made and the value proposition that those changes will bring with them in the long term will be an important process. Telling the story about how we as a region got on with it will be a big bonus.

As a first step, a West Coast Energy Forum, supported by EECA, is planned for late this year. If you are interested in contributing too or learning more about this Forum or contributing to the discussion above, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

So, when will I buy my electric car? When I can wander down the road to the NZIMMR and be assured by the scientists that the required componentry has been extracted in an environmentally favourable way. Also, I will be needing it to be driverless, so I can get on with knitting my knee rug while on the way to my appointment at the new WC Hospital to discuss my new locally made titanium hip replacement. Trust me, it’s in the very near future.

 
 DWC’s Research & Innovation Manager Helen Wilson and Business Service Manager Fiona Hill.

The Business and Industry Stimulus Fund (BISF) launched in October 2015 has been successful in assisting new and existing businesses.

The fund was established to stimulate industry and business development, with a particular focus on proposals that would result in the creation of new jobs and retention of existing jobs.

DWC has fielded over 70 enquiries from businesses and individuals since the launch of the BISF. It has advanced over $2.2 million to 11 businesses with the hope of creating 17 new jobs and helping to retain a further 30 jobs within the region.

The concept behind the BISF was to promote the services of DWC to the West Coast business sector with the aim of encouraging businesses to approach DWC to see if it could assist, particularly if they had identified opportunities for growth or were a good business that just needed some assistance to get them through a difficult period. While the period for applications to the BISF closed on 30 June 2016, DWC does not see itself changing how it operates while the West Coast economy is still very much in a recovery phase.

DWC encourages anyone in business, or who wishes to enter business to contact it to see if there is an opportunity for it to assist them. While commercial lending is one aspect of assistance that can be provided, DWC can also offer assistance with business mentoring, business training or  potentially linkages to people in the same industry or sector that may be able to offer insight or ideas.

We encourage any potential, new or existing business to contact DWC to find out what support DWC can offer, so please call 0800 768 0140 as a first step. We know we can’t help everyone, but we don’t know who we can help if they don’t come forward to tell us about their plans, problems or ideas.

The West Coast has been a popular place in recent weeks for Ministers of the Crown, with several visiting to open EPIC Westport, the Inchbonnie Hydro scheme and the release of a new detailed report into the region’s economy.

The Tai Poutini West Coast Regional Growth Study particularly looks at identifying opportunities for investment, incomes and employment across our region.

This naturally piques DWC’s interest as it strives to support those exact activities. It is healthy for things to be looked at periodically and review if there are different ways that DWC can participate in initiatives as part of achieving its objects. Any additional research that can support how DWC goes about that is a great tool.

We are all keenly aware of the challenges we as a region have been facing both directly and indirectly due to the drop in dairy prices. There has been some promising news on that front over the past two weeks, but we know we need to have more tricks up our sleeves other than relying on the success of just one industry.

As was pointed out at the launch of the Growth Study by Hon Steven Joyce in his capacity as Economic Development Minister, this study is a unique opportunity for local community and business leaders to work alongside central government on an action plan for our region.

Collectively we will grow through new investment and new industries, and DWC is excited to see that central government commitment being made.

DWC will now take the time to assess how it can best feed into the Regional Growth Programme so that we can ensure our funding is applied in the right areas to best support our West Coast community.

As part of the Programme, an economic action plan for the West Coast, informed by the Tai Poutini West Coast Regional Growth Study, will be released in early 2017 and we look forward to playing a role in that.