What we do

Our competitive advantage

Networks & Working Groups

Smart Economy

Smart Economy is the economic development strategy for the Western Bay of Plenty sub-region. It aims to make the Western Bay of Plenty the business location of choice based on sun, sea, soil and skills, resulting in a highly productive, competitive and export-based economy.

Smart Economy recognises that sustainable economic development requires a move up the “value chain”, so that our output is based on adding significant value to primary products rather than simply providing basic commodities. This is critical to increase export earnings and will help shield the region from wide changes in commodity prices. The strategy also encourages diversification, so that the economy is less dependent on a relatively narrow range of sectors. There is recognition of our comparative strengths in industry sectors such as horticulture, agriculture, food processing, marine and manufacturing, as well as a mature transport infrastructure and a stunning location offering favourable climate and lifestyle opportunities.

Key areas of focus in the strategy are:

Improved tertiary education and research provision.
Development of several business, manufacturing and innovation parks to support key sectors.
Growth of the export sector.
Development of the central business district in order to attract investment, skilled employees and business relocations.
Power supply and broadband.

Implementation of the strategy involves a collaborative approach by over 30 organisations, including business support agencies representing more than 3,500 businesses in the Western Bay of Plenty sub-region, as well as the three local authorities, central government agencies and education & training providers. The Smart Economy Forum meets quarterly throughout the year to lead monitoring and audit of the strategy and to support strategy partners.

The governance group is the Smart Economy Action Group, which has responsibility for driving progress, anchoring collaboration, identifying implementation gaps and assisting with resourcing issues. Feedback has shown this is a valuable forum, increasing opportunities for collaboration and providing a focus on high level outcomes. Priority One is the administrative agency for monitoring and implementation of the Smart Economy strategy, including reporting progress to key stakeholders.

Young Professionals Forum

Priority One established the Young Professionals Forum to engage those aged in their 20s and 30s in the importance of economic development and to ensure their voice is heard on issues affecting the region’s growth and development. The forum also provides an opportunity to find out what young professionals like about living in the Bay, what’s not so great, and what can be done to make the region more attractive to this demographic.

The forum has been actively involved in local politics, including meeting with elected members and staff to better understand the issues the city is facing, as well as making submissions to planning processes to provide their views on how they would like to see the city develop. The group strongly advocates the importance of investment in the necessary cultural and community infrastructure to ensure the city develops in a manner that will encourage skilled young people to live and work here. For further information, email greg@priorityone.co.nz.

Kiwifruit Post Harvest Working Group

Priority One facilitated the establishment of the Kiwifruit Post Harvest Working Group to identify and prioritise issues and industry planning to feed into local authority policy development and district plan reviews. The group works closely with staff from Western Bay of Plenty District Council to ensure policies and plans are fair and equitable and do not impede economic growth in this sector. For further information, contact andrew@priorityone.co.nz.

Development Working Party

The Development Working Party, comprising representatives from the region’s development community and territorial local authorities, is facilitated by Priority One. It was established to advance initiatives for dealing with the projected acceleration of development in the region over the next decade. This includes the development of key infrastructure, streamlining of the consents process, easing the burden on developers of submission preparation to local authority consultation processes, and ensuring that development contributions are fair and equitable and do not reach a level where they cause growth to stop. For further information, contact annie@priorityone.co.nz.

Intermediate Housing Working Group

The affordability of housing has a significant impact on our ability to attract businesses and skilled people to the sub-region. Priority One is part of a working group involving the development community, real estate sector, Housing New Zealand, population ageing experts, local authorities and urban design specialists that is developing a strategy to encourage more affordable (or ‘intermediate’) housing solutions for the sub-region. A series of workshops has been held to look at barriers to the development of intermediate housing as well as the potential for incentives to be offered for those undertaking medium density developments. Both Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council have established taskforces to work with developers to deliver affordable housing solutions and a number of projects are underway. Discussions have also commenced with local iwi to identify opportunities for the development of affordable housing on Maori land to maximise its potential. For further information, contact annie@priorityone.co.nz.

Tauranga South Development Group

The Tauranga South Development Group comprises members of the Greerton Village Community Association and Greerton business community, as well as representatives from Greerton Lions Club, Greerton Marist Sports Club, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Greerton Senior Citizens, Racecourse Reserve Management Board, Tauranga Chamber of Commerce and Priority One. The group was established to provide a wide ranging voice to the Tauranga South community, including Greerton, Tauriko and Windermere. It has a strategic focus on issues such as transportation, urban design, population growth and economic development that impact on the Tauranga South community. TSDG has a role in advocating for the Tauranga South area and as a mechanism for community engagement and consultation. It also encourages information sharing and collaboration with other business and community groups for the betterment of the Western Bay of Plenty sub-region. For further information, contact annie@priorityone.co.nz.