It’s 2030. Tauranga’s economy is thriving, our city centre is alive and refreshed, our innovations are bold, and our region is known for growing its own local talent. Because in 2025, local businesses decided to invest in our young people.

Right now, about 20% of young people in the Western Bay of Plenty are not in work, education, or training. That’s more than 6,000 minds full of energy, ideas, and potential sitting on the sidelines. At the same time, local employers say they can’t find people. Job ads across the region dropped by 22% last year, and our average workforce age now sits over 42. The future of work isn’t waiting for us to catch up. It is already here, and it needs every bit of talent we have.

Through Priority One’s talent initiatives including our Industry/Schools partnership (Instep), Vocational Pathways programme, our employment hub (Ara Rau), and our young innovator accelerator (yia!), we meet these young people every day. Some are still in school, discovering how their strengths can become careers. Others are finding their way back into work after a few hard turns. They are curious, inventive, and often more motivated than they realise. What they need is connection, someone willing to open a door.

Whilst job specific skills can be taught. What matters most to employers is attitude, and to our young people, being given the opportunity to learn and grow. Research-based evidence shows that by having just one adult who believes in them can change a young person’s entire trajectory. It builds the resilience they carry into every workplace that follows.

Ara Rau works with rangatahi who are not in education, employment, or training.  This year Ara Rau has reset the trajectory for 48 rangatahi with 31 into jobs and 13 to tertiary education. Each one of these statistics represents a young person whose potential has found a direction and is contributing not only to their family but to the whole community and the national economy. 

When a local business offers that first opportunity, a site visit, a mentorship, a part-time role, the effect ripples outward. One young person’s confidence becomes one team’s new energy. One team’s new energy becomes a stronger regional workforce. This is how local people grow local potential.

Imagine if every Priority One member created two youth opportunities next year. We would close the gap quickly and set our region up for decades of home-grown economic and employment resilience. There’s no reason Tauranga can’t become the best place in New Zealand for youth to transition from education into work, and in doing so ensure employers have the pipeline of future talent needed for sustainable growth.

Next time someone says, “We can’t find good people,” imagine being able to answer, “They’re already here. We helped them get started.”

Your action can change a young person’s direction. Connect with our talent team and explore how your business can create meaningful youth pathways.