EIT’s School of Business is collaborating with Hawke’s Bay Business, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and local authorities in progressing a study of growth industries in Hawke’s Bay.

The study, which encompasses the views of a wide range of business leaders in Hawke’s Bay and covers a broad range of industry sectors, moves this year into its third and final stage.

It began in April 2016, when EIT deputy chief executive Mark Oldershaw and Associate Professor Jonathan Sibley, programme coordinator for EIT’s postgraduate business programme, met with Business Hawke’s Bay (BHB) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

With the Matariki Hawke’s Bay Regional Economic Development Strategy and Plan finalised, BHB and MBIE wanted to develop a better understanding of the requirements of growth industries in Hawke’s Bay, particularly key trends impacting future employment and skill requirements.

They also sought a better understanding of the regional capabilities needed to facilitate and support growth industries, in particular network-related capabilities including transport and communication networks.

BHB was particularly interested in identifying industries which are growing but which ‘fly under the radar’ – industries, such as the digital industry sector, that don’t usually feature in traditional top-down economic analysis that, in Hawke’s Bay, typically focuses on primary industry.

In committing to the study, the School of Business considered it a valuable research exercise in its own right and appreciated that the outcomes would assist EIT in tailoring courses and programmes that continued to meet the changing needs of industry in Hawke’s Bay.

In the first phase, the project team of School of Business researchers, led by Jonathan and the school’s law lecturer Conrad Schumacher, identified growth industries using the Infometrics regional data set for Hawke’s Bay.

In the second stage, the team surveyed expert business opinion – what do business leaders in Hawke’s Bay think is the growth outlook for their industry and what are the likely skill requirements?

Findings from this phase were presented at a public seminar late last year.

“We are now undertaking a detailed study across a broad range of key growth sectors to develop an understanding of specific skill requirements and potential constraints to growth,” says Jonathan.

“We will complete this phase progressively over 2018 and will be presenting findings as we complete each sector.