Chamber welcomes city’s Annual Plan and new company’s jobs

Wellington Chamber of Commerce is pleased the city council has signed-off most of the Chamber’s wish-list in the 2016-17 Annual Plan.

“They’ve approved the big items we need: the next stage of plans to make the city more resilient in terms of the four big “shocks”, the convention centre and film museum project, and plans for establishing an urban development agency and cutting the city's emissions.

“We pushed hard for these things, so we’re happy in that regard.

“What we’re not quite so happy about is the average rates rise of 3.6 per cent – 5.4 per cent for residential and an average 2.7 per cent for commercial – which is still well above inflation.

“But though we would have preferred a smaller increase, we do understand the need for investment, provided the money is spent wisely and transparently and on projects that look to the long-term betterment of the city.

“The challenge for the city remains that our growth, as measured by GDP, is below that of New Zealand overall. Our goal, and it should be also a regional goal, is that we must continue to strive to firstly get growth up to the national level, and then exceed it.”

Mr Milford said “wins” like that of Canadian outsourcing company Minacs establishing its first office in the southern hemisphere in Wellington is exactly what the local economy needs.

“This is great news. They have a proven track record, employing 21,000 people around the world, so when they say they could eventually employ 300 people here then I tend to believe them.

“The thing that’s different about this compared to the CallActive failure is that the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) has led this initiative and has taken the CallActive lessons on board. They have negotiated a deal that, rather than subsidising a business, invests in our people by upskilling them.

“That’s what Wreda is there to do – promote business activity that adds value and jobs to the city for the long-term.

“It’s also great that it looks like Minacs will be in the centre of the city where it will undoubtedly have a halo effect on inner-city business.”

ENDS

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