More action, less talking. That was the overwhelming stance from those who attended last week’s economic development summit.

There was collective agreement to get started on projects and initiatives that will deliver economic growth and prosperity for the region.

The summit was the first cab off the rank for the newly launched Waikato regional economic development agency.

The agency’s name – Te Waka, Anga Whakamua Waikato – was announced at the summit. Anga Whakamua Waikato means the Waikato moving forward.

The event saw 250 business leaders from around the region descend on the Don Rowlands Centre at Lake Karapiro to discuss the challenges and opportunities our region is facing and ideas that will have the greatest impact on the region’s economic performance and its people.

The wealth of ideas and information will be analysed by the board of Te Waka and prioritised to a list of action-based priorities that will guide the agency’s path.

Te Waka is tasked with lifting the economic performance of the region; attracting, retaining, and growing investment and business; and championing needs and opportunities across the region.

Among the discussions at the summit were topics such as infrastructure, value chains, innovation, education, collaboration, and intergenerational poverty and prosperity. Debates range from how we attract more skilled labour to the region to how we address the region’s under-performing productivity rates.

Participants also discussed how best to prioritise the ideas that flowed. 

Once the Te Waka board has finalised the list of priorities, board chair Dallas Fisher will present the list to Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones at Parliament. 

There were calls from several business leaders at the summit to not only put forward ideas that could tap into the Provincial Growth Fund, but would have an intergenerational impact.

“We need to be making decisions around projects that will have an impact on generations to come,” said an IT business leader.

“We need to be thinking in decades, not days.”

Minister Jones attended the first day of the summit along with Minister of Maori Development Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of Employment Willie Jackson, Hamilton-based Labour list MP Jamie Strange and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau.

Minister Jones said he wanted to “direct Crown attention so that in 2020 we can point with clarity and honesty and say here is the concrete evidence of what we’ve achieved”.

He encouraged leaders to “serve up the projects that deserve support and we will meet you halfway … as we are doing with other rohe, we will fund your projects”.

“We’ve got two years. I don’t know if a future government will continue this kaupapa so we need projects that are capable of going the distance.”

After his opening address, Minister Jones carved the first chips out of a ceremonial waka that was being created at the summit to symbolise Te Waka’s newly launched journey.

Te Waka chair Dallas Fisher said he could “feel the spark starting to be generated here… the kotahitanga, and we will use that to build our strength and resilience”.

“One of the things we want to do is join the dots from the national strategy to the regional strategy to help drive us forward as a region.

“But we don’t want to focus just on the big projects. We want to look at the innovative thinking – the things that start small and become big. We want to grow new industry, use resources in a sustainable way.

“I can feel the responsibility of what we’re about to do here. There will be hundreds of ideas that come from this summit.  We will prioritise them and present them to the Minister Jones/ We’re going to deliver on that list.”

The morning of day one of the summit saw four TED-style talks including one from Minister Nanaia Mahuta who asked the audience what value they place on our story and how they think about the region.

“Our region is a very big region with a very big story. We need to think about our story and our narrative. 

“I love the waka being used as a metaphor. We get on the waka and our next challenge is to all paddle in unison. We are all in the waka of aspiration to ensure we can leverage for the region, for the people of the region, leveraging our potential to contribute to things that will bubble to the top. 

“The other thing about the waka analogy is the ‘do’ analogy, not a ‘talk’ analogy. We can’t just sit back, and nobody does anything. Everyone needs to put their hand up and say we will be part of it.”

The afternoon of day one saw participants move between more TED-style talks and various interactive stations before a session where participants reflected on what they’d been hearing and thinking about during the day.

Day two saw participants begin working individually and then collectively on ideas they’d brought to the summit.

Te Waka will work through the information gleaned at the summit over the next few weeks.

The organisation’s new CEO is expected to be announced this month.