“The past two years have been extremely challenging for some industry sectors but the pandemic has also created new business opportunities. Our primary industries – forestry, viticulture, agriculture, and fisheries - along with the science and technology and construction sectors have been the foundation of Marlborough's strong economic performance,” says Councillor David Croad.
With this in mind, Marlborough’s Economic Wellbeing Strategy 2022-32, the first of its kind for the region, has been officially launched.
Councillor Croad, who holds the Economic Development portfolio, says the document sets a direction for the development of Marlborough's economy, which includes its current successful sectors and also some new, emerging sectors like tech and innovation.
Council's economic development team facilitated the development of the new strategy in collaboration with industry sectors, the Marlborough Regional Skills and Leadership Group, investors, entrepreneurs, mentors and advisors, to plan and enhance the region's economic future.
In 2021, the Council signalled its intent to further support the Marlborough economy by increasing its investment in economic development by $100k a year. That funding continues to bolster key areas such as start-up support through Business Trust Marlborough, economic data from Infometrics and Smart+Connected industry collaboration.
Economic Development Portfolio Manager, Dorien Vermaas, says the strategy provides a vision and guidance towards the future with a focus on improving wellbeing and productivity in Marlborough: “It involves all industry sectors working together towards a single vision. It's an exciting time to be looking forward and seeing how we can work together through collaboration, innovation and embracing new technologies.”
The strategy covers seven key focus areas:
- Forestry and wood processing
- Aquaculture
- Aviation
- Screen and creative industries
- Tech and innovation
- Wine
- The Māori economy
