Merging agencies will help drive Wellington region forward

Merging agencies will help drive Wellington region forward

Merging the region’s economic development and promotion agencies into one organisation will give serious impetus to drive the city and region forward, says Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Business Central.

Chief Executive Raewyn Bleakley says getting agreement from the region’s mayors to merge Grow Wellington, Positively Wellington Tourism, Positively Wellington Venues and Wellington City Council’s Major Events Development Fund is a positive step forward.

“This is exactly what’s needed and we congratulate the mayors for supporting this merger. We now just need the individual councils to tick it off.
“The region needs to be pulling in the same direction if we are to seriously tackle our economic performance. One agency with joint resources should have the grunt to make this happen.

“It’s crucial that we execute this to our best advantage. We need to get the governance structure of the merged organisation right, to ensure it hits the ground running. Politics must not be allowed to get in the way of achieving the best results for the region.

“We also need to make sure the successful parts of the current organisations are not lost in the merger.

“This is a step towards what we know works well in the New Zealand context. Feedback from the Auckland model is resoundingly positive.

“The Chamber and Business Central have been advocating such a merger for some time.

“We believe the alignment will provide strategic benefits to better deliver for ratepayers across the region.

“Bringing these organisations into one should result in a more co-ordinated and highly tuned organisation which can better deliver on what the city and region need from tourism and events. These are two of our biggest strengths and we must continue to build on them.”

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