‘A tough winter’: Venture Timaru asked about new opportunities

Monday, 15 September 2025

With unemployment at a 20-year high, and no new medium to large businesses secured in the 2024/25 financial year, the head of Timaru’s economic development agency has been asked what it had done attract new business.

Venture Timaru (VT) chief executive Nigel Davenport admitted at Tuesday’s Timaru District Council meeting, the organisation “needs to do better in that space”, echoing a message delivered as the entity released its previous two quarterly reports.

In March, Davenport admitted the agency could do a better job in attracting new business, and three months before that, then chairperson Tony Brien said the organisation had to “do better in getting out of Timaru and going hunting” for business.

Davenport, and board chairperson Logan Hanifin, delivered VT’s quarterly report to June, before taking questions.

Hanifin told councillors it was still a “pretty tough time” for those in business.

“We’re trying to wrap round our existing businesses as much as possible … finding where the pain points are, and making sure we’re doing what we can, as an economic development agency, to alleviate some of those pain points.”

Hanifin said while targeting food and fibre and manufacturing was something the region did “very well” and it had been the “default” setting, VT would continue to work on those areas, but had also set its sights on new opportunities.

“There’s been a bit more of a shift in focus … to develop a strategy around the likes of aerospace, energy and data centres, aquaculture, some of these emerging industries in the country … seeing what we can be a part of.”

He said part of that was thinking about what the district could do differently to grow.

Davenport said, “This winter’s been a pretty tough one, probably one of the toughest ones we’ve had locally from an economic perspective.

“Our unemployment rate locally has zipped up to 4.3%, still below the national 5% … it is the highest it’s been in the last 20 years…

“It has been a tough winter, but it’s also been a tough 12-18 months.”

He said consumer spending had held up, but the last quarter had seen a drop in tourism spending which was not unexpected given it was winter.

“Businesses are finding it very tough out there – you’ve seen a couple of closures in the main street.

“But … we are in to spring now … and we are starting to see some good signs coming out the other side.”

Davenport said that would be helped by the council’s “ignition” of its Theatre Royal and Aorangi Stadium upgrade projects.

Davenport said highlights included a visit by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones that took in the airport and port.

“[It was] good to have him in the region, for the first time since I’ve been in the role.

“He said we are here to support in any way we can, not necessarily all about money … so those doors are definitely open.”

Davenport said the agency had also completed two projects for the council, linked to the CityTown and Trails projects, on time and under budget.

“Which, in this environment, is very important.”

He also said about 30 people had attended an aerospace workshop held by the agency earlier this month.

Councillor Scott Shannon asked what was being done to achieve VT’s statement of intent, and the priority objective of attracting new business, and whether the council could do anything to help facilitate any opportunities identified.

Davenport said while South Canterbury had good water, power, wastewater, steam, a great workforce, and offered a great lifestyle, it was important to “stay ahead of the game”.

He said the role of council was to, through its own planning and growth management strategy, identify potential areas of growth, which “in general terms” was being done.

Davenport said he had alluded to a few potential leads “that are under negotiation” and one of those would “send up a pretty big signal to other like industries” if it eventuated.

“We’re sort of on the cusp, and I appreciate … we need to do better in that space. It’s been a difficult year all round.”

Councillor Owen Jackson said it was disappointing there had been no new medium to large businesses secured, and asked about leads VT had.

The report said VT assisted five small to medium businesses to get established.

“When someone comes knocking on our door, what process do we take them through?” Jackson asked.

Davenport said in terms of its Make Timaru Your Business campaign, there were “in excess of 30 real opportunities”, with those parties being talked to at the moment.

Hanifin said for the agency to land a large manufacturer that might be considering other locations there were a lot of “ducks we need to try and line up, not the least of which is freight costs”.

“We’ve got a lot of strengths in the region – one difficulty we have can be our freight cost, getting out to ports that can then export to the world.”

He said looking at how the region’s unique selling points were promoted was something VT was looking at.

Davenport said those limitations also highlighted the importance of diversification and looking to “weightless” industries, such as aerospace or IT, and what might be possible.

Councillor Michelle Pye asked if future reports could focus on increased productivity, and said she was concerned increased commodity pricing could impact the numbers.

“What will really drive our economy is those productivity increases,” Pye said.

Davenport said they would make sure that was included.

Pye also asked if VT had worked out what the “sugar hit” might be to South Canterbury from the potential sale of the Fonterra brands.

“Because that will be a lot of money coming into our district, and how that might play into our economic development.”

Davenport said they had not looked into the “sugar hit” yet, but they would.

Shannon, Pye and Jackson are all seeking re-election at the upcoming local body elections.