Hastings, a district located in New Zealand, boasts a thriving primary sector economy, with a new wave of industries emerging from its solid economic foundations.
- These industries have gained recognition on a global scale and include:
- Agriculture
- Agritech
- Call centre / Business support centre
- Construction
- Digital technology
- Engineering
- Food and beverage
- Food processing
- Horticulture
- Manufacturing technology
- Professional services
- Robotics
- Viticulture
Hastings is well known for being one of the largest apple, pear, and stone fruit producing regions in New Zealand, as well as the country’s second-largest wine region. Additionally, Hastings serves as the commercial center for its expansive district, which covers an area of 5,229km², including the urban areas of wider Hastings, Flaxmere, and Havelock North, as well as numerous smaller coastal and rural settlements.
Transport and Logistics
Land Roads and rail keep things moving and connect your business easily to the rest of the country. State Highway 2 brings traffic from the south and heads on up to Gisborne. State Highway 5 connects Hawke’s Bay with Taupo and further north to Auckland. Locally, the Hawke’s Bay Expressway keeps traffic moving around the region, to the Airport, and provides easy access to the Port. The main rail link from Palmerston North to Napier Port traverses Central Hawke’s Bay, through Hastings to Napier
Drive Times: Hawke’s Bay Airport to… Wairoa 90 minutes Napier 10 minutes Hastings/Havelock North 25 minutes Waipukurau 45 minutes Gisborne 3 hours
Air Hawke’s Bay Airport is the third busiest airport in the North Island and provides an essential role in connecting the Hawke’s Bay region’s people and produce with the wider national and international economy.
- A few key facts about Hawke’s Bay Airport are:
- In 2018/19 more than 750,000 passengers passed through the gates
- Three regular direct flight destinations to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with onward connections to other centres and international destinations
- Approximately 24,000 aircraft movements a year
- Runway is 1750m long
- Easy commuting to Hasting and Havelock North
- New terminal opening in mid-2021 catering for 1 million passengers
As well as a gateway to the region for travellers, Hawke’s Bay Airport is a prosperous commercial hub. A total of 18 businesses are already located at the airport, with more than 270 employees working on-site. As the airport sits on 230ha there is potential for many more businesses to establish themselves within the airport precinct.
Hawke’s Bay Airport is located near logistics hubs, such as Napier Port, Onekawa and Whakatū, and has strong connectivity to State Highway 2, rail, and air freight services to support the freight and logistics businesses the airport ideally wants to attract.
The new terminal will further support businesses with meeting rooms and hospitality and create a critical mass of existing businesses to attract further support services – as well as the obvious benefit of having an airport on their doorstep so corporate visitors can literally fly-in for meetings.
Fly/Drive Times Fly Drive Auckland 1 hr 5 hrs Rotorua — 2.5 hrs Taupo — 1.5 hrs Wellington 1 hr 4 hrs Christchurch 1.5 hrs —
Sea
Sea Napier Port is the premier freight gateway for Hawke’s Bay and New Zealand’s lower North Island, connecting our businesses, our people and our communities to the world. One of New Zealand’s largest container terminals, millions of tonnes of cargo flow across the Port’s wharves into and out of the region each year. The new 6 Wharf, due for completion at the end of 2022, will future proof the port, enable more and larger ships, and support economic growth for the region.
Workforce
With access to a working age population of just under 110,000 people from across Hawke’s Bay, you’ve got choices when it comes to staff. Our diverse, skilled and stable workforce positions your business to take advantage of a strong regional economy with the numbers and diversity to support larger scale employers. Over a third of the working age population is degree qualified (or higher). Still can’t find who you need? Attracting talented staff to Hastings, particularly those with families, is relatively easy with a broad range of career, study and lifestyle options to suit all tastes. We also present opportunities to help you create your own workforce via tailored, work-ready programmes delivered through Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) generating a ready stream of employee candidates. Attracting the right talent from other regions or other countries is part of our greater regional economic development strategy, Matariki. There’s a team getting things done now – they’re working on tactics to help bring the right people here which will include providing information to support with repatriation and resettlement.
Utilities
Hastings already has the infrastructure in place that will scale up with your business which we know is essential to success.
Power Companies rely on power to function. Fact. Hawke’s Bay’s electricity distributor, Unison Networks, assures reliability through their world class network deploying the latest technology further backed by ISO 55001 certification – that’s total commitment to operational efficiencies. The fantastic central location of Hastings enables a robust distribution network, with supplies being transmitted from north and south generation sources. Unison can work directly with your business to scope and develop a tailored electricity supply solution.
Gas Powerco operates, builds and maintains our gas network. With a business focused on lines and pipes, Powerco spends more than $10 million every year on safety driven maintenance and network quality upgrades to the vital infrastructure. Powerco also invests in gas pipeline installation into new subdivisions.
Water The Heretaunga Plains aquifer is a significant natural resource for Hawke’s Bay. It is used for public water supply and for industrial use and irrigation across the wider Heretaunga Plains. Hastings District is criss-crossed by several major rivers, the three biggest being Tukituki, Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri.
Construction Capability Hastings is home to a number of large scale, highly diversified, construction companies backed with big experience. They’ve got the expertise and in-house resources to undertake new build projects to large scale.
Fibre and Telecommunications Being connected to a high speed network is crucial for your business to do more, in less time. Chorus New Zealand’s high-quality, high speed ‘fibre to the premises’ (FTTP) network delivers large amounts of data further and faster than old school copper broadband. You’ll be in the driver’s seat with speed, capacity and control when you engage with one of the telecommunications companies servicing the district. Some are locally owned and operated, some even award winning, because that’s what we do in Hastings.
Industrial Parks
Omahu Industrial Zone 65 hectares of new general industrial land, Minimum lot sizes 1,000m² – 2,000m² New water and wastewater services (no trade waste access) Easy access to expressway Wide road frontage options ideal for businesses needing a higher profile such as machinery/ equipment sales or hire Roading improvements scheduled with two new roundabouts Example tenants: McCain, Greenmount Foods, Bostock New Zealand, Furnware, Metalcraft Roofing, Hustler, Hydralada, Fletcher Steel, Downer, ERL/ MELO, Freshmax
Irongate Industrial Zone Large land area (118 hectares), average lot size of one hectare, minimum 5,000m² Dry industries (no trade waste access) Sewer and water connection infrastructure ready for connection Short and longer term use Adjacent to the expressway providing excellent access to northern and southern routes Roading improvements continuing with the construction of a new roundabout Types of industry: wood product manufacturing, textile production, broad metal product based manufacturing, pack house and cold-storage, logistics, warehousing and distribution Example tenants: Sunfruit Orchards Limited, NZL Transport, The Carr Group, Rockit Global Ltd, TUMU Timbers, Stephenson Transport Limited, ACME Supplies
Whakatu Industrial Zone 60 hectares Suited to wet processing industries as it has capacity for large trade waste Options to utilise rail and easy access to road transport Napier Port only 18kms away, development of an Inland Port is also currently being investigated Example tenants: Silver Fern Farms, TandG, Apollo Beverages
The Tomoana Food Hub 22.5 hectares Trade waste access zone and can connect to wet industry operations Specifically designed to meet the needs of food businesses, zoned to locate any business operating in food industry Options to design, build and lease or purchase available 18kms to Napier Port Potential sites adjacent to Foodeast the Hawke’s Bay Food Innovation Park Example tenants: Jamestrong Precision Packaging, Miracle Water, Fonterra
Contact
To learn more about living, working and starting a business in Hastings, please contact our Economic Development team
Lee Neville
Economic Development Manager
leen@hdc.govt.nz+64 6 871 5000