Long-Term Plan (LTP) Season
April 29, 2024
By Chamber CEO, Don Good
It's LTP season throughout the country as local councils rewrite their long-term plans. Most are going to the Bank of Ratepayers for double digit increases at a time when Kiwis are coping with a cost of living crisis.With the Consumer Price Index rising by 20% since the star...
The Future of Te Huia
April 29, 2024
By Chamber CEO, Don Good
The time has come to decide on the white elephant we call Te Huia. The data is clear: the number of passengers is not growing but the costs are. In a cost of living crisis, we have blown $100 million of taxpayer and ratepayer funds on a form of transport we knew was never go...
Amalgamation
April 16, 2024
By Chamber CEO, Don Good
Has the time for the amalgamation of the Waikato’s 13 territorial authorities arrived? Most Waikato councils are close to their debt ceiling and experiencing a downgrade in their viability. They are also facing really big costs to ensure their core services and infras...
By Waikato Chamber CEO, Don Good
In mid-November last year, the Chamber changed its fleet vehicle from a Ford Ranger diesel ute, the biggest selling vehicle in NZ, to a 2023 Ford Mustang. No, not the V8 but the Mach-E rear wheel drive version.Now a fraction under 10,000km later it is time to tell the journe...
Local government Long Term Plans (LTPs)
March 12, 2024
By Waikato Chamber CEO, Don Good
It is that time of the electoral cycle when Long Term Plans are laid out and rates struck. Local government across New Zealand is struggling. Encouraged by central government, they have had six years of myriad co-funded projects to deliver. Due to the fair pay initiativ...
What a great start to the year!
February 23, 2024
By Waikato Chamber CEO, Don Good
While some people and the media are doom and gloom merchants, the Waikato Chamber of Commerce has been buzzing since mid-January with events that have been running at or close to capacity.Business people are out and about, enjoying the sun no doubt but putting a lot of effor...
A New Government
December 5, 2023
By Waikato Chamber CEO, Don Good
A change of government means a change of tack for the country and the opportunity for several Waikato projects to be advocated to the new team. So here is what we have been lobbying for and will continue to do so with the new Government.Cambridge to PiarereJust do it and do ...
Local Government transparency and financial acumen
December 5, 2023
By Waikato Chamber CEO, Don Good
The Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, is a no nonsense ex-judge who has recently criticised several councils for their lack of transparency. We quote from his report of an investigation into their activities: “Conducting a great deal of council business behind closed doo...
AgriSea Networking Tour
December 1, 2023
AgriSea hosted an informative site tour and networking for Waikato Chamber of Commerce Members earlier in October at their Paeroa site.The tour showcased AgriSea’s innovative techniques for developing horticultural, dry stock, dairy farm and bee nutrition solutions from se...
Emerging Leader of the Year Jenni Falconer
November 24, 2023
Jenni Falconer is Chief Executive of Emergency Consult and was named the 2023 Emerging Leader of the Year at the Waikato Business Awards, supported by Foster Construction, on November 17.
When Jenni Falconer was working as a nurse along the three other co-founders of Emergency Consult in the late 1990s, they would see around 50 patients per day through the hospital’s emergency department. And patients weren’t waiting hours to be seen.Fast forward 20 years...
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