Kānoa-managed investments provide regional boost
The Te Tai Tokerau Northland and manufacturing-engineering sector impact studies looked at the impact of government funding administered by Kānoa in this region and sector.
Both studies showed positive economic impacts due to the funding, including:
- Funding of $79.5 million into the manufacturing-engineering sector resulted in $229.5 million in total extra expenditure, and funding of $797 million into Te Tai Tokerau caused a total additional expenditure of $1.19 billion
- Strong job creation: 1,979 Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) were sustained by manufacturing-engineering funding, and 5,571 FTEs for Te Tai Tokerau
- Significant contribution to regional GDP: $519.8 million in Te Tai Tokerau.
The studies also show beneficial impacts on key business indicators for the businesses and organisations funded. In manufacturing-engineering this included:
- Increased capacity (92 percent of businesses) and capability (88 percent)
- Increase in permanent employees (88 percent)
- Increase in capacity to innovate (84 percent)
- Upskilled employees (68 percent).
The Te Tai Tokerau study showed similar impacts for organisations funded, as well as positive impacts for local communities and Māori, including:
- More local people and Māori were hired
- Greater certainty of employment during the COVID-19 pandemic response
- A growing sense of pride in the region
- Cultural benefits that were not directly financial, including community projects that would not have gone ahead otherwise
- Resilience to natural disasters with investments in vital infrastructure
- Environmental benefits from reforesting and cleaning up waterways.
“The impact studies give robust findings for what we have long heard anecdotally,” says Kānoa Head Robert Pigou.
“We manage eight funds at Kānoa, and while the biggest and best known is the Provincial Growth Fund, they all aim to nurture each region’s economy so they can grow and develop to reach their full potential.
“From our staff based in the regions, and the contacts we have there, we know our investments are making change happen. The long-term nature of many of our investments means that the final impact of our support cannot always be known immediately, so these impact studies show our funding is helping achieve Kānoa’s longer-term objectives.
“It is expected that the methods used by BERL can also inform future Kānoa impact assessments of other regions and sectors,” says Robert Pigou.