Northland Inc is the regional economic development agency and regional tourism organisation for Northland and is a council controlled organisation of the Northland Regional Council. It is physically located within The Orchard Business and Event Hub in Whangarei which is a co-working space that Northland Inc developed and opened in order to enhance its relationship with businesses in the region and better provide incubation services for start up’s. Despite being physically located in Whangarei, Northland Inc staff frequently travel all across Northland to deliver services and provide support to businesses and economic development projects, with some teams doing more travel than others. As Northland Inc is physically based in Whangarei, there is a misinformed perception that it fails to meaningfully engage with existing and potential customers in the Kaipara and Far North Districts.

As a general principle Northland Inc wishes to explore the opportunity to expand its presence within the region. Likewise, through the course of agreeing its Statement of Intent with Northland Regional Council it was identified that Council would like to see Northland Inc expand its physical presence. The section 17A review made similar recommendations. Equally, there has been significant interest from the community to replicate the Orchard co-working space in the more northern parts of the region. However, any expansion of Northland Inc services and/or the Orchard co-working space will require significant resourcing that Northland Inc has not assessed to date.

The feasibility study will determine whether or not physical expansion into the Far North district is a viable option for Northland Inc and if so, what the most impactful way of expanding would be, without duplicating offerings and services of others in this space. It will look to make recommendations on what the most feasible options are based on the current environmental factors and further explore the recommended options.

Contact: Codie McIntyre- Business Analyst- Northland Inc
codie.mcintyre@northlandnz.com
02720207987