Dunedin City Council economic development manager Peter Harris is confident the city has heard the worst of this year's economic news and that things are about to improve.
As part of ensuring the economy continues to grow in Dunedin, the council had recently launched a $240,000 industrial project fund to encourage local businesses to work together on specific areas.
The parameters were that the project, which must have three or more organisations working together, included growing job numbers, economic growth or increasing exports.
The fund would pay up to two-thirds of the cost of any approved project.
The first funding round closes on September 15 and the second in March.
Although the economic development unit was organising the fund, the council as a whole would make the final decisions.
Dunedin IT companies were the first to come up with a project to create internships to keep graduating information technology students in the city, he said in an interview.
The companies were suffering a staff shortage and hoped to stem the tide of people leaving the city after graduation.
"We need to create opportunities for the students and show them there is more to the city than their student life."
At a meeting on Thursday of the Upstart board, it was announced that five local companies were about to advertise for chief executive officers, Mr Harris said.
All of the companies had grown to the point where the founder needed to step aside from the day-to-day management role to focus on a wider role.
And the five companies were hoping to attract people with international experience.
That could include University of Otago graduates who had worked overseas and could be lured back to the city.
The announcement on Thursday that Cadbury Confectionery would make up to 145 workers redundant over the next two and a-half years was sad news, tempered by the $51 million the company intended spending on increasing production.
Having two years meant people had time to search for other jobs.
There was no "economic magic bullet" for Dunedin or Otago, Mr Harris said.
The media had painted a picture of doom and gloom but with the exchange rate falling, exporters were starting to feel the benefits.
"If you believe all the bad news, it would never be a good time to be in business. Some of our engineering and manufacturing clients are doing well.
"We have an eclectic mix of business in Dunedin - niche operators the rest of the city knows nothing about," Mr Harris said.
The latest ANZ-National Bank regional trends showed Otago was third in annual year-on-year economic activity with 1.9% growth, behind Southland on 2.8% and Taranaki on 3.4%.
However, in the three months to June, Otago was third last on -1.2% growth.
ANZ-National Bank economist Steve Edwards said in his regional round-up that in contrast to other areas, Otago recorded rises in the sales of lifestyle blocks and sections.
The bad news was that sales of both houses and farms fell greater than the national decline. Both series recorded falls of 23% from March.
Otago recorded strong gains in new commercial motor vehicle and tractor registrations (up 15% and 44% respectively) but new car registrations followed the national trend with an 11% drop.
"Consumer confidence in Otago was the second lowest across the regions, despite employment in the region posting a robust 3.2% increase."
Weaker household sentiment was measured in a 2.2% drop in retail sales and a 10% fall in residential dwelling, he said.
An equal number of regional economies were growing as were falling in the June quarter.
But with the Auckland economy being one of the regions in decline, on balance the nationwide measure of economic activity shrunk for the second consecutive quarter - easing 0.5%,
Based on the bank's composite index of activity, annual average economic growth eased to 0.8% for the nation as a whole in June.
That was the lowest year-on-year rate of increase since 1999, Mr Edwards said.
The South Island's annual growth rate was 1.5%, more than twice the 0.7% increase recorded in the North Island.
In a separate release, the ASB-Main Report regional economic scoreboard rated Otago's economy as "sad" for the three months ended June - the lowest rating of any of the 16 regions measured by the report.
