The person tasked with pursuing "growth opportunities" in Waitaki — including finding ways to secure the district’s share of the Government’s newly created $1 billion-a-year Provincial Growth Fund — has been named.
The Waitaki District Council said last week Gerard Quinn had accepted the newly established position of economic development manager.
A council spokeswoman said the council believed Mr Quinn would bring "an enormous breadth of experience" to the role. He had experience developing the Hawke’s Bay regional economic development strategy and action plan; developing social enterprise options on Mahia Peninsula; he was chief executive of the Canterbury Development Corporation, the economic development agency for Christchurch during the earthquake recovery period; and in 2012 was chief executive of Grow Wellington. During his tenure he delivered the Destination Wellington programme, which attracted 600 new jobs worth $40million a year to the region, the spokeswoman said.
The economic development manager will report directly to council chief executive Fergus Power, who in April, said he suggested the position be created "immediately" upon his taking on the chief executive role in September last year.
Mr Quinn will be responsible for leading, planning and executing economic and business development work.
