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Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

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9 Business and industry9.1 SummaryBusiness demographics provide some indication of entrepreneurial activity, and alsosome indication of how well new firms survive in the region. 366 Levels of employment,comparison of this nationally, labour productivity and contribution to exports aremeasures of the size and value of particular sectors. Sectors that perform well againstthese indicators, are of scale and/or growing and are consistent with the foundationsand drivers of the <strong>regional</strong> economy could be selected as priorities for development.<strong>Waikato</strong> is a region of small businesses in a country of small businesses. There appearto be low levels of new firm development and there are relatively few large firms. Thelargest contributions to GRP and employment in 2007 367 were from construction andreal estate, business services, wholesale and retail trade and health and education,which cater for domestic demand primarily. A higher proportion of the <strong>regional</strong> labourforce is employed in dairy cattle farming, dairy product manufacturing and forestry andlogging than the national average for these sectors. Average <strong>Waikato</strong> labourproductivity was higher than for New Zealand because the agriculture, electricity gasand water, construction, wholesale trade and business services sectors in <strong>Waikato</strong>have higher labour productivity than the national average.The authors found no studies that review the performance, opportunities and barriers togrowth facing firms in <strong>Waikato</strong> and consider that this information would be useful toguide business and industry development activities in the region. Interviews of firms inseveral sectors have been completed on WRC’s behalf as an initial step in addressingthis gap.9.2 DemographicsTwo-thirds of businesses in New Zealand are owner-operated and have no otheremployees. <strong>Waikato</strong> businesses share this characteristic, as shown in figure 107.Figure 107: Proportion of geographic units in size group, by region (2011)The region had the third largest number of small and medium-sized enterprises(enterprises with 19 or fewer employees) in New Zealand in 2011, behind Aucklandand Canterbury but ahead of Wellington as shown in figure 108.366New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (2004, p. 30).367This is the most recent year for which this <strong>regional</strong> <strong>economic</strong> data is available.Doc # 2069885 Page 115

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