Tauranga's future continued prosperity will rely more on the city selling itself instead of relying on natural assets, business leaders were told this week.
The Chamber of Commerce organised 'State of the City' lunch included speeches by chamber CEO Max Mason, Tauranga MP Simon Bridges and Mayor Stuart Crosby.


Stuart Crosby, Max Mason and Simon Bridges.

The goodwill and linking between the agencies happening because of SmartGrowth and its spin offs, Smart Economy and SmartArts is rare, says Max.
"So far population growth has just happened," says Max, "but the world has changed and population growth may not just continue as fast.
"I think that in the future we will have to work harder to sustain that growth.
"We will need to market our sub-region much more effectively. I think we should start thinking about a regional brand identity and marketing campaign that we can all get behind and support.
"It will crystallise who we are and what we represent to the world. For example the Absolutely, Positively Wellington did a lot of good for that city, but our strapline, or positioning statement must involve growth as a core value."
His comments are supported by Tauranga MP Simon Bridges who says the city has to market itself.
"We are in a battle for attracting talent," says Simon. "We are no longer competing against the Napiers, the Nelsons or New Plymouths. We are in fact competing against places like Pennsylvania and Paris."
"The challenge is to be not just the best locally for lifestyle and everything, but also in New Zealand and the southern hemisphere."
Mayor Stuart Crosby says while SmartGrowth is providing positive outcomes in integrated planning that are the envy of the country, Tauranga does not yet have a coherent community development plan with an investment pathway.
"It is my view that the next major piece of work needs to particularly revolve around the needs of our future community which will be different to the community of today."
It is my strongest view that the fuel to a prosperous future is regional rconomic development and a strong business community."
Local economic development and supporting business is about improving the community's standard of living, says Stuart. In Tauranga there are more than 13,000 business units of some shape or form.
"In my view they are over-regulated, over-taxed and not 'incentivised' and TCC is part of those issues," says Stuart.