I was fortunate to represent BusinessNZ at the annual conference on global competitiveness, this time hosted by Productivity Canada.  On the way to Canada I called in to see some key people in Washington, including Vicky Whitlock – NZTE Trade Commissioner in Washington.

One of the strengths of the Washington Office is supporting NZ firms selling to the US Government, e.g. law enforcement, intelligence community, border security, etc.

The new WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) NZ is signing will allow access to the GSA schedule.  It essentially pre-qualifies companies for selling to the US Government. Up until now, companies have had to manufacture or assemble in the US or a country that is compliant.

The US economy is definitely on the upswing. There will be some great opportunities, especially for health care companies, utilities suppliers and those in the marine industry. For hot tips direct from Washington, as well as a downlaod from the Global Federation of Competitiveness Council’s Meeting in Alberta, click here.

Catherine Beard
027 463 3212 or cbeard@businessnz.org.nz

The manufacturing sector experienced a drop in the rate of expansion for the first month of 2015, according to the latest BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted PMI for January was 50.9. This was 6.2 points lower than the previous month, and the lowest overall result since December 2012.

“With firms partly closed during January, the unadjusted values across the country displayed a fairly similar pattern to most years the survey has been running.  However, the difference compared with the last two years was that the unadjusted January result in 2015 was lower.

“Overall though, the PMI remains in expansion, and we will see in the months ahead whether the sector can get back on track to expansion levels seen during 2013 and 2014,” said Catherine Beard. More...

If you rely on graduates from apprenticeships, universities, polytechnics or private training establishments, you'll know how important it is that their training produces the skills your business needs.

To help with better matching and decision-making when choosing courses, a new online tool called "Rate my Qualification" is being developed. It's like a "Trip Advisor" for tertiary education and training.

"Rate my Qualification" will allow prospective tertiary students to see, at a glance, how qualifications from different tertiary institutions are rated by employers and recent graduates, and will help new students make decisions about what and where to study. It will also help ensure tertiary education is delivering relevant skills for employers and industry.

A pilot survey has been developed and now is your chance to 'road test' it to make the tool as effective as possible. Providing feedback on qualifications important to your business will result in bridging the gap between the supply of and demand for skills, and ensure you have the skills to deliver high quality products and services.

It takes 15mins and you can complete it in more than one sitting. Survey closes Sunday 8 March. Click here to go to the pilot survey.

Here is an opinion editorial I wrote about our TPP situation. It was published in the New Zealand Herald on Tuesday.

Those questioning the value of free trade agreements could do well to examine the results achieved by New Zealand's other agreements, and consider what we would miss out on if we were not included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)... Read the full article here.

C Beard

Does your business train apprentices?  If so you may be interested in the draft Code of Good Practice for New Zealand Apprenticeships, which sets out the expectations of everyone involved in an apprenticeship.  It’s been developed through input from apprentices, employers and industry training organisations. If you haven’t already, you can still provide your input too.

The draft Code is designed to guide you in getting the most out of your apprentices and helping them develop to be the best they can be.  This is good for them, and also provides a maximum return on your business investment, by converting apprentices into valued employees. More...

Work Inspiration is a structured work experience programme aimed at young people. This short clip provides you with a good idea of what it’s about and how it could benefit your business:

Watch video

CareersNZ is keen to work with industry and companies to pilot this in New Zealand.

Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has announced changes to the application process for Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) proposals.

Since the launch of the PGP in 2009, the MPI has operated annual funding rounds, where organisations can submit new PGP programme proposals for the MPI to consider during a particular period each year. The process has now changed so that organisations may submit proposals at any time (i.e. they will no longer be holding funding rounds). More...

A free new report and App called Occupation Outlook has been launched, allowing students and their families to easily compare the job prospects and incomes of 50 different careers.

It's designed to be one of the frist places for young people to look when making a decision on career options. The idea is to help them make good study choices, both in tertiary education and at senior secondary school level, that will present the greatest prospects.

Each occupation has three dials. They indicate likely income, fees and job prospects for young people entering the occupation. The dials have three possible settings – for income and fees: low, medium and high; and for job prospects: limited, fair and good. More...

There are plenty of great examples out there of how you can attract more talent into manufacturing careers. The Tertiary Education Commission is working through the Engineering E2E project, to attract more students into engineering courses. There are some inspirational case studies here.

 

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