Development West Coast

Development West Coast (DWC) is a charitable trust that operates in the West Coast region of New Zealand. DWC is the economic development agency and regional tourism organisation for the region.

Origin
Development West Coast has its origins in the controversy over logging native trees by Timberlands West Coast Limited, a former state-owned enterprise based on the West Coast. In the late 1990s, Timberlands' actions were supported by then-prime minister Jenny Shipley and opposed by environmental groups, led by Native Forest Action. The controversy became an election issue in the 1999 general election, with the Labour Party committing itself to stop logging. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager published a book, Secrets and Lies, just prior to the election, alleging that Timberlands had hired a public relations firm, Shandwick (now Weber Shandwick), to run a smear campaign against Native Forest Action.

Labour won the 1999 election and stopped logging on the West Coast. The forests were transferred to the Department of Conservation and in recognition this and the privatisation of much West Coast infrastructure in the late 1990s the region was compensated with an endowment fund of NZ$92 million. Development West Coast was set up in 2001 as a trust to administer this fund.

Finances
In the 2015–2016 financial year, Development West Coast approved 20 loans worth a total of $14.4 million; in 2016–2017 it loaned $12.3 million to 18 businesses. It returned a profit of $5.3 million, after running a deficit in 2015. It had 11.5 staff positions and the Chief Executive was Chris Mackenzie, on a salary of $223,000.

In 2021, in its 20th year, DWC's fund had grown from $92 million to $146 million. In 2019 it approved 80% of loan applications received, distributing $2.2 million, and gave $1.9 million to community projects. In the year ending March 2021, it issued $6.7 million in loans, distributed $3.5 million to the community, and made a $14.2 million net profit. It had 20 full-time staff under Chief Executive Heath Milne.

In the 20 years to 2021, DWC has invested $93.8 million into the region through commercial distributions and another $70.8 million through community distributions and projects.

Projects
In 2010, DWC contributed $3.25 million towards the development of the West Coast Wilderness Trail, and also invested $1.25 million in the creation of the 85 km Old Ghost Road, New Zealand's longest back country cycle trail.

In 2015, DWC added a $5 million Business and Industry Stimulus Fund to provide loans to new or struggling West Coast businesses. One outcome of this was the establishment of EPIC Westport, a Westport technology centre and business incubator able to house 25 full-time workers and a dozen "hot-desk" users. EPIC Westport was a spin-off of the Enterprise Precinct Innovation Centre in Christchurch.

In 2016 Fox Glacier received $1 million for a new community centre and the RSA in Hokitika $400,000 for a new hall.

DWC has financially supported the revival of Reefton, funding the Reefton Shop Front Project to restore its Victorian-era streetscape, and contributing to the Reefton Powerhouse Trust, which aims to restore the original 1888 powerhouse on the Inangahua River that gave Reefton the first electric streetlighting in the southern hemisphere.

DWC is a shareholder in Te Ara Pounamu Ltd, which will spend $17.87 million developing new visitor centres in Westport, Greymouth, Hokitika, and Haast. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and the loss of tourism revenue, DWC pledged $5 million to support businesses in Fox Glacier and Franz Josef. They approached Tourism Minister Stuart Nash for an additional $35 million in support, but Nash suggested DWC release 10 per cent of its fund instead, suggesting the "rainy day" it was set up for had arrived. DWC supported the creation of Now Open, an online directory of 180 local businesses that were operating under Level 3 restriction, and funded rebates for businesses switching to online delivery.

Development West Coast Tertiary Scholarships were launched in 2022. Four scholarships are offered annually to first time tertiary students as a means to provide a pathway for West Coast students to attain tertiary qualifications and return to the West Coast to undertake their career. The scholarships are valued up to $32,500 per student.

In October 2022, DWC launched a global recruitment campaign called 'Cut out for the Coast'. The campaign was a collaboration between DWC, Te Whatu Ora – Te Tai o Poutini West Coast and the local business community aimed at attracting workers who are ‘Cut out for the Coast. The campaign initially targeted health workers and later expanded to recruitment in other sectors.

DWC invested $3 million into Westland Mineral Sands (WMS) in November 2023. WMS is a minerals, ports and logistics company, which extracts heavy mineral sands including ilmenite, garnet and rare earth elements for the global market, from a site at Cape Foulwind, near Westport.

Awards
In 2012, DWC won the 'Not for Profit' category at the AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards.

DWC won a Gold Award for 'Best use of Media Relations' at the 2022 Public Relations New Zealand (PRINZ) Awards. The award was for DWC's media outreach around the Ōkārito GorseBusters initiative. DWC was also runner up in the 'In-house PR Team of the Year' category.

DWC's media outreach around the 'Cut out for the Coast' campaign won a Silver Award for 'Best use of Media Relations' at the 2023 PRINZ Awards. DWC also received a Silver Award for 2023 'In-house PR Team of the Year'.

At the 2023 Economic Development New Zealand (EDNZ) Awards, DWC won the award for 'Best Practice in Collaboration' for the Upskill West Coast employment and training scheme.

DWC won a Gold Award for 'Most Innovative Campaign' for the 'West Coast Wikipedian at Large Project' at the 2024 PRINZ Awards. DWC also secured Silver Awards in four other categories: 'Best Use of Media Relations', ‘'Best Use of Digital and Social Media', 'Community Relations & Engagement', and ‘Best In-house PR Team’.