The December AGM saw chairman Brett Hewlett, who has served for five years, resign and his role taken by former deputy chair Simon Clarke.
Nigel Tutt described Hewlett as a man of great mana. “His great business acumen is matched by a desire to provide better outcomes for this community, and to ensure sustainability well into the future,” he said.
Clarke – who has served for eight years with the Priority One board – spent several years in senior positions with Trustpower before recently resigning to set up Matua Governance. He told Bay of Plenty Business News he was excited about taking over the mantle from Hewlett, who had done a great job.
“I believe that relative to some other regions, Tauranga Moana is extremely well-placed to flourish and prosper in a post-Covid-19 world,” said Clarke.
“2021 is ‘our moment’ to accelerate our efforts,” he said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to help the P1 team support and develop our important relationships with central government, the BOP Regional Council, the Tauranga City and the Western Bay councils and our broad business membership. I’ll be putting my shoulder and energy behind the fantastic team that we’ve got to get stuff done.”
