LAKE MACQUARIE: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL RESEARCH WORKING TOGETHER
By Dr Jai Cooper and Myles Egan( Institute for Regional Futures); Wayne Diemar and Tim Browne( Dantia – Lake Macquarie’ s Economic Development Company)
Lake Macquarie is more than just a stunning natural destination with an enviable lifestyle. Lake Macquarie is in the top five destinations for inbound migration from capital cities to regions in the‘ Regional Movers’ index. Yet, attracting new residents is not the same as attracting new businesses. The area is already home to over 14,000 businesses and increasing. However, a profound shift in the economy is underway away from the more traditional mining and manufacturing sectors and diversifying into new industries, heralding an exciting future.
In preparation for future challenges and opportunities, Dantia, Lake Macquarie’ s economic development company, and the Institute for Regional Futures at the University of Newcastle(‘ the Institute’) formed a research team and combined efforts to gain a deeper understanding of why businesses might move to, or stay in Lake Macquarie. Together, we developed a research methodology asking what is attractive about the area but also what limitations exist and why businesses might prefer alternative destinations in which to invest.
The collaboration between Dantia and the Institute has produced key findings related to the area’ s local identity, workforce talent, infrastructure, and business networking. It has also informed practical outcomes for economic development including the development of the www. investlakemac. com. au website.
This project demonstrates the value of local economic development agencies engaging social research institutions to develop a sound understanding of their region.
MAKING RESEARCH HAPPEN Prior to commencing the project, the team had some general ideas about what might attract business to the region. The authors have a range of backgrounds so we could appreciate how investors might view the Lake Macquarie area. We were also somewhat familiar with the offerings of other similar regional areas vying for business attraction such as the Sunshine Coast, Geelong, and the Illawarra. However, we wanted to find out if our thoughts on why business would invest or stay were validated by the evidence and what other explanations might exist. To achieve this, we proposed a combination of methods. This initially included three stages: a desktop review, qualitative interviews with business leaders( both within, and external to, Lake Macquarie), and a quantitative online survey. The desktop review examined a range of relevant material including
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