Business View Oceania - Mar 2024

that is common across New Zealand and for other industries, not just ours. Finding the right piece of land in the right location and at the right price is near impossible, and finding qualified, skilled workers to run construction efforts continues to be a challenge. Another issue is around regulatory intervention, which we are trying to minimise, because the beauty of our legislation right now is it’s very flexible. It allows people to develop new retirement village offerings and different business models to meet changing market circumstances, and we see that as being one of our principal advantages, since it allows us to respond quickly to changing market trends. We work hard to remain consistent it our communication to stakeholders across the industry, which isn’t really a challenge as such, but requires ongoing management. We dedicate particular attention to the expectations, wishes and desires of our members and their residents, and do what we can to meet them.” Working collaboratively is a core value for staff at RVA. Mr Collyns shares, “Our member residents are people who can live independently, so our operation is quite lean. We are a dedicated team of four supported by volunteers and external contractors, and we have fostered positive and collaborative relationships with and through them. We always deal with our network and members with integrity at the front of our minds. Honesty is the best policy, and it’s important that we remain credible and reliable as an industry body. We want to make sure the industry itself contributes back to the society and communities in which it is based. We want to make sure that our residents live long, happy lives in their villages, and we want to lead by example in our sector-based interactions.” In particular, RVA is proud of their working relationships with New Zealand’s Retirement Commission, Minister of Building & Construction, and Aged Care Association. They would also like to thank Metlife Care, Occasia Cove, and The Generous Group for their long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships. RVA recently launched their new professional development and training program, The Te Ara Institute. Mr. Collyns elaborates, “Te Ara means ‘The Pathway’. We’re delighted that we’ve got a good uptake of our training program already- we’ve 54 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 06, ISSUE 03