New agri-food business role created

Massey University has appointed one of the country’s leading business management and entrepreneurship specialists as its new Director of Agri-Food Business.

Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey announced the appointment of Professor Claire Massey today, saying New Zealand's economic growth was dependent on innovation and value-added food production – and Massey intends to be an international leader in the field.

“We know this is a huge challenge, but Massey is ready to play its part," Mr Maharey says. "We have more than 400 agri-food researchers, 2000 hectares of farmland and a history of innovation. Now, with this new role, the University will focus on forming strategic partnerships and expanding its agri-food business opportunities.”

Professor Massey has been at the University since 1993 and head of the School of Management since 2006. She is also a Professor of Enterprise Development and was the founding director of the University’s Centre for Small and Medium Enterprise Research.

Professor Massey’s new role brings together her interest in entrepreneurship and her agricultural background. She grew up on a dairy farm in Karaka, Auckland, and is a great-granddaughter of William Ferguson Massey, the former Prime Minister after whom the University is named.

“You cannot farm successfully without being an entrepreneur,” she says. “And that same attitude of enterprise and innovation is crucial to developing a successful agri-food sector. Massey is well positioned to lead the way, and I want to make the University a major international hub for agri-food research and partnerships with industry.”

Professor Massey will bring her considerable strategic leadership experience to role. She was the first chief executive of the Palmerston North Enterprise Board, a past president of the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand and a former senior vice-president of the International Council for Small Business.

She also has a strong research record, with more than 30 refereed journal articles and four books, including some of the most widely known work on New Zealand SMEs. She received her PhD in Management from Massey University in 2000.