News & Articles

Local News From Carterton

The latest happenings in Carterton, including details of upcoming business-related events and more. Check out our news items and Facebook feed below:

There are no active job listings at present. Please come back to this page for future updates.

Read More

A fantastic article from the November Carterton Crier welcoming some of the new businesses to town!

Read More

Members of the business community had the opportunity last week to hear tips on working remotely. Go Carterton facilitated the business social hosted by Carterton businesses Nectarine, Experienz Immigration, and Planwell Services. 

It was a good opportunity for locals to check out the renovated Marquis of Normanby Hotel. New owners Anthony and Sarah Walton were in attendance and outlined their community-minded ethos. They have fully renovated the Marquis accommodation area which includes rooms upstairs, a shared kitchen, bathrooms, and a downstairs shared working space where the business social was held. The upstairs accommodation is available for short or medium term stays through online booking systems such as Air BnB. Anthony and Sarah have also purchased Pete O’Leary’s garage in Memorial Square, and intend to develop the site. 

Minty and Bek, of Nectarine, are experts in graphic design, website design, board game design, animation & coding. They have been working from home for over 20 years, and Minty credits some of that success to creating a purpose built workroom upstairs. 

Chris Tracey, of Planwell Services, Planwell Services provides a range of services including project management and policy development. Chris has been involved in planning big local events such as The Oversew Fashion Awards, The Clareville Country Music Festival, and Wings over Wairarapa. She works from home in her rural property in Carterton, and says one of her favourite things about working from home is hearing all the birds outside. 

Feija Bokhoven, of Experienz Immigration provides specialist immigration services to individuals, professionals, businesses and investors. Feija works from home in Carterton, but can often be spotted hot desking at 3mile Coworking Community. Covid-19 has impacted her business significantly, as many of her clients were based overseas. After receiving external advice, she is now working on expanding different areas of her business, including creating online courses to take applicants through residency applications. She was also a recent recipient of the Carterton District Council’s Covid-19 Small Business Grants. 

Thinking of working from home? Here are some of the tips from our hosts: 

  • Maintain a good record of your hours
  • Enjoy the flexible work hours, but ensure you maintain that work/personal life separation
  • Keep up the paperwork: maintain a paper trail of Zoom catchups, client meetings, etc. 
  • Comfort is key! Make sure you have a good working environment
  • Don’t be afraid to dress up and get into your work clothes
  • Stay connected with what’s happening in your sector, e.g. networking, keeping up with professional development
  • Don’t overcommit! Focus on paid work, and don’t let work creep into your personal time
  • Don’t forget to exercise - the commute is pretty short, so find ways to keep up your physical activity
  • Ask for feedback from clients (you won’t get it from your boss!)

Read More

RAINY DAY ACTIVITIES

Take Note Carterton has crafts and science kits for kids, along with a great range of toys including puzzles and Lego kits. For hours of arty fun head to Double Dollar Plus and get the kids to choose a range of art materials. 

NEED SOME WOOLLIES?

The Carterton Craft Market has a large range of woollen hats, jerseys, scarfs, and more to keep your kids warm this winter. They also stock handmade toys, doll/teddy clothes, and wooden creations. Bring in your doll or soft toy for a fitting! All made locally.

DELICIOUS THINGS

Carterton has a number of kid-friendly places to eat out: The Clareville Bakery, Gladstone Inn,  Wild Oats, and Balter Bar & Kitchen all have kid's play spaces. Pg 42 Cafe and Gelato offers free kid's fluffies with all purchases, kids activity books, plus check out the huge kids book section nextdoor at Almo's Books. 

CARRINGTON PARK

The Junior Road Safety Park is a recent addition to Carterton Park, and features traffic lights, a bus shelter, a bike fix-it station and more. The kids will have hours of fun zooming around this. Suitable for scooters and bikes. There's something for everyone with a skatepark, fenced kid's area, flying fox, and an exercise circuit. Take along a picnic or walk two minutes into town for a cafe lunch!

BORDERLANDZ PAINTBALL

5 minutes out of Carterton, Borderlandz Paintball has top-quality fields including a maze field, WW1 inspired field, and a bush field. Borderlandz operate a child friendly low impact option for younger and less experienced players (8 - 12 years old). 

LIBRARY

Hosted in the award-winning Carterton Events Center, the Carterton Library is the one of the oldest operating public libraries in its original building in New Zealand. Chill out with some books on the beanbags -  a great rainy day activity! The Carterton Library also hosts free kids craft sessions during the school holidays, so get in touch to see what is coming up. 

GO BUSH!

Carterton is home to some of the best native bush in NZ. Fensham Reserve is a great short walk, close to town, and easily accomplished while baby-wearing - a great place for toddler exploring. The Waiohine Gorge is a must-do - swimming holes, gorgeous native bush walks, and a 124m long swing bridge set 40m above the river! Mt Holdsworth is another beautiful space with an easy access river for exploring. 

GET YOUR BAKE ON! 

Host a mini Master Chef day with your young ones. Wairarapa Electrical and Appliances have a large range of small appliances such as pie and waffle makers, sandwich presses, blenders and more. Head to New World Carterton to pick your ingredients - maybe challenge yourself to cook from local ingredients. 

ROCK HUNTING

Yes - rock hunting is officially a thing! This is a fun activity to get into with your under 10s. You can either be part of the rock painting and hiding, or the rock finding. Painted rocks have been hidden all over Carterton - Fensham Reserve, Carterton Park, the Clareville Bakery, Spark's Park, and more. Search for the Wairarapa Rocks group on Facebook, and see where the latest rocks have been hidden (plus some finds come with a cool prize!)

GLADSTONE HORSE TREKS

Situated 30 minutes out of Carterton, Gladstone Horse Treks offer small group horse treks, from beginners to advanced, or even bring your own horse. Meander through a working farm, native QE11 bush, river crossings, and stunning hilltop views. There's a trek to suit everyone! 

Read More

Go Carterton’s Growth Fund is open for applications! What’s the grant for? It’s a small boost of cash to take away a problem that’s stopping you from being successful in your business or to put it another way, to help your business grow!

Go Carterton would like to encourage and support the growth of existing businesses in our town and the attraction of new businesses to Carterton. That’s why we created the Go Carterton Growth Fund, a contestable grant that’s available to members and non-members to boost their business. We make 2 awards of $1000 each, twice per year. Applications are reviewed by an impartial committee of the Go Carterton executive team. Grant recipients are asked to present to the committee once the award is made and the activity underway.

The two successful applicants from Round 1 were Rae Matheson Ltd and Wairarapa Dream Clean Ltd. They stood out for their well thought out business plans, and the unique ways they would grow their businesses as a result of the grant.

What would your business do with $1000? Here's some ideas but it's over to you. Maybe you need to;

  • Underwrite the cost of hiring someone to open on Saturday for a while to see if it’s worth doing long term
  • Finally get that online store built so people can buy from you night AND day
  • Take the leap on a new premises
  • Have a professional overhaul your shop interior
  • Go on a training course that will boost your skills and help you grow your business in a particular area

You get the idea!  This is not for business as usual costs or for unpaid bills, sorry. Applications close the 30th September.

Read More

What is the point of the passport/Carterton Deals Club?

The purpose of the passport is twofold: to provide a gift that is an enduring memory of Carterton and to encourage visitors to stay longer in our town and shop in more places.

Why is there a picture on one side?

We’ve made it a beautiful take home item you can pop into bags at the point of sale, to achieve the first objective.  And there are seven participating businesses offering deals on the back, to achieve the second.

Who should get it?

Hand out the postcard to anyone you feel deserves it - it’s your call - perhaps if you can identify customers as being visitors in some way, you might prioritize those over your regulars but again, it is absolutely up to you.

What happens if someone shows the card to my staff/to me at the till?

Honour the deal that your shop has offered.

Cross out the deal on their card 

What if their purchase doesn’t qualify?

It’s always your call to decline the deal, if the purchase doesn’t meet your criteria.  

What if one of my staff forgets to cross off the deal and the same person comes back?

Absolutely up to you, if you want to honour the deal again you can, if you feel confident in declining, you can.  If the purchase in front of you warrants honouring the deal, it’s probably a great idea to do it - and remember to cross it off!

What if someone comes up to me with ten postcards and wants the deal ten times?

Again, up to you.  You’re absolutely within your rights to only offer it once, but it’s at your discretion.  If their purchases warrant you honoring the deal ten times, then go for it!

What happens when I run out of cards to hand out?

Email ctndbi@gmail.com and the team will be in touch

I’m not one of the featured businesses but I want to have a deal on the card! How do I get involved?

We’ll print the postcards regularly and can update the deals on offer.  Please email ctndbi@gmail.com with your suggested deal and we’ll collate them in time for our next print run

I have photographs you could use on future postcards

Awesome, email them to ctndbi@gmail.com 

Tips on how to explain the postcard to customers

  • Would you like a memento of Carterton - we’ve these lovely pictures and they come with deals you can use at other shops in town
  • Just show the card to any of the shops on there for your deal

Read More

Carterton is on the move according to recently released statistics by Infometrics New Zealand! The figures show growth in all areas, including population, employment, and tourism.

Highlights include:

Carterton’s population continues to grow with a 3.2% increase in 2018, bringing the total population to 9,340 residents.

Tourist spend has had a large increase compared to previous years. Figures sourced from MBIE’s regional tourism estimates record a 23.6% increase in domestic and international tourism spend, bringing the total spend to $15.9m in 2018 within the Carterton District.

Top areas of tourist spending include Retail Sale - Food and Beverage (31% of total spend), Retail Sales - Other (16%), Retail Sales - Fuel & Automotive Services (14%), Food & Beverage Serving Services (12%), and Other Tourism Products (11%).

Carterton recorded a 3.6% growth in employment in 2018. Carterton’s largest employers include Cured Meats and Smallgoods Manufacturing, Veneer and Plywood Manufacturing, and Dairy Cattle Farming.

Unemployment is sitting at 3.4% in the Carterton District, compared with the NZ average of 4.6%.

Mean annual earnings in Carterton have also increased to $48,884 - a 4.0% increase.

See all these stats and more at https://ecoprofile.infometrics.co.nz/Carterton%20District/

Read More

Go Carterton, the town’s business networking and advocacy group, this week announced the two winners of the inaugural Go Carterton Growth Fund grants. Wairarapa Dream Clean Ltd (Leah Wynne) and Rae Matheson Ltd (Rachael Matheson) were each awarded with $1000 to boost their business.

More than 15 applications from across the town were received, which was deemed a great result by the judging panel made up of Go Carterton executive committee members. While there was an excellent breadth of ideas, the two winners stood out for their well thought out plans, and the unique ways they would accelerate their businesses as a result of the grant.

Wairarapa Dream Clean Ltd, founded only two years ago, will be using the funds to accelerate marketing and generate leads in order to create employment opportunities in their business. Owner Leah Wynne said “This grant comes at just the right time, I’ve got the ideas and now I can find an expert to help me execute!”

Rae Matheson Ltd, recently established by 8-year Carterton resident Rachael Matheson, is using the funds for start-up costs for a Surface Pattern Design company which will largely operate online and leverage international sales through print-on-demand.

Go Carterton will open a second round of the Growth Fund later in 2019, with a launch event featuring the inaugural winners reporting back to the community on their projects.

For more information on the grant recipients head to www.cartertonnz.com/people

Read More

Looking for a weekend family outing? A child-friendly cafe? Or maybe you're visiting Carterton for the first time? Check out some of the awesome family-friendly activities we have in Carterton. 

PAUA SHELL FACTORY

Watch Paua Factory staff polishing paua shells and find the finished product in the shop afterwards. Open weekdays until 4.30pm (or 2pm on Fridays). They have a lovely indoor seating area where you can watch a short DVD about paua, and a shaded outdoor playground. 

DELICIOUS THINGS!

Carterton has an abundance of delicious things, from award-winning pies to award-winning wines! Take the kids along if you like - the Clareville Bakery, Wild Oats, and Balter Bar & Kitchen all have kid's play spaces. Pg 42 Cafe and Gelato offers free kid's fluffies with all purchases, plus check out the fabulous book selection at Almo's Books, located in the same building!

Many local wineries and breweries have live music, food, and wine on the weekends, so have a look on Event Finda for what's coming up! Some family friendly options include Beg, Borrow, & Brew, and the Gladstone Vineyard. 

POOLS & PARKS

Have some good old-fashioned fun at the Carterton Pools and various parks. The Carterton Outdoor Pools are free throughout summer, and have a shaded baby pool, intermediate and large pool. Check out the opening hours at www.cdc.govt.nz

Carterton Park is a must-do when visiting Carterton. There's something for everyone with a skatepark, fenced kid's area, flying foxes, and an exercise circuit. Take along a picnic or walk two minutes into town for a cafe lunch!

BORDERLANDZ PAINTBALL

5 minutes out of Carterton, Borderlandz Paintball has top-quality fields including a maze field, WW1 inspired field, and a bush field. Borderlandz operate a child friendly low impact option for younger and less experienced players (8 - 12 years old). Fortunately they still offer regular high velocity paintball for the adults seeking those nice big welts!

LIBRARY

Hosted in the award-winning Carterton Events Center, the Carterton Library is the one of the oldest operating public libraries in its original building in New Zealand. Chill out with some books on the beanbags -  a great rainy day activity! The Carterton Library also hosts free kids craft sessons during the school holidays, so get in touch to see what is coming up. 

GO BUSH!

Carterton is home to some of the best native bush in NZ. The Waiohine Gorge is a must-do - swimming holes, gorgeous native bush walks, and a 124m long swing bridge set 40m above the river! Fensham Reserve is a great short walk, close to town, and easily accomplished while baby-wearing - a great place for toddler exploring. Mt Holdsworth is another beautiful area with camping facilities, short/long walks, and river. 

ROCK HUNTING

Yes - rock hunting is officially a thing! This is a fun activity to get into with your under 12s. You can either be part of the rock painting and hiding, or the rock finding. Painted rocks have been hidden all over Carterton - Fensham Reserve, Carterton Park, the Clareville Bakery, Spark's Park, and more. Search for the Wairarapa Rocks group on Facebook, and see where the latest rocks have been hidden.

FLOWER PICKING

Picking your own flowers is a fun outdoors activity during summer/autumn. Lavender Abbey hosts pick your own lavender during weekends in January. Enjoy the rows of lavender, buzzing with bees, and smelling divine.

Holbrook Forest Garden is an organic flower farm, 2 minutes out of Carterton, and hosts Pick Your Own sessions on Sundays during February and March. Check for updates on Facebook to confirm! Don't forget your camera as these locations are perfect for a few Insta shots! 

GLADSTONE HORSE TREKS

Situated 30 minutes out of Carterton, Gladstone Horse Treks offers small group horse treks, from beginners to advanced, or even bring your own horse. Meander through a working farm, native QE11 bush, river crossings, and stunning hilltop views. There's a trek to suit everyone! 

The Carterton Information Center is a fabulous source of knowledge if you are wanting to know what's coming up in Carterton. (06) 379 4081, on Facebook, or drop in to see them at the Carterton Events Center.

Read More