New Zealand has been struggling with a massive retention issue when it comes to skilled labour. Productivity is down, and industries that once thrived are now but a shadow of their former selves. One shining example from our past is Crown Lynn, once the largest ceramic factory in the Southern Hemisphere. At its peak, Crown Lynn employed over 700 people and attracted researchers from around the globe eager to study their techniques and expertise. But the landscape has changed dramatically over the last 40 years.
Mathew’s vision for Crownlynn.kiwi is to establish a legacy operation that can thrive well beyond his own tenure. For that to happen, it’s crucial to build a community of people who share a deep, enduring interest in ceramics. The concern with building this in a city is the constant flux—people move on, suburbs transform, infrastructure reshapes entire communities, and ecological events can upend years of effort. Eketāhuna, however, offers stability. As Mathew likes to put it, “There are no tidal waves in Eketāhuna!”
The decision to establish Crownlynn.kiwi in Eketāhuna was driven by several factors: the availability of an affordable building with room for development (despite the extensive work needed to bring it up to 67% NBS), and the enduring nature of small-town life. People in small rural towns often live their entire lives where they were born. Eketāhuna may not be widely known by name, but is known for its farming heritage. With Eketāhuna’s recent efforts to rebrand itself with the kiwi by supporting Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre as well as growing as a small shopping destination, Crownlynn.kiwi feels like a natural fit.
Where we are now
Currently, we are in the early stages of our journey in a small town that, while quaint, has its own share of challenges. However, the enthusiasm of locals like Bailey and Cole, who are keen to learn and apply themselves, has been a promising start.
The first part of the experiment involves establishing the studio. Over winter, we are building our glaze studio, a fundamental step in our growth. With Bailey and Cole’s enthusiasm and commitment, we are now training them to help Mathew fill orders to reduce our ongoing backlog, and begin developing new ceramic products. Before we can even think about expanding, we need a strong core of skilled artisans.
Community training
We’re looking for more Cole’s and Bailey’s (and now Joy and Bob) to help create a humming store front and clearing our back orders and orders for retailers.
Joy is creating the felt items in the window. Bob has being training on the McAlpines.
We’ve got a really good base of people learning about us, visiting the shop. Locals coming in to learn and help us out (like Joy and Bob) and people are beginning to love what we’re doing here.
Where will this go? What will we do? It’s all about the people we’re training now.
