Around 650 people were employed in this sector in 2000, making it our district's second highest employer. Businesses include servicing the gold & coal industries, fabrication of equipment and general light engineering. It is notable that rotary milking sheds produced by a local firm are exported to Mexico, USA, Australia, Denmark and the UK. Given the low set up costs on the West Coast, the climate for establishing new ventures in manufacturing have never been better.

Whether it is a 'one-man band' or a large firm, the building industry on the West Coast in general, is often at full stretch. Maintenance of highways is a constant programme partly due to the increase in tourist traffic, partly due to opening new areas and partly due to improvement and modernisation. Other construction activities, which have been undertaken by West Coast industries, include the 'Otira Viaduct' on the Arthur's Pass route into the district. Large-scale projects have included the hospital upgrade, highway realignment, factory expansions and port development. There are a number of large construction firms in Greymouth and nearby who are able to take on very large projects at competitive prices.

The Grey District is home to a number of tertiary education and training providers including the Tai Poutini Polytechnic, Karoro Learning Centre, Muritai Training Centre and other private tertiary level training providers and adult programmes run from the secondary schools. Tai Poutini offers courses on 'campus' that are unavailable elsewhere nationally and also have pioneered distance-learning techniques to New Zealand as a whole. Karoro Learning Centre is active in offering adult learning assistance targeted at job seekers and industry needs. New industries can work with WINZ in establishing training needs and courses to suit any new skills required by a work force.

Increases in business and industrial activity have determined that more power is needed on the West Coast, and Trustpower in conjunction with Westpower are looking at ways to increase power production on the West Coast.

Agriculture is the largest income earner on the West Coast, mainly from livestock husbandry, dairying and dry-stock farming. The Grey District is within the catchment area of the Westland Co-operative Dairy Company – one of the most successful independents in New Zealand. Dairying will dominate the agriculture sector for a number of years.

CMP Kokiri Ltd, a large and successful regional meat processing works and export company is based at Kokiri (18kms east of Greymouth). Smaller operations are found at Nelson Creek and Blackball. Diversification into some of the more unusual stock units in our region has taken place with water buffalo!

Horticulture includes the traditional harvests of blueberries and domestic vegetables with the more diverse product of wasabi for the Japanese market. Horticulture on the West Coast has been identified as being one of our growth industries and development of organic products and niche market crops are quickly taking place.

The West Coast and the Grey District are part of the 'Challenger' fishery area – one of the richest for fishing in New Zealand. Traditional catches of blue cod, groper, hake, rig, gurnard and sole have been supplemented with specialist, high value market products such as hoki, tuna, squid and orange roughy. Greymouth is home to a fishing fleet that expands dramatically during the various fishing seasons as vessels from other areas take advantage of the proximity to the fishing grounds and port facilities.

Innovative West Coasters have responded to the demand for quality food and beverage products being available in the supermarkets, restaurants and homes of New Zealand. In the same way in which international tourists see New Zealand as a 'clean & green' destination, New Zealand views the West Coast with freshness and individuality.

Our food and beverage manufacturers are able to use these qualities in their products and marketing. Blackball Salami and Sausages, Snowflake icecream and Grissini bread sticks enjoy a national reputation for quality. An icon of the district is the 'world famous made in New Zealand' beer, Monteiths (brewery tours daily).

Log production on the West Coast, which was traditionally of indigenous timbers such as Rimu and Beech, is now largely reliant on high quality exotic plantation logs such as Pinus Radiata. Exotic supplies exceed 200,000 cubic metres per annum. Much of the resource is utilized through the various saw milling, plywood and secondary wood processors based in the Grey District and beyond.

The Greymouth Evening Star, a daily newspaper based in Greymouth, services the wider West Coast as does the weekly community newspaper The Messenger. Local radio stations broadcasting from Greymouth are Radio Scenicland FM, Coast FM and The Jade. Other radio stations received include Radio Pacific and the National Programme. All major television channels and the Sky Network, PACSAT reach the Grey District, as do national metropolitan newspapers such as The Christchurch Press and Otago Daily Times.

A significant portion of the local economy is still underpinned by mining in the Grey District. This sector includes coal and gold as well as aggregate collection. New Zealand's only source of bituminous coal is from the West Coast. Gold mining in the district is purely alluvial recovery using small operations. Rock and gravel is a steadily growing sector with the product used for rail ballast, roading, construction and protection works. Decorative use and landscaping projects using our attractive beach pebbles are also an increasing market.

West Coast moss is in huge demand around the World, particularly in Japan where the water retention and sterile properties of the moss are used in orchid propagation. The resource is managed on a sustainable basis with a picked area being able to rejuvenate between 5 to 7 years. 1500kg of hand harvested wet moss can be dried to 100kg, and with the high prices being paid for the end product, the industry is a large contributor to the local economy. Niche markets for moss products are expanding into the USA and Europe.