Business Forum Selwyn
Waikirikiri Selwyn’s flagship event for business, leadership, and future focused thinking
Connect with the people shaping growth, talent, innovation, and opportunity across the district.
Waikirikiri Selwyn’s flagship event for business, leadership, and future focused thinking
Connect with the people shaping growth, talent, innovation, and opportunity across the district.
A free half-day forum at Lincoln University on 30 June will bring Selwyn businesses together for practical advice, honest discussion, and real-world insights focused on the economic pressures facing local operators right now.
Tuesday 30th June 2026
8:00am - 5:30pm
Waimarie Building,
Lincoln University, Lincoln
Rising fuel costs, ongoing supply chain disruption, and continued economic uncertainty are continuing to drive up operating costs for businesses across New Zealand putting increasing pressure on margins, staffing decisions, and cashflow.
While Selwyn continues to grow rapidly, many local businesses are facing the same pressures being felt across the country. For many operators, the challenge is no longer just growth, but staying resilient while adapting to changing conditions.
For Selwyn businesses managing that pressure, what's needed is practical help. The upcoming Selwyn Business Forum has been designed to deliver exactly that.
The Selwyn Business Forum is a free half-day workshop bringing together business owners, industry leaders, and support organisations for a truly focused morning of practical learning and peer-to-peer problem-solving.
Shaped by direct feedback from local business leaders, the Forum is built around one key question: What do businesses actually need right now?
Join business leaders, innovators, educators, mana whenua, community organisations, and decision makers for a morning of ideas, insight, and practical conversations about growth, talent, technology, and opportunity across the district.
The Selwyn Futures Forum is a strategic action item developed out of Selwyn District Council’s Kai Aku Rika Economic Development Strategy that serves as a roadmap for achieving productive and inclusive economic growth for Waikirikiri Selwyn.
The Selwyn Futures Forum brings together a diverse and influential audience, including:
8:30am Registration Opens
9:00am Conference Welcome and Introduction
9:05am Session 1: Doing More with Less – Panel Discussion
A candid discussion with Selwyn business owners and operators on navigating the current economic environment, improving efficiencies, and finding practical ways to remain resilient. Such as operating lean, adapting to rising costs (visibility, how to communicate to customers) and using technology and AI to save time and resources.
9.50am Building Capability for a Changing Workforce
This session explores workforce challenges, leadership capability, and the future of skills in Selwyn. Learn how to attract and retain staff through workforce shortages and labour market pressures. Learn how to empower leadership resilience during uncertainty with practical recruitment and retention strategies
10:35am Morning Tea Break
10.55am Session 3: Business Support & Resources, What Support Is Available Right Now?
This practical session showcasing existing support, funding pathways, advisory services, and tools available to businesses.
11.30am Matty Lovell
Matty Lovell delivers powerful insights on resilience, mindset and performance through lived experience and entrepreneurial grit. From frontline disaster response to rebuilding his life after injury, Matty’s story is raw, inspiring and deeply human. His keynotes challenge audiences to reframe adversity, take ownership of their growth and lead with purpose.
12.30pm Forum Wrap Up
Download Programme Selwyn Futures Forum
Matty Lovell is living proof that adversity can lead to extraordinary success. In 2011, he faced the Christchurch earthquake, spending eight hours at the collapsed PGC building rescuing survivors. Later that year, an accident left him with two broken kneecaps and the prognosis that he might never run again. Undeterred, Matty rebuilt his life with resilience, turning challenges into opportunities.
Now a husband, father, and ambitious entrepreneur, Matty has started, bought, sold, and managed multiple award-winning businesses. As a finalist in the Westpac Business Awards, he currently leads O-Studio, a wellness franchising company focused on helping others thrive.
Matty also hosts The O-Studio Podcast and The Road to Success, interviewing world-class experts to uncover insights into human wellness and performance. As a speaker, his raw and inspiring story empowers audiences to embrace challenges, rethink possibilities, and discover that their greatest obstacles are their greatest opportunities.
We have a range of sponsorship opportunities available that gets your business in front of an impactful Selwyn Audience.
Download Sponsorship Prospectus
For any questions regarding registration, sponsorship or the programme please email: selwynfuturesforum@selwyn.govt.nz