By ELLEN READ
Most people prefer not to attract undue attention when visiting sex shops. Marian Hobbs, on the other hand, has invited the media to accompany her.
The Environment Minister will visit Wellington manufacturer and designer sex gear retailer, D-Vice, this morning as the first in a series of Government events
focusing on small business.
During the next two weeks, ministers and MPs will visit more than 30 small businesses around the country.
Dubbed the Small Business Day Series, Small Business Minister John Tamihere said the aim was to support small businesses and strengthen communication between them and the Government.
"Small business success is crucial to the New Zealand economy and we're committed to growing relationships with this sector," he said.
"We want to visit a diverse range of businesses so we can explore the broad spectrum of issues affecting New Zealand businesses."
Following the visits, the Government will host a national small business day in the capital on February 13. It kicks off a series of 23 small business events around the country - running through to May - to celebrate small business and, according to Tamihere, keep the Government's finger on the pulse of small businesses.
The people running the businesses chosen for visits will attend the February 13 meeting to give feedback. The event will include an expo celebrating the country's small businesses, seminars to help them grow and succeed and an outline of the Government's vision for the sector.
Tamihere said the Government would review its initiatives in the light of what it found.
Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett last week described the small business visits as photo opportunities for Government MPs. "If the Government wants to know what small businesses think it has only got to listen to what organisations like the Chambers of Commerce and Business New Zealand have been telling it."
