Network to boost Hawke's Bay firms

The role is to provide New Zealand businesses with that single local point of contact for government business assistance ... Jacinta Swain, NZ Trade and Enterprise By Patrick O'Sullivanpatrick.osullivan@hbtoday.co.nz
The official launch of the Regional Business Partner Network was well received at the Napier War Memorial Conference Centre last week, after being moved from the National Aquarium because of the event's popularity.
Administrators, providers and successful users of government funding and services were on hand to present, explain and answer questions regarding how Hawke's Bay businesses could benefit from the myriad of services available.
The regional partners network was a partnership of four organisations. The funding organisations were the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and the Ministry for Science and Innovation (MSI), whose programme was driven by TechNZ.
The organisations responsible for delivering the services to the community were the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce alongside the Hawke's Bay Regional Council with involvement from Napier City Council with their Public Development Unit.
Trade and Enterprise's Jacinta Swain said together with the ministry, NZTE had developed the network.
"The role is to provide New Zealand businesses with that single local point of contact for government business assistance to provide information, advice, funding and expertise to innovate," she said.
Key roles of the regional partners were to promote the value of research and development, to promote value of ongoing capability development for managers and business owners, to identify business needs and what was available to help them.
Two voucher schemes funded development.
One was through NZTE for business capability advancement and the other was through TechNZ, for research and development.
Karen Cooper, who was responsible for running the NZTE voucher scheme, worked out of the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce offices.
"It is targeted at businesses that have the potential to innovate, grow and export and aims to support businesses to build their internal capability," she said.
She listed criteria for candidates: Fewer than 50 employees, trading in a commercial environment, registered for GST, personally owned or a Maori trust and had undergone a capability assessment with the chamber.
During the assessment, businesses were asked to demonstrate that they had potential for growth, a commitment to improve management capability and a gap in the business needed to be identified that could be addressed through training or coaching.
"There are a number of qualifying service subjects that will be delivered through our capability development providers. "
Sam Wood, of Nanobrewing, explained how his about-to-be-launched brewing product had been assisted by the network, as did Lance Dear of BioVapor, which produced heat treating systems for exporters and importers.
"My name is Lance and I am a recovering TechNZ user," he said.
"I've used TechNZ more than once and I am finding it hard to break the habit."
The first step for businesses interested in registering for the business partners network was to contact the Chamber of Commerce and speak to Karen or Chan.