Local Focus: Hastings business hub open for businesses

Help is now a little closer for Hastings businesses with the opening of a Hastings branch of the Hawke's Bay Business Hub.

The main hub, in Napier's Ahuriri, was hailed nationally as best practice for business support when it opened in 2015.

It centralised 13 business support services onto one site, along with meeting and workshop spaces.

The goal of the business hubs is making it easy for businesses to get advice, mentoring, information and programme funding.

Thanks to funding from Hastings District Council, from its Covid-19 Recovery Contingency Fund, the Hawke's Bay Business Hub Hastings also provides a one-stop-shop for business enablement.

The new hub is based at The Hive, a co-working space-for-hire in Market St North.

Business Hawke's Bay chief executive Carolyn Neville said a wide range of programmes were underway in the new Hastings hub, targeting small-to-medium sized businesses.

"There is a range of support available and to make them aware of what's available in the region and through central-government agencies as well," she said.

"We will do an assessment prior to that, as to the ongoing nature of this, but we are hoping with enough support from the local business community – the need is there – the pilot will turn into a long-term facility."

Business Hawke's Bay is itself dissolving as the region pivots to a new economic development agency that more closely aligns with Matariki, the Hawke's Bay regional development strategy.

It is a partnership across central and local government, iwi and hapu and the private sector.

Councils have undertaken to work with Business Hawke's Bay to keep Business Hubs open.

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