A door has opened for Hawke's Bay businesses needing advice, support, funding and expertise to help grow their businesses, and build their research and development capabilities.
Venture Hawke's Bay and Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce have appointed Regional Business Partners to help access central government funding and expertise.
They have partnered with
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) to be the first point of contact for Hawke's Bay businesses.
NZTE and the FRST's business investment programme, TechNZ, would work through the partnership to support business growth and innovation.
Hamish Campbell, the foundation's manager of investment services said the scheme had a proven track record.
"Our partners have helped companies around New Zealand undertake innovative projects to develop new products, employ undergraduate and master's students, and engage experts to assess their research and development strategy and provide advice," he said.
Chief executive of the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce Murray Douglas welcomed the partnership.
"Building business capability is a key objective of the Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce and the chamber is delighted to partner with Venture Hawke's Bay and government to deliver this scheme," he said.
Sam Wood of ATI Engineering recently worked with Venture Hawke's Bay to access TechNZ funding for some of the company's research and development projects.
"It really was invaluable having someone on our doorstep to talk us through the funding available and to help us with the application process," he said.
"I was amazed at how straightforward and quick the whole process actually was - painless really."
The Chamber of Commerce's role will be to carry out business capability assessments, develop action plans and provide specific business assistance.
It will also administer the NZTE voucher scheme enabling qualifying businesses to access government funding for training, coaching or other business capability up-skilling services.
