Sunday, 15 July 2001 Media Statement

Twelve business incubators around New Zealand will benefit from the first round of awards from the Government's new incubator support programme.

The annual awards, a new initiative in this year's Budget, total $950,000. Individual awards range from $10,000 to $130,000.

The money will be used by incubator managers for purposes including business planning, training, IT development, administrative support, marketing, mentoring and business services for incubator tenants, and bringing in business incubation experts from overseas.

Incubators typically provide work space and support services for entrepreneurs and new businesses at the start-up and early stages of development.

"Stimulating economic growth and supporting innovation are key goals for the Government," said Small Business Minister Pete Hodgson. "Incubators are relatively new to New Zealand but they have excellent potential to improve the growth and survival rates of new companies."

The awards, administered by Industry New Zealand, reward incubators taking a lead in adopting best practice programmes and processes.

The recipients in the first round are the Dunedin Fashion Incubator ($35,000), the Christchurch-based Canterbury Innovation Incubator ($130,000) and Spark Ventures Ltd ($70,000), Wellington's Innovation Greenhouse ($70,000), the Lower Hutt-based Industrial Research Limited incubator ($100,000), the Porirua-based Whitirea Community Polytechnic incubator ($90,000), and five Auckland area incubators: the AUT Technology Park ($100,000), the UNITECH Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship ($100,000), e-centre Massey ($110,000), The Institute of Entrepreneurship (University of Auckland) ($125,000) and the Aotearoa Charitable Trust for Fashion Designers ($10,000).

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