Wellington Business Incubators Granted $260,000

15 July 2001

Three Wellington-based business incubators have been awarded a total of $260,000 in the first Industry New Zealand Incubator Awards.

- Gracefield-based Industrial Research Limited was awarded $100,000.

- Central Wellington-based Innovation Greenhouse was awarded $70,000.

- Porirua-based Whitirea Community Polytechnic was awarded $90,000.

Funding under the awards is provided for a wide range of purposes, including installation of IT and web infrastructure, provision of business services to tenants, research into business incubator best practice, management training and salaries, and visiting expert programmes.

“The emergence of business incubators in Wellington is a really positive development for the city’s economy. They will play a key role in building bright, innovative businesses that will make a valuable contribution to the region through the creation of commercially viable products and services.

“Industry New Zealand is keen to support their development, which will lead to more jobs and greater prosperity. American research showed that 87% of incubated companies remained in business three years after leaving their incubators, and 85% remained in the community,” said Neil Mackay, chief executive of Industry New Zealand.

“Business incubators will help arrest the failure of small businesses. In New Zealand, 86% of enterprises employ less than 5 people. It has been suggested that around 80% of them fail within three years of establishment.”

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