Quake-hit businesses target of $6.85m fund

Quake-hit businesses target of $6.85m fund

March 22 (BusinessDesk) – Quake-hit Christchurch businesses will be eligible for government funding to help either rebuild or close their businesses, and to take international trips to visit export customers.

The $6.85 million package, announced by Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and the Acting Minister for Economic Development David Carter, also includes $1.7 million to appoint a larger team of business recovery coordinators.

“The new coordinators will assess businesses’ needs and refer them to the right services, as well as facilitate access to funding sources,” the Ministers said in a statement.

The package comes a day after frustrated inner-city business owners broke through a security cordon in protest at the fact that, a month on from the Feb. 22 earthquake, they still could not retrieve stock and records from premises within the sealed “red zone” in the central business district.

Also part of the package is a one-off $2.5 million government donation to the Canterbury Business Recovery Trust Fund – a private sector initiative established to help businesses access professional services and to relocate premises.

A further $2 million has been earmarked for visits by exporters to offshore customers, many of whom need reassurance that Christchurch, let alone New Zealand, is still open for business.

(BusinessDesk)

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