Christchurch recovery presents opportunities for Wellington

EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY 21 JANUARY 2013
Christchurch recovery presents remarkable opportunities for Wellington businesses.

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The Canterbury recovery and rebuild will pick up momentum in 2013. It is now broadly accepted that the impact of the recovery will boost the New Zealand economy for years to come.
The domestic rebuild alone will involve the construction or major repair of perhaps as many homes as exist in Hutt City - or around half the number in Wellington City.

Along with new homes, many of Christchurch’s businesses need new suppliers, new resources, potentially new partners, and new ways of doing business.

Wellington, with its strengths in design, engineering, professional services, visual technology and innovation, and its relative proximity to the South Island has several advantages when it comes to assisting with the recovery.

As Canterbury moves further into recovery there are and will continue to be, a broad range of skills and services required to ensure growth. In order to explore the opportunities that this presents to businesses in the Wellington region, WellCan – a forum for Wellington businesses and interested parties from Canterbury – will take place on March 4 at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington.

Wellington City Council is providing the key support for WellCan, working in collaboration with other councils in the region as well as Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, Grow Wellington, Brendon Burns and Associates MACRO, ANZ, and the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce (CECC).

There are already several success stories arising from Wellington innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses that are working directly on the rebuild and related efforts. WellCan will help tell those stories.

Gerard Quinn, CEO of economic development agency Grow Wellington, says “The WellCan initiative is a very positive and practical way of helping the rebuild efforts. We will support Wellington’s businesses to capitalise on opportunities from the rebuild, and the initiatives of our economic development partner the Canterbury Development Corporation.”

The forum will be opened by Wellington City Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and will feature Christchurch businesses and officials as well as some of the Wellington businesses already engaged with the rebuild. It is free to attend and businesses and individuals will need to register here.

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