Hutt City development praised by Anderton

Hutt City has been chosen as the site for a consolidated Australasian customer service centre by the New Zealand arm of Orica group. The Minister for Industry and Regional Development, the Hon Jim Anderton is today celebrating this development for Hutt City, which has been supported by government, Postively Wellington Business and Work and Income.

Funding of up to $137,500 from the Ministry of Economic Development's Regional Initiatives Fund (RIF) has been made available depending on the number of sustainable jobs which are created under the scheme.

"The consolidation of Orica's Australasian transaction processing will in the first instance create up to 30 new jobs, as well as saving over 10 existing jobs, and offers the potential to consolidate future processing activity at this site in the future," Jim Anderton said.

"This is a great example of regional co-operation. The Wellington region has identified customer service centres as an area of comparative advantage, while Hutt City identified this as a strategic opportunity to build a hub around Orica NZ's manufacturing. Work and Income New Zealand identified this as an opportunity to shift people from the unemployment benefit into meaningful employment. Clearly this is a win-win situation for everyone concerned.

"The Regional Initiatives Fund has been used to support the training needs of the new employees who have left Work and Income to start new jobs with Orica. This is a prime example of a dynamic New Zealand company, a strong regional strategy, and supportive local and central government coming together to create jobs and economic growth," Jim Anderton said.

Editors Note:

The Regional Initiatives Fund (RIF) is a discretionary fund administered by the Ministry of Economic Development. Each application is sent to the Minister for Economic, Industry and Regional Development for approval.

On average 20 projects through RIF are funded in each year. RIF grants range in value between $28,000 to $200,000 with most between $50,000 and $70,000. The majority of RIF grants are paid to territorial local authorities. In some cases, the council holds the money on behalf of groups that are not a legal entity.

Each application is based on partial funding on a case by case basis. A 'local contribution' is an essential part of any RIF application.

The purpose of the RIF is to provide support for regional projects that are consistent with economic, social and environmental objectives but cannot be funded through other Government assistance programmes. A region is defined as a geographical concentration of communities with similar economic, social and environmental characteristics and objectives.

The Regional Initiatives Fund was created to provide catalyst funding for regional projects that fall outside the criteria of existing Government assistance programmes, but have the potential to leverage economic growth as well as meet Government objectives for economic, social and environmental development.

Funding is only paid out on the completion of agreed milestones, and is monitored by the Ministry of Economic Development.

ENDS

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