NHBA Manager Awarded Churchill Fellowship

The North Harbour Business Association (NHBA) welcomes the announcement yesterday by Tariana Turia that its General Manager, Gary Holmes, has been named as one of 13 recipients of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowships for 2010.

Mr. Holmes will travel to the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States to undertake a study of leading business improvement districts which have a partnership with a transport management association. NHBA Chairman Gray Pearson congratulated Mr. Holmes on his award saying that transport management is the main platform of the North Harbour Business Improvement District (BID) and he believed that the proposed programme of investigation will significantly benefit Gary and the Association in the development of their Transport Efficiency District (TED).

“Gary is well acquainted with the key issues facing the North Harbour business area as it relates to transport and has already introduced a number of initiatives which will contribute to addressing the problems we face, Mr. Pearson said. “This opportunity will assist in up skilling him so that he will be better equipped to carry out his duties as manager of our TED and ultimately lead to better decision making on behalf of the community.”

Mr. Holmes said his project aims to investigate and capture knowledge of "world best practice" of partnerships between Business Improvement Districts and Transport Management Associations covering both UK and North American examples and to share and apply the findings to BID's in New Zealand, in particular the North Harbour TED.

“I have identified a number of Business Improvement Districts overseas that have a TMA-like component to them and I propose to study what has made them successful and look at the initiatives they have introduced, Mr. Holmes said.

The North Harbour TED programme is the first in New Zealand, and like other programmes being undertaken by the North Harbour Business Association such as its community crime prevention initiatives in conjunction with the NZ Police, is recognised widely as an example for other business areas. Churchill Fellowships are intended for travel, typically short term of between three weeks and three months duration, for intensive investigative research. The Trust helps all kinds of New Zealanders to travel overseas and bring back with them new insights and understanding that will enrich their community and, ultimately, New Zealand as a whole.

For more information on the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust go to http://www.dia.govt.nz

ENDS

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