Business Resilience Project Offers Support To Northland Businesses In Turbulent Times

Following the recent regional power cut and ongoing disruption due to road works, support for Northland businesses has arrived through an upskilling and business support project.

The Taitokerau Business Resilience Project has a range of training and workshop opportunities available to businesses across Northland, who are feeling the effects of a turbulent period and disruption to normal trading.

Project Lead Caroline Wells says:

“More than ever, our regional businesses need support to enable them to withstand, recover and, at times, see the opportunities of recent and current challenges, growing the skills and capability to help them thrive into the future. We're looking to build on the core strength of our businesses, meeting them where they are now with relevant and easily accessible training and upskilling offerings. We've reached one thousand business participants so far. Our aim is for two thousand.”

The Project is delivering resilience uplift to businesses across Northland through workshops, one-to-one support, mentoring, networking events, tools, and connections, available through the Business Resilience Project hub. The effort is funded by MBIE as part of the Cyclone Gabrielle recovery effort and is a cross-agency collaboration, with Northland Inc teaming up with NorthChamber, Whariki Tai Tokerau, the Kaitaia Business Boosters alongside the Te Hiku Iwi Development Trust, and various Business Associations to support delivery. The funding is also supporting regional tourism campaign efforts throughout 2024.

The Taitokerau Resilience Project was designed following a survey of 270 businesses one year on from Cyclone Gabrielle, which found that 30% of Northland businesses admitted feeling underprepared for future unexpected events.

The feedback from businesses highlighted the need for ongoing resilience building efforts in the region, says Northland Inc CE, Paul Linton.

“Northland businesses have had to navigate many challenges over the past five years, from pandemics to weather events and infrastructure failures. Businesses were telling us that should another major unexpected event occur, they weren’t confident that they had the tools to recover.”

For those feeling the pinch, upcoming training opportunities include an emergency recovery workshop for businesses in serious need of strategies right now, planning for restructures and redundancies, how to do a wellness pulse check with your team, and exit preparation for owners looking to move on to their next business opportunity.

At Matariki time, Wells encourages Northland business owners to take time to work on the business, take stock, plan ahead but also to look after themselves and their team at this time.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know what’s coming next, which recent events have proven. It's a tense time for many. I encourage business owners to prioritise their team's wellbeing. Our people are our greatest asset and our greatest support. If we start with them, everything else will flow from there,” she says.

The Taitokerau Business Resilience Project is underway now and will run until August 2024. Further information can be found at https://www.northlandnz.com/businessresilience/, where resources will be updated weekly with latest information and tools for businesses to access.

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