Business support programme comes to Hawke's Bay for the first time

Business Hwake's Bay will kick off first the nine week CO-STARTERS program on 30 April.

Additional support for entrepreneurs and business start-ups has arrived in Hawke's Bay with a new business programme set to start at the end of April.

CO.STARTERS is a business programme operating in more than 50 locations across the United States and New Zealand and has been brought to the region by Business Hawke's Bay.

Business Hawke's Bay CEO Carolyn Neville said the nine week programme is aimed at helping business start-ups, entrepreneurs and those with great business ideas to develop them further.

"CO.STARTERS boosts entrepreneurship by providing the best tools and resources to support and grow businesses," Neville said.

"The hands-on course led by trained facilitators is held over nine weeks. We're keeping numbers low so participants can get the maximum benefit. A small group of up to 15, guided by facilitator-coaches will work on their business ideas to widen their understanding of what their business is and needs."

The programme has already been operating in NZ for four years and internationally for 10.

Business Hawke's Bay had been on the hunt for a programme to provide early stage support to start-ups and entrepreneurs, something it had identified as being missing in the region.

"2019 is Business Hawke's Bay's year of innovation and entrepreneurship, so it is great to be able to bring CO.STARTERS to the region and meet a real and ongoing need," Neville said.

"Support for businesses wanting to grow is a key pillar in Matariki, Hawke's Bay's regional development strategy for economic and social growth, and establishing accessible business growth services is a key action.

"We're pleased to bring CO.STARTERS to Hawke's Bay, as we know this support is targeted, proven and most importantly, needed."

Participants will spend one evening a week for nine weeks, working on their business and learning business fundamentals, as well as putting in some extra work between sessions. In return, they get a powerful support network and will be ready to accelerate their ideas faster.

Each week covers a different topic, with guest speakers sharing their experience and lessons learned. Facilitators are experienced business owners from the community who guide participants, ask the right questions and connect participants to additional available resources in the community. Limited scholarship funding is available, subject to certain criteria being met.

The first CO.STARTERS course starts April 30 at the Hawke's Bay Business Hub and is aimed at entrepreneurs, start-ups people new to business and wanting to learn and improve their skills.

For those interested in applying for the course you can find more information and register at https://www.businesshb.nz/StartUp/CO.STARTERS-1