Enterprise North Canterbury celebrates 20 years

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter David Hill:

Enterprise North Canterbury (ENC) is celebrating 20 years of supporting local business.

Launched in 2002 by the Waimakariri and Hurunui district councils, ENC was established to promote economic development in the region.

‘‘Right from the get-go, ENC has been all about supporting local,’’ says chief executive Heather Warwick, who has been with the agency since 2003.

‘‘We have stuck to this across the board over the past two decades, supporting new and existing local businesses with our economic development team.’’

ENC also supports tourism in the Waimakariri district through Visit Waimakariri and more recently created the Made North Canterbury brand to support local food and beverage producers.

Warwick said the earthquakes and Covid-19 had kept the agency busy.

The first of the quakes, in September 2010, had a significant impact on Kaiapoi with some redevelopment work going today.

‘‘The past 20 years have thrown a significant number of challenges our way,’’ she said.

‘‘So many of our local businesses needed support to rebuild and recover (from the 2010 quake), which was of course followed by aftershocks and more major earthquakes in 2011 and then again in 2016.’’

By partnering with the Ministry of Social Development, ENC was able to assist hundreds of businesses affected by the earthquakes with support, advice, information and funding.

Covid-19 presented a new set of challenges as the country went into lockdown, Warwick said.

The small ENC team supported more than 900 local businesses through the lockdown and in the aftermath.

ENC’s business development team received a commendation at the 2021 Economic Development New Zealand Awards for its efforts to support businesses during this period.

Aside from these challenges, ENC has supported and developed a number of projects and partnerships to support local businesses, Warwick said.

These included supporting the Hurunui Water Project to get off the ground in 2004, the North Canterbury Business Awards held every two years since 2008, establishing the ENC Business Centre in Kaiapoi and creating the Made North Canterbury brand.