The Ministry of Education engaged Business Lab to help support Kelston (West Auckland) principals with work on an education vision for the area. Under the Auckland Unitary Plan Kelston and New Lynn are major growth areas and are projected to experience a changing population. The outcome was community commitment to a vision statement and an ongoing collaborative change management programme.
Business Lab engaged with over 500 people via interviews, surveys, workshops and presentations, making it our largest engagement on a project to date.
BIDs, or Business Improvement Districts, are a proven international model for driving local economic development and town centre revitalisation using an effective public-private partnership mechanism.
Business Lab has over 10 years experience working with all stages of the BID model, from set-up, to everyday running to expansion. With each assignment the powerful influence role BIDs can play in helping town centres evolve and thrive becomes ever more evident.
In partnership with Wellington City Council, Business Lab facilitated the inaugural Wellington BID Summit at the Michael Fowler Centre,
Discussions centred on how Wellington City's BID programme can be strengthened through improved inter-BID collaboration, council support and adoption of best practice principles.
Attendees were fortunate to learn from Dr Julie Grail, the UK's leading expert on Business Improvement Districts
Local economic development brings together a range of players to build up the economic capacity of a local area and improve its economic future and quality of life for individuals, families and communities.
We used their knowledge to create a plan aligned with the 6 key outcomes of the Waitematā Local Board Plan and that clearly clearly articulates whether the role of the Local Board is to Lead, Enable or Advocate for each initiative.
It’s time to shine for Glen Eden, one of Auckland’s true lifestyle villages….
This project was a true partnership between the Local Board and BID, with both groups eager to work together to promote investment in Glen Eden and its unique lifestyle opportunities.
To provide a complete service we also developed a one-page implementation plan to help launch the Prospectus to the right audience and to ensure it had maximum impact.
Through our Continuity Programme, Business Lab is proud to support "Proud Papakura Proud" a programme to create "A safe, healthy, culturally diverse community where we all trust and support each other."
We provide leadership support and advice; and assistance at meetings and events.
After seeing the Why Papakura! Investment Prospectus the Pukekohe Business Association recognised the value in asking Business Lab to create a similar, but unique, document for Pukekohe.
To help our client’s get the most out of their investment we supply full design files that can be edited, printed and are suitable for website use.
Following the amalgamation of the regions economic development functions into the new Nelson Regional Development Agency, Business Lab worked this this new agency and Nelson City Council to clarify how they could best work together to maximise the value of events for Nelson.
The CCBA developed a strategic plan, using innovative structured engagement, that resulted in its funding from Christchurch City Council being retained at the existing level with a clear path for transitioning to a self-funding model.
The CCBA has since signed up to Business Lab’s Continuity Programme which has included advice on recruiting a new Association Manager. They are now looking forward to Business Lab's assistance with implementing the strategic plan.
Business Lab was contacted by Aoraki Development to assist with gauging the support for an ultimately establishing a formal representative body for the Timaru CBD.
This was done in partnership with Timaru District Council with the aim of opening communication lines between Council and the business community.
A very successful Sports Performance Innovation Forum was held on April 28th, 2017 at QBE Stadium.
Business Lab’s contribution to this event was the production of a Forum handout highlighting the Upper Harbour area’s position as a key sport precinct for Auckland that caters for both Olympic and everyday athletes.
After calls for the Masterton District Council to become more involved in economic development, the Council approached Business Lab to design a programme similar to Marlborough’s Smart + Connected initiative.
The council wanted to understand what the economic priorities for the region were and how the council, in partnership with industry could address each opportunity.
Business Lab were asked to assist Tasman District Council with their IT strategy as part of the Long Term Plan (LTP). However, during early engagement it became clear that the strategy was in fact heavily related to using technology to develop a customer centric culture acro the organisation and the focus of the project was adapted to enable this.
After a powerful process of engagement, the Marlborough Smart and Connected economic development programme was created.
Through innovative thinking, leadership within industries and communities was fostered and collaborative opportunities developed. This programme has been ongoing since 2012.
Working with the Papakura Business Association, local businesses and developers, commercial real estate agents and the community - we wanted to know what information would attract new investors to Papakura.
It's a unique initiative by a proactive business association to promote it's town centre to the people who really matter - those who invest time, money and effort in shaping its future.
Business Lab were engaged by Auckland Council to review their Business Improvement District Community (BID) service delivery model in 2015. Comprehensive engagement was carried out with Auckland's BID Community of 49 organisations and with the 21 Local Boards across Auckland City.
Consequently, Auckland Council's BID support services were streamlined to focus on the areas of greatest need and support for BIDs.
