Welcome
to Aoraki Development Trust, the Economic Development unit
for South Canterbury. We operate in all areas of Sustaining,
Growing and Attracting business in South Canterbury. From
Business start-up to Growth Initiatives, Aoraki Development
Trust is your first 'port of call' in South Canterbury.
OUR MISSION To grow attract and sustain business
in the South Canterbury Region. Aoraki Development Trust have
a commitment to this vision and this website illustrates how
we will deliver our vision in 2007/2008.
Local economic development involves much more than developing land
and creating jobs and revenue. The ultimate goal is not to build
‘this project’ or attract ‘that company’; rather the goal of economic
development is to improve the standard of living and quality of
life of the citizens … as such, economic development is a process,
not an end product. It is a long-term approach to building community
capacity. It involves the co-ordination of a variety of activities:
infrastructure, employment training, business retention, the identification
of new markets, the development of alternative industries, and the
transfer of knowledge. Economic development seeks to create higher
incomes, more or better jobs, more productive enterprises, a strong
tax base, and the opportunity to alleviate poverty. Successful economic
development initiatives are derived from and build on a locality’s
inherent strengths.
