Thrive Fund to support businesses
Today, Stuff and The Southland Times is proud to launch Thrive Fund, which allows Southland businesses to apply for a share of $50,000 of advertising.
Thrive Fund will help to support businesses as they work through Covid-19 and into the rebuild phase.
Now more than ever it is important that businesses can communicate and market to their customers that they are back in operation after lockdown.
Lower South Island group sales manager Nick Jeffrey said Thrive Fund was an initiative to support businesses and to help promote the ‘‘shop local’’ message as people, business and the rest of New Zealand start to operate during Level 2.
‘‘There are no strings and no costs involved for businesses. They simply apply via the link online and provide contact details and how they have been impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown. This information will be kept confidential and not published.
‘‘A Great South survey identified a key challenge for local businesses is communication and marketing to their customers and, as a local business, The Southland Times is keen to do our bit to assist via the Thrive Fund.’’
Each week, businesses who have been randomly drawn to enjoy a share of the fund will be contacted directly by the Times team.
To register go to marketsouth.co. nz/thrive
North Island filmmakers Dave Abbott and Riley Elliott were among passengers greeted with applause and live music when they touched down in Queenstown on Saturday.
Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult and CluthaSouthland MP Hamish Walker greeted the 100 passengers on Air New Zealand flight NZ1209 from Auckland who arrived at Queenstown Airport at 2.13pm.
‘‘Are we the first ones down here or something?,’’ Elliott said outside the terminal. ‘‘Thank you Queenstown, that was a beautiful welcome.’’
Abbott said the pair were heading to Stewart Island to film a documentary about great white sharks.
‘‘For us to be able to do a shoot down here when the rest of the world is in lockdown is awesome. We have got a bit of a jump on the rest of the world at the moment.’’
The airport welcomed back its first domestic service from Christchurch after 43 days without a scheduled flight on Thursday as New Zealand transitioned to alert level 2.
Queenstown Airport Corporation chief executive Colin Keel said while it had been a very challenging few months for everyone given the significant impact of Covid-19 on the aviation and tourism sectors as well as the broader regional economy, the local airport community remained strong, committed and resilient.
‘‘Many in the community have been asking for flights to resume at Queenstown Airport, whether for personal or business reasons, so it was indeed a special moment today when our team and the wider community could celebrate this milestone. Bringing back domestic air travel to the area is a welcome step forward to recovery. ‘‘
Walker said it was an ‘‘amazing day’’ not just for Queenstown but the entire district. Boult said it was a small but important start. ‘‘We have got a long way to go yet.’’ ’