Nelson has been judged as one of the top five eTowns in the country by Google New Zealand.
Nelson was today named as one of New Zealand’s top five eTowns in the awards launched by Google to celebrate the towns and cities making the best use of the web to connect with customers and grow.
Auckland, Tauranga, Queenstown and Wellington were also named regional winners, with the overall national winner to be announced in May.
Nelson Mayor Aldo Miccio said he was delighted that so many Nelson businesses are taking advantage of the technology available and the business opportunities it brings.
“Nelson is an innovative city,” says Aldo. “We’re lucky to have passionate, creative people who find clever ways of doing business. As a council we want to support and encourage all economic growth so our city will thrive and it’s now obvious that online business is becoming a huge part of that.”
Bill Findlater, chief executive of Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency, says Nelson is a region of SMEs with many people moving to the city both for its lifestyle and excellent services.
“We have always had good connectivity. We have had fibre optic in the ground for almost 10 years, a lot longer than many other areas and there is a real entrepreneurial element to the region,” says Bill.
“People are doing great things here – such as HealthPost which is now the biggest online supplier of health products in New Zealand.”
Tony Keusgen, country manager for Google New Zealand, says it is exciting to see small and large towns alike featuring in the awards.
“The web has always been great at levelling the playing field, and the New Zealand eTown winners prove this,” says Tony.
“This shows the power of the web to help businesses – and towns – pivot into new areas based on economic conditions. Many towns known in New Zealand for tourism have made the most of the web to raise their virtual visitor numbers as real-world visitor numbers dropped after the global financial crisis.”
Former jewellery designer Katie Bennett from Nelson featured in the Nelson Weekly last month and started her SME Punk Baby Clothing in 2009 after posting pictures on her Facebook page of original clothing she had made for her son.
She developed a website very early on and sells through her social media business page and website, with customers throughout New Zealand, Australia, the US and Europe. Turnover was $60,000 last year and she has now employed a seamstress and is looking to expand Punk Baby Clothing later this year.
“There are a lot of very talented and creative people producing unique work in Nelson, not everyone can afford retail premises and there are seasonal fluctuations of visitors so online sales are the obvious option,” said Katie.
“The look and feel of a business’ social media or website pages is very important. People like to see the people behind the business, they want to know what you stand for and feel there is a personal connection. It’s a way to sell your story and infuse it into your brand.”
The Google eTown Awards have previously been held in Europe, Australia and Canada.
