Business investment in research and development (R&D) has a major impact on continuous business development of a company and as a result, on the economic health of businesses today.

To encourage New Zealand firms to increase R&D investment, Business NZ and the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology have published Idea to Impact: Making R&D Work for Your Business. Idea to Impact is aimed at NZ businesses wanting to start R&D or expand their current R&D work. The booklet explains the value of R&D and innovation, especially during a recession. It also contains links to resources available to assist firms develop and expand their R&D projects.

Idea to Impact includes case studies of 11 remarkable SMEs that have successfully used R&D to develop products & services. The firms talk about:
• How they got started with R&D
• What worked and what didn’t
• How R&D has contributed to their growth, and
• If the recession has changed the way they think about R&D.

HERA believes this booklet is highly useful for our membership. In actual fact, one of the ‘remarkable’ companies listed is a typical HERA member company, implying that any one of our member companies can also become remarkable. MoRST has supported our request to distribute the booklets to our members and a copy of Idea to Impact is included with this issue of HERA News for all fabricator HERA members. If you would like more copies, please contact talk2us@morst.govt.nz or download it at http://morst.govt.nz/business/Idea-to-Impact/