Support for Kāpiti businesses

Both Council and central government have provided a range of support to businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic and our recovery from lockdowns. These are outlined further on this page.

Financial support for businesses

Various financial support schemes from central Government are available to help businesses and their employees recover from the effects of COVID-19.

For more information and how to apply, see:

WellingtonNZ funding for business support

WellingtonNZ has been allocated funding from the central government’s stimulus package to connect business owners to expert advice and services.

There are other business support resources available through the Regional Business Partner Network, including Business Mentoring Support and working with a Business Growth Manager.

Find out more and apply.

Building business resilience webinars

WellingtonNZ is hosting regular webinars to connect you with practical business advice and support. Get real-time advice from experts on how to manage the impacts of COVID-19 on your business.

We're talking with Wellington experts about how to plan for change and uncertainty, how to track financial and non-financial indicators of your business to better understand your status and make sure you're not caught out when the market shifts.

Love Local

Over 2000 Locals Share The Love

Love Local Kāpiti Coast Facebook group is a place for Kāpiti locals to share information about their favourite spots and services, and for businesses to let the community know a little bit more about themselves and what they’re up to. Make sure you join!

Council support

In April, Council implemented a range of immediate actions to support local people and businesses in response to COVID-19, including:

removing rates late payment penalties for rest of 2019/20
a June 2020 rates payment holiday for those impacted by COVID-19
waiving rent payments for three months for major tenants
providing rapid supplier payments, aiming for seven-day payments
90-day credit terms for invoices
refunding consent deposits and fees if applicants request to withdraw their application
refunding a quarter of fees for food, alcohol and outdoor dining licenses paid in the current financial year
increasing weighting for local businesses in procurement processes
allowing community boards to repurpose unallocated discretionary grants for 2019/20 to COVID-19 response initiatives
allowing flexibility to repurpose remaining social investment grants in 2019/20 as appropriate
extending existing library book loans by six weeks.

For businesses, the particular support included the automatically waived rent payments for three months for Council’s major commercial tenants, and refunding 25 percent of fees for food, alcohol and outdoor dining licences paid in the 1 July 2019–30 June 2020 financial year.

These measures were a first step in the social and economic recovery for our district; work is ongoing to look at ways we can support our community and district to recover.