AgITO Takes Up Residence at Waikato Innovation Park
Monday 4 October 2010, 11:56AM
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The Waikato regional office of Agriculture ITO has moved into the Waikato Innovation Park.
Agriculture ITO is one of New Zealand's largest industry training organisations, helping more than 8000 people every year to gain knowledge and skills for careers in the agriculture industry.
Agriculture ITO Chief Executive, Kevin Bryant, says, “Agriculture ITO is delighted to be moving into Innovation Park. There are a number of benefits for the ITO, including being physically more accessible to our customers, being just down the road from our partner and funder in the dairy industry – DairyNZ, and being in residence with our sister ITO – NZITO.
“Given that we cover the dairy and meat supply chain between us and are partners in a Primary Sector ITO collective, this physical proximity is significant. Being on the same site as so many agritechnology businesses is an important place to be. We intend to make ourselves known to colleague tenants at the park and to try and build relationships with them.
“Training supports all businesses on and near farm and we may be able to assist some of these businesses in their endeavours,” explains Mr Bryant.
Agriculture ITO offers nationally recognised and New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) registered qualifications in industry sectors ranging from dairy, sheep and cattle to rural servicing, wool harvesting and water industry services.
Waikato Innovation Park CEO, Derek Fairweather, says having Agriculture ITO at the Park will provide a one-stop-shop for agriculture industry training in the Waikato.
“Having Agriculture ITO located in the Park alongside NZITO provides a central hub for all agricultural industry training – from the paddock to the factory – for Waikato companies operating in this sector.
“It’s important to us at the Park that we offer access to services that help our world-leading dairy, sheep and beef industries remain competitive on an international scale. And, ensuring staff have the very best training is a key part of maintaining this competitive edge,” says Mr Fairweather.