GrowBiz Services to Reach New Parts of Scotland Through Innovative Smart Village Model
The Smart Villages Scotland pilot project – which is being delivered by GrowBiz - aims to help rural enterprises expand their businesses and improve connections with customers by creating digital communities across the country.
Full press release below
Press Release
17 December 2019
GrowBiz Services to reach new parts of Scotland through innovative Smart Village model
The successful enterprise support services pioneered by east Perthshire based organisation GrowBiz are to be extended to other parts of Scotland thanks to a new collaborative project.
The Smart Villages Scotland pilot project – which is being delivered by GrowBiz - aims to help rural enterprises expand their businesses and improve connections with customers by creating digital communities across the country.
Building on the successful model developed by GrowBiz, the project will include networking events, peer learning and online mentoring.
The collaborative project has received funding from Scottish Enterprise, the Rural Perth and Kinross LEADER Programme and Perth and Kinross Council.
Announcing the project with a contribution of £100,000, the Scottish Government’s rural affairs minister, Mairi Gougeon, said: “We want Scotland’s rural economy to support and sustain vibrant and flourishing communities, and to provide a range of employment opportunities for local residents.”
She added: “It is extremely important that we recognise and fulfil the potential of technology to deliver a diverse range of services and support.
“The Smart Villages Scotland project will prioritise digital upskilling and create a network of enterprise ‘hotspots’ throughout rural Scotland.”
A Smart Village is a super-connected community based around a settlement, a cluster of settlements or communities of interest such as artists or service providers.
Communities in the Cairngorms National Park area will be among the first to be taking part in the project.
Murray Ferguson, director of planning and rural development for the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “I very much welcome this innovative project and we look forward to working with GrowBiz and local communities to develop three Smart Villages within the Cairngorms National Park.
“The project will help people work together better to resolve the challenges they face, for example with rural transport, attracting visitors and promoting the benefits of local shopping.”
Jackie Brierton, GrowBiz CEO, said: “We are excited about the potential of this project to increase the use of digital applications and contribute to an inclusive and vibrant rural economy.
“Using a Smart Village model, the project will work collaboratively with local businesses and communities, enabling us to extend our successful peer learning, mentoring and networking approach to enterprises in other parts of rural Scotland.
“Smart Villages can be a conduit to creating a legacy of sustainable, empowered and connected communities that could transform the rural economy through supporting enterprise.”
For further information, please see the website at www.smartvillage.scot
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
GrowBiz is an independent, community-based organisation providing support to anyone starting or growing a business in rural Perthshire
GrowBiz Scotland (known as GrowBiz) is a company limited by guarantee number SC341655, and a Scottish Charity number SC043278, with registered office at Bank of Scotland House, Union Street, Coupar Angus
GrowBiz is funded by Perth and Kinross Council, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government, and the Making Rural Business Digital project is supported by the Rural Perth and Kinross LEADER Programme 2014-2020: The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas. For more on LEADER go to www.pkleader.org
Since October 2016, GrowBiz has supported more than 1000 clients across all business sectors
GrowBiz runs an award-winning mentoring programme, which currently has over 70 participants and which is the first and only business programme in Scotland to achieve the Scottish Mentoring Network Quality Standard
GrowBiz offers one-to-one meetings with clients as well as peer support and peer learning sessions
Follow GrowBiz on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter by searching for GrowBiz Perthshire.
