We stepped into the unknown, approving over $3 million in 2001 towards the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) Zero Fees scheme. It was a gamble that paid off with an influx of students and a revitalised city. By 2010 SIT’s total economic impact was estimated to be in excess of $210 million.
“It’s given me, personally, all sorts of opportunities. From Zero Fees, which meant that we came here in the first place … and then getting that Leadership Scholarship gave me the confidence to really look at what I’ve been doing and say, you know what? I could actually do anything.”
Deputy Mayor of Invercargill and Leadership Scholarship Recipient