The recently launched Canterbury V5 business initiative has just announced its judging panels. The aim of Canterbury V5 is to identify up to five projects of regional and national significance that each have the potential to generate $100million of revenue for the Canterbury region within five years and $1billion or more within 20 years. The project is supported by the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce (Employers' Chamber), the University of Canterbury and the Canterbury Development Corporation.

Canterbury V5 Project Manager Leeann Watson says she's thrilled to be able to announce such a strong line-up of judges for the project. "The first stage of judging will select up to 20 projects that fit a set of published criteria. This panel will consist of Employers' Chamber Chief Executive Peter Townsend, Canterbury University Vice Chancellor Dr Rod Carr, and Managing Director of the Carter Group of companies, Philip Carter." She says the second stage of judging will follow, when the top 20 or so applicants will be required to complete a storyboard and provide a business case to a panel of assessors. This panel of judges will then select the top five projects. Leeann Watson says this panel contains some of the best business heads in the country. "We are very lucky to have secured the services of Ruth Richardson, John Judge and Dr Keith Turner for this very important task. They are highly regarded in the business world and we are confident they will select the best five Canterbury V5 projects," she says. Originally an initiative that came out of the Christchurch Employment Summit, the Canterbury V5 project is aimed at showing the extent of business opportunities in Canterbury and to attract potential investors and developers to achieve the greatest possible economic impact for the region. Leeann Watson says the five winning projects will receive assistance they have indicated they need to facilitate and progress the project. "They will have access to a network of free professional expertise and support to complement the project team. Canterbury V5 will help give these five projects the support and infrastructure to speed up their development and get them off the ground," she says. Details of the competition including timetable, assessment criteria, application form and other details can be found at www.canterburyv5.org.nz.