Finance Minister Bill English, speaking at the Wellington launch of the 11
th
“You effectively invented this sector,” English said at the Thursday 29 October gathering atNZX's relatively new presentation space.
Which, as we've all come to habitually expect each October, is a reminder that prior to Shanahanfronting up with the inspiration, perspiration and perseverance for the TIN100, that nothing of itssort existed before 2005.
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Greg Shanahan, TIN100 founder and 'inventor'[/caption]
We effectively knew nothing of the ICT, Hi-Tech and Biotech companies within our midst. We couldonly guess at the income, employee numbers, and R&D spend of cool businesses doing interestingthings.
Today, as well as those numbers and more, just as importantly, there's trend lines that nowdeliver proof that there's real economic grunt and innovation in the sector.
English made the point that the TIN100+ companies contribute 1.7% of GDP. In a sense, that's notfar behind dairy's 5.3%, and these low carbon and energy footprint companies have lots of growthupside.
Last year the top 200 TIN companies created $9 billion in turnover, a 7.3% annual growth, and anextra 2410 (usually well-paying) jobs – a 6.9% growth.
English also commented that the TIN100 report is also extremely useful for government, and “itpaints a picture of a sector that many hoped it would develop into.”
The growth in financial services companies, something banks are watching closely, is one notableaspect for English. Some of the tools being used and offered by these businesses, “and how some ofthese types of tool could also be applied to making government smaller,” was offered as anincentive by English.
Greg Shanahan says they're attempted to isolate out four drivers of success for the TINcompanies.
The most successful (of the TIN100+ group) spend twice as much onR&D as other companies, and look to create recurring revenues with and for theirclients.
New Zealand is generally considered to be relatively safe and transparent when it comes togovernment processes. Some of these processes are now being exported by the likes of Data Torque andFoster Moore – IT infrastructure (and more) around the likes of the issuing of car drivinglicences, or the providing of registries to corporate and government clients.
As English said though, knowing about these little economic gems wasn't possible before theTIN100 came into being.
Hats off to Shanahan!