The business support is the latest measures being offered by the Dunedin City Council to businesses potentially affected by the ongoing work in the busy shopping street.
A series of free workshops were planned in the coming weeks to help businesses improve their online retail skills.
Maintaining an effective online presence was one way businesses could respond to the external disruption to business caused by the construction work, and the workshops would help local businesses bolster their online presence.
The workshops, run by The Big Company, include sessions on website development, social media management and database marketing.
Businesses were also being offered opportunities for external support.
A partnership with Business South would offer business mentoring and capability building for local retailers.
Business South chief executive Mike Collins said the mentoring initiative would help businesses to prosper in the face of both the construction activity and ongoing stresses from the pandemic.
"We are keen to assist the DCC, and in doing so we will help the business community foster a thriving business environment as we experience changes in this city and in the sector."
Central city plan director Dr Glen Hazelton said the initiatives would help central city businesses respond to the challenges of the construction period, as well as broader changes in the retail and business landscape.
"These initiatives are the first in a series of measures that could help businesses reduce some of the impacts of the construction period, but also to provide access to new tools to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by technology, the pandemic and changes in the way people shop and use the central city."
A range of communications activities were planned under a campaign titled "Totally Georgeous".
It was slated to include street signage, marketing support for businesses, and a project space for the public to learn more about the work.
Meanwhile, an update on the George St upgrade is to be presented to a meeting of the Dunedin City Council’s planning and environment committee this afternoon.
The update is expected to cover details of the work already completed on the project, while also looking forward to the next steps of the project.
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The DCC are offering free upskilling and business mentoring workshops to George street business owners, firstly nothing is free, the ratepayer will be paying for this one way or the other, secondly it is the DCC who need the upskilling and business mentoring
This council, both DCC staff and councilors really are a bunch of clowns.
Here's the thinking:
We will close all the parking, rip the roads and footpaths up for 12-24 months and create a haven for scooters and cyclists.
Oh, and to help retailers who will lose most of their trade for a year or so, we will teach them how to set up a web site.
Yeah that should all be ok then.