Joyce says Callaghan Innovation head Mary Quin did 'a great job'

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said Callaghan Innovation chief executive Mary Quin, who announced her sudden departure today, had done a "great job" in setting up the government-funded agency as New Zealand's HQ for the commercialisation of innovative businesses.

Quin was the inaugural ceo of the agency which was set up three years ago with the mission of accelerating the growth of New Zealand businesses and helping commercialise clever Kiwi ideas.

It was formed out of the former operations of Industrial Research Limited and some of the activities of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which oversees it.

"She has welded together the existing and new parts of the organisation into one cohesive entity that is successfully encouraging the growth of research and innovation in New Zealand businesses," Joyce said in a statement sought by BusinessDesk.

He thanked her for her contribution to New Zealand's rapidly growing tech sector.

Callaghan's deputy chair Robin Hapi said as inaugural CEO, Quin had provided the leadership and vision the organisation needed through its start-up phase.

The head of the Employers and Manufacturers Association, Kim Campbell said he was surprised by the resignation and that it had been announced by the deputy chair rather than chair Sue Suckling, who is in Botswana. The Callaghan board last week signed off on a new strategic direction for the organisation, including improving service levels to its customers.

Campbell said he had a lot of respect for the work Quin has done in the role and that she was a "great asset for the country".

Callaghan had a lot of moving parts and although there had been some early teething problems with handing out money to private industry, "she had worked her way through that", he said. Others who don't want to be quoted said Callaghan had struggled to integrate its various activities and there was still some way to go on that.

Quin said in a statement that it was an ideal transition point for new leadership and she wants the flexibility to pursue other professional and personal interests both in New Zealand and overseas. She leaves on July 31 and has declined media interviews today. Quin was recently appointed to the board of Westpac.

Callaghan's general manager external relations Justin Brownlie, said the move was Quin's own choice rather than any push from the government or board.

The 62-year-old returned from 37 years out of New Zealand to lead Callaghan Innovation after having spent most of her life in corporate America.

She achieved worldwide fame and wrote a book about her experience being kidnapped by terrorists while travelling in Yemen, and was a key witness in the trial of Abu Hamza, a London-bsaed radical Muslim cleric who was a key figure in the kidnapping plot. While writing the book she moved to Alaska where she started a small business and then served as chief executive of NMS, a services firm half-owned by native Alaskans servicing remote oil fields and other Arctic activities.

Callaghan Innovation handed out $138 million in total grants last year and is expected to have total annual revenue in the 2016/2017 financial year of just under $300 million.

The agency is appointing an interim chief executive while starting the search for a permanent replacement.

(BusinessDesk)

BusinessDesk receives funding to help cover the commercialisation of innovation from Callaghan Innovation.