Te Puni Kōkiri’s Māori Business Development Zone, aimed to promote the importance of Māori business in New Zealand, was again a significant feature of this year’s Small Business Expo – held at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds in Greenlane from 30 May to 1 June.

With small to medium-sized businesses accounting for 96 percent of New Zealand’s commercial enterprises, Small Business Expo organiser Sarah Trotman says it’s no surprise to see Māori represented in significant numbers among these businesses.

“These SMEs, which employ 19 people or less, are the core powerhouse of the New Zealand economy,” says Sarah, a small business sector specialist. “Over the past three years, as the Small Business Expo and the affiliated Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards have grown, we have been fortunate to witness some fantastic achievements amongst Māori business owners.”

Between 2001 and 2006, Māori self-employed grew by more than 20 percent, from 17,100 to 20,850, compared with non-Māori self-employed, who grew by 8.8 percent for the same period.

Exhibiting in the Te Puni Kōkiri Māori Business Development Zone at this year’s Expo was Ochre Business Solutions’ Leisa Nathan who took the opportunity to talk with existing and potential business owners.

“We have a particular connection with Te Puni Kōkiri, being contracted by them to provide business mentoring services. We work closely with Māori-owned businesses to ensure that the agreed business goals are achieved through the mentoring process,” says Leisa, who is delighted to see the progress clients make when working with a mentor. “Our results are reflected in the improvement in our clients’ bottom line profits.”

Also offering free business courses in several Auckland locations, Ochre Business Solutions’ experienced tutors work with current and potential small business owners - Māori and non-Māori - to develop and implement a comprehensive business plan.

Other participants in this year’s Te Puni Kōkiri Māori Business Development Zone included Te Puni Kōkiri, Mana Media, Māori Experienz and the Poutama Business Trust, a joint winner of the not-for-profit category in the 2006 Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards.

Te Puni Kōkiri Chief Executive Leith Comer says his organisation was delighted to invest in the Māori Business Development Zone because Māori economic development is a key to Māori achieving their aspirations and realising their full potential.

Last year more than 7,000 business owners visited the Auckland event with attendee numbers this year expected to eclipse that total. Independent exit data taken last year by TouchPoll revealed that 96 percent of attendees surveyed rated their expo visit as excellent, good or satisfactory and 88 percent said that they would return for the 2007 Small Business Expo.