Māori Business Growth Support is about helping Māori establish and grow their business. We do this by providing information, advice and brokering relationships.
- About Māori Business Growth Support
- How we support Māori Businesses
- Information Resources
- Other business support services available to Māori businesses
- Māori business networks, and professional and industry associations
- Our Māori Business Growth Strategy
- He kai kei aku ringa
- Getting in touch
- Stories
- Events and updates
John Stevens (Hone Tipene) - Kohatu Cookers (Photo courtesy of Fairfax Media NZ - Taranaki Daily News)
About Māori Business Growth Support
Māori Business Growth Support helps Māori businesses to become established and grow. We provide information to those who are interested in setting up a new business and support existing businesses to plan their business growth pathway. We connect you with other business growth agencies who will help you establish and grow your business. Māori Business Growth Support focuses primarily on Māori small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s) that have a clear commercial focus. Our fundamental criteria is that the owner self-identifies as Māori and that the business is an independent entity based in New Zealand.
How we support Māori Businesses
The first step is to tell us a bit about you and your business or business idea. Completed registration forms can be emailed to your nearest regional office.
Te Puni Kōkiri supports Māori businesses through three channels:
- Information provision and networking
- Business growth assessment and planning
- Business support services
Information Resources
There are a range of information resources freely available from other government website to help you build your knowledge of what is involved in being in business. These links will take you to those websites.
Running a business
Tairāwhiti-preneur Bobbi Morice and her Ruatoria Pies business.
- Starting a business
- Buying an established business
- Building and growing a business
- Expanding, diversifying, innovating
- Building and growing exporting
- Dealing with challenges
- Strategic changes to your business
Business fundamentals
- Financial Management
- People Management
- Protecting your Business Value
Gaining nationally recognised business qualifications
- Foundational and Bridging Qualifications
- Business (Level 3 – 6)
- Māori business and management (Levels 3 and 4)
- Māori Governance (Levels 4 and 6)
Other business support services available to Māori businesses
Te Puni Kōkiri works in partnership with other agencies that provide business support services specifically for Māori businesses or for any business. Te Puni Kōkiri can assist Māori businesses to access these business support services or you can approach them directly. Eligibility criteria can be found on the websites for each of the services listed under the headings below.
Capability development
Poutama Trust
Provides advisory support and investment for business investigation, business training and business growth.
Te Tumu Paeroa
Provide land management services and training programmes for Māori land trustees (eg, financial skills for Māori land trustees).
Regional Business Partners
Nationally available advisory and referral service for capability development in business growth. Vouchers are available for training and services following assessment by a Regional Business Partner.
Exporting
NZTE
Advisory service, guides, templates, tools, workshops for businesses that are starting, building or focusing on exporting.
NZ Export Credit Office
Provides access to a range of products that help exporters mitigate repayment risk, secure export sales and access trade finance. An application fee applies.
Finance
Māori Women’s Development
Provides access to low-interest loans and a Timebank programme, which facilitates the exchange of skills, knowledge and time without money changing hands.
Work and Income
Provides access to finance for clients business start up costs.
Flexi-wage subsidy (work and income)
Provides a short-term wage subsidy to businesses wanting to hire a WINZ-nominated candidate for a role.
Innovation
Callaghan Innovation
Access to expertise, services, facilities and funds in the fields of innovation (including a Māori Innovation Hub), technology and product development, research and development.
Te Pūnaha Hihiko Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund
Funds for the development of skilled individuals and organisations in research and innovation through two schemes:
- Placement: builds research capability to benefit the Māori organisation hosting the placement and the research organisation or individual
- Connect: builds skills, networks and capacity of Māori organisations or individual researchers
Te Pūnāha Hiringa: Māori Innovation Fund
The fund invests in initiatives that develop capability and contribute to achieving the goals and priorities in He Kai Kei Aku Ringa and the Business Growth Agenda for Māori collectives or coalitions of collectives through two schemes:
- Commercial Advisor: professional business advice and mentoring to identify opportunities, begin new ventures or grow existing businesses and asset bases
- Governance & Management Development Scheme: training in governance, management, strategic planning and other business skills
Tourism
NZ Māori Tourism
Provides advisory services and general business information targeted to Māori tourism businesses.
There are a range of support services for initiatives in the primary sector. These are listed under the Whenua Māori Fund.
Māori business networks, and professional and industry associations
Active Māori business networks are listed below. If your local Māori business network is not included in the list, please contact your local Business Growth Advisor and provide details so the list can be updated.
Tāmaki Makaurau
Whāriki Māori Business Network
Waikato-Waiariki
Hamilton
Te Humeka
Tauranga
Tauranga Māori Business Network
Te Tai Hauāuru
Whanganui
Te Manu Atatu Incorporated
Kapiti & Horowhenua
Te Rōpū Pakihi
Wellington
Te Awe
Te Waipounamu
Otago/Southland
Te Kupeka Umaka Māori ki Araiteuru (KUMA)
The professional and industry associations listed below also provide formal and informal support for members.
- Ngā Aho – Māori design professionals
- Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa – Māori Law Society
- Te Ao Marama – NZ Māori Dental Association
- Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa – Māori Medical Practitioners Association
- Ngā Kaitatau Māori o Aotearoa – National Māori Accountants Network
- Ngā Pou Mana – Allied health professionals
- Te Kāhui Atawhai o Te Motu – National Collective Iwi Māori Social Services
- Ngā Kaitiaki o te Puna Rongoā – Māori Pharmacists’ Association Inc
Our Māori Business Growth Strategy
Te Puni Kōkiri will invest in developing your capability and capacity to strengthen and grow your business. This is done through support from our regional offices and through investment to address identified business needs.
Our three strategic priorities for 2017 – 2020:
- Priority 1: Improve the core business capability among Māori
- Priority 2: Improve the connectedness of Māori businesses
- Priority 3: Increase the number of sustainable, and growing, Māori businesses
Te Puni Kōkiri does not invest in your business by providing capital or operating funds, but we can help identify potential services and provide guidance to help you develop a comprehensive application for investment.
He kai kei aku ringa
Te Puni Kōkiri support for Māori business growth helps to achieve the Whai Pakihi goals of He kai kei aku ringa - the Crown-Māori Economic Growth Partnership and strategy.
He kai kei aku ringa has five goals (‘E rere’):
- Employment – Whai Mahi - growing the future Māori workforce
- Rangatahi – supporting Māori youth to define and lead their economic aspirations
- Enterprise – Whai Pakihi - growing Māori enterprises - see He Tautoko I ngā Pakihi Māori : Support for Māori Business brochure
- Regions – Rohe Tū Pakari - increasing Māori participation in regional economies
- Education – Whai Matauranga - upskilling the Māori workforce
Visit E rere if you would like more information on He kai kei aku ringa and the five goals.
Getting in touch
Contact your regional Business Growth Advisor at the emails below:
- MaoriBusiness.TeTaitokerau@tpk.govt.nz
- MaoriBusiness.Tamaki-Makaurau@tpk.govt.nz
- MaoriBusiness.Waikato-Waiariki@tpk.govt.nz
- MaoriBusiness.Ikaroa-Rawhiti@tpk.govt.nz
- MaoriBusiness.TeTaiHauauru@tpk.govt.nz
- MaoriBusiness.TeWaipounamu@tpk.govt.nz
To phone or visit a regional office click here.
Stories
Events and Updates
Latest events and updates for this section are listed below.
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2018 World Indigenous Business Forum
A major international platform to showcase Māori business, engage Indigenous people in global economic discussions and leverage indigenous trade.
- Registration required
- Organiser: Te Ohu Whai Ao
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Te Puni Kōkiri congratulates 'super stars' of Māori agribusiness
Māori agribusiness excellence was on show in spades as the winners of the 2018 Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming and Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Awards were announced. Te Puni Kōkiri is a proud supporter of the awards.
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A man on a mission to bring people together
Standing up from his seat, Toko Kapea pulls out a map and holds it up high, letting the sheet unfold and roll down to the ground, revealing the Te Tai Hauāuru region.
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Honeys of Te Urewera only the start
Every morning, Brenda Tahi wakes up in the valley of Ruatāhuna, and pours herself a hot cup of lime and honey sourced from the pristine Te Urewera forest that surrounds her home.
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Keeping Mitimiti going one tree at a time
Just down the road from the small settlement of Mitimiti in Northland, you can hear the buzz of trucks and logging machines working the pine trees.
