Kāhu ki Rotorua: Business network extends a hand

Rotorua Maori business owners are spreading the word that they are back and determined to build an effective network within our rohe.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

See below for English translation

Kua puta te hau rongo o ngā rangatira o ngā pakihi Māori o Rotorua.

E mea ana rātou kai te whakatakoto rautaki whakapakari e tū honohono ai rātou ki te hāpori whānui.

I whakarewangia ai te kaupapa a Pakihi Ora hei kauawhiawhi, hai tū-kōrero-ā-kanohi me te whakawhanake i ngā tini hua ka puta mai e ora ai ngā Pakihi Māori i ngā wā o te hē, i ngā wā o te ora hoki.

Ā te mutunga wiki nei ka tū tā rātou hui tuatahi i Anis Gin me Tappas Bar. Ko te take, he whakarewa i tō rātou waka hou.

Ka nui te whakamihi atu ki ngā rangatira nei, ko Tiare, Ko Tarraleigh, ko Teepa, ko Aroha Dorset, ko Tia Smith rātou ko Phil McFarlane.

Ka hui rātou i Kai Caff Aye ia wiki me te hāwhe , ā, kua oti kē i a rātou ngā hui parakūihi e waru. "E tūwhera ana te hui parakūihi ki ngā rangatira pakihi māori katoa, he pōhwhiri tēnei ki a kotou katoa kia whakatata mai," hai tā Aroha.

Kua nanakia kē te wā i tū tetehi hui pēnei te āhua. I whakatūria a Takiwai i te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā tahi, hai tūāpapa e tū mataaho ai ngā pakihi Māori, ā, kia whakapakari ake te aka kōrero e tūhono atu ai ngā pakihi nei ki te hāpori.

He wā whakawhanake me te whakapakari i te āhuatanga o te pakihi hoki.

"E tika ana kia whakamihia a Takiwai me tō rātou mana whakaharahara, nāna tātou ngā pakihi Māori i whakaihiihi i te wā o te kore ihi.

Pakihi Ora was established to support, engage, and develop business opportunities.

Nō mātou te waimarie kua pakari tā tātou tū i o rātou pakihiwi. "Kai te whakarauorangia e Pakihi Ora ngā kawekawe whakawhiti kōrero o ngā pakihi Māori, kua roa rawa atu ēnei e ngaro ana i a tātou". E whia kē hoki o ngā rau rangatira nāna a Takiwai i poipoi, me te titiro atu inaianei e tau ana o rātou waewae ki te ātea nui o te ao pakihi'. Koina hai tā Aroha kī ai.

"Ko te mea kē kia koke whakatemua mātou kāua mō te wā itiiti nei engari kia rite ki te rākura e taiawhiotia te ao nei, he ake ake".

E mea ana hoki a Aroha, "Ae, ko ngā painga o Pakihi Ora he nui hoki, he motuhake anake ki ngā pakihi Māori, ki o rātou ake whānau, ki ā rātou pou-mahi me te whānau hoki o ngā poumahi. Engari ko ngā rawe ka māturuturu noa ki te whakawhanake i te takiwā, ā, puta noa ki Aotearoa whānui hoki;.

"E tū rangatira ana tātou te Māori, ka rangatira hoki te marea".

Mō te wā nei kai te tiakina a Pakihi Ora e Toi Kai Rawa, me tetehi paepae rangatira. Ka tukuna e rātou he awhina nui kia tere ai tēnei waka he ahakoa he mahi hoki ā rātou he pakihi hoki ā rātou.

"He aroha nui te pūtake o tēnei kaupapa ka rewa mai he raruraru, ka hau atu mātou ki te whakapuru i taua kōwhao nā – e mea ana te pepehā, rukutia ngā tangata kia ū kia mau." Ko te pae tata nei he ngāwari noa; ko te whakawhanake i ngā mema, ka rua ko te whakamātautau i te whakaaro kia tika ai te whakahāngai ki ngā pakihi o Rotorua nei.

"Ko te pae tawhiti he manaaki me te tiaki i ngā rohe kē atu ."

Mō te naianei, he kaupapa e noho kau ana ki Te Waiariki, engari anō pea tāria te wā e tere ai ki rohe kē atu.

Ko te māuiui korona tētehi o ngā akoranga nui i kite ai mātou me pakari ngā pakihi Māori kia kāua tātou e rite ki te iwi o Maruiwi ka ngaro ki te pō. Ka rua, kia toitū ngā paiaka o te rākau kia kāua tātou e pūhia e te hau pūkerikeri. —Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori tenei purongo

English Translation

Rotorua Maori business owners are spreading the word that they are back and determined to build an effective network within our rohe.

Pakihi Ora was established to support, engage, and develop business opportunities for pakihi māori in the district.

This weekend they are holding their first after-five gathering, at Anis Gin and Tappas Bar to launch their kaupapa to the wider business community.

The dedicated leadership team of current business owners is Tiare and Tarraleigh Teepa, Aroha Dorset, Tia Smith, and Phil McFarlane.

They meet fortnightly at Kai Caff Aye and have held eight parakuihi events to date.
"Our parakuihi are open to all māori business owners – we encourage you to come along and share a kai with us," says Aroha.

It is some years since Rotorua had a Maori business network.
Takiwai was a not for profit organisation set up in 2011, providing a platform for Maori businesses to network, develop and share their successes and challenges, It was open to any person or organisation interested in advancing Maori business aspirations.

"We need to acknowledge Takiwai and the role they played in uplifting pakihi Māori. We are fortunate to be standing on their shoulders.

"Pakihi Ora is reviving Māori business networking in Rotorua that has been missing for a few years now.

Many Māori business owners were fortunate to come up through Takiwai and benefit from the power of the collective and the tautoko that such a rōpū provides," said Aroha.

"We want that to continue for māori business owners now and into the future."

Aroha said the benefits of Pakihi ora directly are to Māori businesses, their whanau, their employees and their employees whanau.

However, the benefits extend to regional economic growth and national economic resilience.

"What is good for Māori is good for everyone."

Currently Pakihi Ora has been supported by Toi Kai Rawa and the leadership team who take time away from their own Pakihi to be able to manage the operations and governance of Pakihi Ora.

"This is a labour of love. We saw a need and got to work on a solution together."
In the short term, the goal is simple: Build membership, trial the model and find out what works best for our pakihi in Rotorua.

"The long-term goal is to support other regions to set up a networking model that works for them in their rohe."

For the present Pakihi Ora is a regional initiative although that does not rule out taking it national.

The Covid pandemic and disruption of business made it clear to members of the collective that the Maori business world needed to act decisively to ensure we had a future. Pakihi Ora puts in place the components to effect such action.