Pacific Growth Services director Aifai Esera and Mahe Pofele, 31. Photo / Zoe Hunter
Phil Tuigamala Falamoe is proof that helping Pasifika businesses to prosper in the Bay of Plenty can boost the region's economy "big time".
The Samoan managing director of Bay company A1 Wrap hopes a newly launched Pacific Business Village in Tauranga will help other Pasifika businesses grow and expand like his.
A key priority of the village using the Tauola Business Fund was to provide direct investment into businesses to accelerate their long-term growth and help with the economic recovery from Covid-19.
The Fund provides up to $100,000 in grants to support existing small and medium-sized businesses in the regions outside of Auckland.
A $16.2 million multi-year appropriation in Budget 2021 to support economic development for Pacific communities has been used by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) to create the Pacific Business Village.
Falamoe received a grant through the Pacific Aotearoa Regional Enterprise Fund set up for Pasifika businesses in the region to stimulate growth and thrive post-Covid-19 last year.
With help from the fund, Falamoe was able to buy a new vehicle and grow his team from three people to eight.
"It's been a real blessing... it's been really positive for growth. It has helped us diversify big time."
Falamoe wanted more people to know about the new business village, which he said would open up a world of opportunity for other Pasifika businesses.
"The village has so much support that a lot of us didn't have when we were younger.
"Knowing there is this support will help us grow with the economy the way other companies grow."
Aifai Esera, director of Pacific Growth Services - the support network for Pasifika businesses in the Bay - said the aim of the village was the prosperity of the region's 411 Pasifika businesses and its people.
"It is empowering our business owners to empower our people."
Launching a business village initiative in the Bay was strategically part of the Golden Triangle - Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland.
"I think there is a lot of untapped potential in the Bay of Plenty for our people because of the opportunities for their businesses and their lifestyle."
The Bay was home to the Port of Tauranga, as well as the kiwifruit and construction sectors.
"It means we will never be unemployed."
Rotorua also had direct access to forestry employment, he said.
"The Bay of Plenty is the gateway for them into forestry."
Mahe Pofele moved from Rotorua to Tauranga about a week ago.
The 31-year-old Tongan is studying at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology to become a qualified quantity surveyor. He is also working part-time as a junior quantity surveyor at a roofing company in Matamata.
"I thought I was going to end up in Auckland but the Bay seems to have everything going for it.
"Some of the biggest and widely known quantity surveying firms are based in Tauranga. It drew me here. The growth that's happening here is immense."
Pofele was seeking industry mentors of Pacific origin to help him relate to his new home and work when he found Pacific Growth.
He attended the village launch on April 29 with his moving bags still packed.
"I thought it was going to be a small meeting of Pasifika business owners and professionals."
But there were hundreds of Pasifika ready to hear what the new business village had to offer.
"It gave me the inspiration to run my own business. It was very moving, it inspired me to want to do my own thing.
"I am the first person in my family to go to university. So it's pretty big for me."
After graduating, Pofele said he wanted to become an industry mentor for aspiring quantity surveyors.
"I was adopted by my grandmother and because I was brought up by my grandma I feel like... I have to do it for grandma."
Eki Scott, 45, and his wife Darci moved to Tauranga from Auckland in 2020 to start their own architectural firm called Edison Architectural Design.
Scott said Pacific Islanders were under-represented in the architectural space but Pacific Growth helped to create a network of support for Pasifika businesses in the region.
"I have felt inspired in understanding the opportunities that are available to the business.
It's exciting and inspiring."
It had also increased business, he said.
"There has been a whole lot more traffic and massive opportunities with big projects.
"Seeing the potential for our business to be massive is exciting and inspiring."
He said he was excited about the future of his business.
"If this initiative was present when our families came from the islands all those years ago with their ideas and work ethic, I feel like our generation now would be in a different place as far as success goes."
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio launched the village in Tauranga on April 29.
"I am excited to be supporting regional Pacific economic development projects. They are at the core of our rebuild of the economy."
A circular Pasifika economy using Pasifika business networks, business providers and businesses was at the centre of the village's vision, Sio said.
"By collaborating with networks and providers, the village can provide better access for Pacific businesses and improve economic development across Aotearoa.
"The village is complementary to existing services and meets unmet demand in the regions."
Heremaia Murray is a firm believer in hiring and training apprentices of all ethnicities and dedicating resources to supporting diversity in the trades.
"Most of my apprentices are Māori or Pasifika, but I hire skilled people from all backgrounds and ethnicities," says the director of Katikati business HDS Frame and Truss.
It comes as building and construction training provider BCITO experienced an "astonishing" increase in the number of Pasifika apprentices from 920 in December to 1700 in March.
Murray undertook a Certificate in Construction Trades supervisor course at BCITO in 2017 to improve his managerial skills and help develop his apprentices' careers.
"It provided me with a sound understanding of why apprentices are useful for delivering results.
"By investing in them now, I'm creating a skilled and loyal worker who understands how my business operates."
Murray said he was committed to encouraging young Māori and Pasifika people to give the trades a go.
"I often head down to the local marae or rugby club to have a chat with the young Māori and Pasifika rangatahi about the possibility of a career in the trades.
"It's important to be involved in your community. [It] helps spread the word about apprenticeships and how beneficial apprenticeships can be."
BCITO, a division of Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning, was also committed to increasing the number of Māori and Pasifika in the sector.
The building and construction training provider has developed specific strategies to engage with both groups, hired a principal advisor for Māori and Pasifika, is upskilling the cross-cultural capability of its training advisors, and developed tailored recruitment initiatives.
Director Jason Hungerford said he was pleased with the organisation's work to encourage diverse groups of people to undertake apprenticeships.
"We continue to see increasing rates of Māori and Pasifika rangatahi taking on apprenticeships.
"We have seen an astonishing increase in the number of Pasifika apprentices, which increased from 920 in December 2020 to over 1700 in March 2022. It shows that our strategies are working."
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) has also helped get Māori and Pasifika into apprenticeships with 20 per cent of BCITO learners supported by the TTAF Māori and nine per cent Pasifika.