Ukutoia innovation hub aims to put pūtea back into its community's pockets

In The Flow State founder Tyrone Tangara-Makiri. Photo / Supplied

By Vaimaila Leatinu'u of Whakaata Māori

Tāmaki Regeneration Company, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and In The Flow State founder Tyrone Tangara-Makiri opened an innovation hub last week in Ukutoia-Glen Innes with big plans.

The hub will assist local rangatahi Māori and Pasifika entrepreneurs as they start their businesses.

The hub, named "Reserve", took three years to develop and was borne out of a need to connect with other local prospective entrepreneurs.

"We're all business owners. A few of us were like, 'Hey, do we know anyone else out here doing their business?' So now we've got quite a big space to run events," East Tāmaki local Tangara-Makiri (Hōreke and Rarotonga) says.

The Reserve hub will be used to run networking events, activities and mentoring workshops to climb with the people, "not over them".

Doing it together

"Trying to pull it together in my community has always been a passion because not only do I want to see myself get to the heights that I want to be at but how can we do it together?" Tangara-Makiri says.

Tāmaki Regeneration Company is mostly known for providing housing in the Auckland suburb rather than honing rangatahi business skills but chief executive Shelley Katae, from Te Arawa and Ngāti Porou, believes the hub is essential for the Tāmaki regeneration master plan.

"The real success of this regeneration programme won't just be measured on how many houses we build but actually on the outcomes that we achieved for people within the area, especially our Māori and Pasifika whānau," Katae says.

Katae and Tangara-Makiri believe the hub will help Ukutoia locals learn the ropes of entrepreneurship, leading to creative proliferation and financial literacy.

"I think this really will be a hub in the future for our creative and entrepreneurial Māori and Pasifika businesses," says Katae.

"It's all about mana motuhake, the big vision of running your own business. You know, then you can run whatever else in your life," Tangara-Makiri says.