Poutama Newsletter

April 2009

New look for Poutama

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Poutama has been revitalised with a soon to be released new look website, branding and regular monthly newsletter better reflecting the core business of the trust.

According to Poutama Chief Executive Officer Richard Jones the most noticeable change is the name which has been shortened to Poutama.

While the legal name remains Poutama Trust, the business will now be referred to simply as Poutama.

“We’ve been called Poutama Maori Business Trust but that’s just too long, we shortened it to Poutama Business Trust but that didn’t really make any difference. At the end of the day everyone calls us Poutama.”

Originally there were other organisations called Poutama and we needed to be more specific with the name but now there is more of an awareness of who we are and what we do, he said.

It made sense with the simplified name to update the website and revamp the newsletter.

Designed by SOLmedia the website is a lot cleaner and simpler to navigate.

Director Dan Brown said potential Poutama clients would be able to access vital documents, such as applications forms and resources instantly and Poutama staff would have a valuable resource to direct clients to.

“Once launched the website will become more of a living being with regular updates so when people come back to it there will be updates and new information.”

He said it had a more visual impact aiming to communicate, not decorate.

“It’s now visually appealing. There’s not screeds of information but if people want screeds of information we give them a simple way of getting there.”

Other features of the website include the revival of Poutama’s Business Directory so once the website is launched staff will be urging clients to register on the directory.

The newsletter has also been given a makeover and is being produced monthly. It will feature all the latest news and events at Poutama and useful resources for clients. It also aims to celebrate Maori business success with profiles of Poutama clients revealing the secrets to their success.

The website and directory are timed to be launched during April and we will let you know as soon as this happens and look forward to your feedback.

Hearty Kiwi Foods – Keri Gardiner

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Iwi – Nga Puhi
Hapu – Ngati Kahu
Marae – Rangiahua

What started as a small opportunity and a few hours of brainstorming with a group of friends is now an award-winning business on the road to becoming a Kiwi success story for a pair of Hawkes Bay mums.

Keri Gardiner and Leon Harris are the brains behind Hearty Kiwi Foods Limited, a wholesale and retail manufacturer of healthy option foods established in response to increasing demand for a quality, cost efficient beef patty.

According to Keri they stumbled across the idea for the business when her former employer was looking for a quality food stall at a local garden show.

“I thought here’s an opportunity, I got half a dozen friends around the table and quite a few coffees later we came up with good old hamburgers but we wanted to keep them healthy.”

From the group, Keri and Leon decided to run with the idea, creating their own recipe - a low fat, gourmet beef patty, stacked full of vegetables and served on a wholemeal bun. Then they were tasked with sourcing ingredients.

“It was harder than we thought. Especially the healthy meat patties. Lean beef was also really expensive.”

A local company, Bay Cuisine, liked the girls’ idea and decided to help them out and supply lean mince at a good price and make up a batch of their patty mixture.

“Then we literally threw on the whites and hand stamped 1000 meat patties. I looked across at Leon and said, girl, we can’t do this.”

Leon Harris & Keri Gardiner

At this point, the thought of a business had not even crossed their mind. They attended a few more events, sold a lot of burgers and discovered the feedback they were getting from people was phenomenal.

“Everyone loved our burgers, particularly the beef patties and that’s when we decided we wanted to take our idea further.”

Bay Cuisine said it would help them with the production of their patties initially using a “crazy method” where the patty mixture was made and pumped into something that looked like a dog roll then a bandsaw was used to cut it up.

“It was fantastic, perfect patties, perfect size and so much better than our previous method.”

While the events were slowing down with winter approaching, they knew they needed a new sales strategy and decided it was time to package and sell their product. 

In 2006 they set themselves up as a business. It took until September to get their systems in place. They also critiqued and adjusted the recipe after sending sample packs out for feedback.

From there we knew we had the perfect recipe, said Keri.

Now in its third year of operation the business has added Hearty Kiwi Lamb Patties to its range and is looking at other winter products and other patties like a pork and apple.

The flagship beef patty products were positioned at the mid to high end of the market in terms of both quality and price.

Keri said Hearty Kiwi Foods aimed to continue to build a strong reputation, increase its position in the market and pursue opportunities to reach other regions. Its immediate expansion goal was to supply the two main New Zealand supermarket chains Foodstuffs and Progressive with the full line of products.

A patty machine was bought in 2007. The machine allowed the business to maximise production capacity and minimise production costs. It also provided a better consistency of product and reduced labour time and costs.

“It has dramatically enhanced our efficiency and capability,” said Keri.

While happy with the company’s growth to date, Keri said she did not consider the business a success quite yet.

“When we start seeing that bottom line increase, profits in the bank, that’s when I’ll consider our business successful.”

However she said it must be doing something right.

Last year the company was one of two winners of the E2theMax Business Makeover Challenge. Sixteen businesses applied, six were selected as finalists and two were selected as winners.

Over seven weeks Hearty Kiwi Foods experienced intensive teamwork on leadership, planning, HR, IT and marketing. It achieved all four key outcomes which included strategic direction, team development, increases in confidence and business capability.

“This was crucial for us because it helped us to focus. Leon and I are both full of enthusiasm, we do everything with a hiss and a roar. Now we have a mentor and he helps us to keep it real.”

She said ultimately, Hearty Kiwi Foods would set the benchmark for premier New Zealand produced convenience food produce. It was built on offering the highest quality, healthy and convenient products with a real Kiwi can-do spirit.

Keri hoped their business would inspire Maori to start their own business. She also encouraged mums with a good idea to get out there and do it.

“With a great product, heaps of passion and the help and the support of great people and family, everything and anything is possible.”

For more information - www.heartykiwifoods.com

Rocket Espresso – Sanchia Brodrick

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Iwi - Tuhoe, Ngati Rangitihi, Ngati Porou & Te Rarawa

When Environment Waikato did a waste audit on itself and told business owner Sanchia Brodrick 60 per cent of its rubbish was Rocket takeaway coffee cups she was surprised but immediately knew she had to do something about it.

“At first I joked and told them it wasn’t my fault, that their staff should make the time to sit down at the café but I realised they had a point.”

The owner of Hamilton East’s Rocket Espresso Bar Sanchia said her business was sending out in the vicinity of 200 take-away cardboard cups and plastic lids a day and while she had a lot of happy customers, she also knew it was having an impact on the environment.

“My sister Martina and I decided the business had to change, we wanted to have a greener approach, be more environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly.”

At the end of 2008 Rocket Espresso Bar, who specialised in coffee, launched its thermal coffee cups hugely reducing the number of waste it produced.

Sanchia said more than 60 of the reusable thermal cups had been sold already with customers loving the idea and being proud to be seen carrying the retro-style cups.

“It took us quite a bit of time to get it going because we couldn’t use any low quality plastic cups, we had to find a superior quality stainless steel cup to make sure the coffee still tasted right.”

She said she wanted to make her own cups but it was too expensive and eventually she found a supplier who sourced the cups from Australia and they have been branded with the Rocket logo.

She said people still choosing to use take-away cups were charged an additional 20 cents as a deterrent and she allowed customers to bring in other thermal cups for re-filling if they had them.

“We just want to cut down on paper wastage and it’s good to see how many paper cups we’ve saved.”

In an effort to be as eco-friendly as possible, take-away food was also served in cardboard packaging now instead of plastic, the business was trailing eco-friendly cleaning products and was even using recycled stationery.

Rocket Espresso Bar recycled its plastics, tins, cardboard, had a pig bucket for food waste and its coffee grinds went into Bokashi Bins which were set up to use for compost in the Hamilton Gardens.

Sanchia said Environment Waikato applauded and supported the changes she had made helping to publicise her efforts.

“It’s good I don’t have to feel any guilt anymore.”

She had owned the café since 2005 after working there since 2002.

“I learnt so much from the previous owners, especially about coffee, the importance of using high quality products and the value of customer service.”

She saw the cafe change hands and was promoted to manager where she was doing everything except the finances. When her boss said he was interested in selling it, her mum suggested her and her sister go into business together, said Sanchia.

She has since bought her sister out but has never looked back saying she was proud to have kept true to the respected reputation the business had always had. In 2006 the building next door came up for lease so she took the opportunity to double the coffee bar’s size.

In an effort to continue the growth of the business, last year Rocket Espresso Bar started out-catering servicing businesses in the Hamilton east area. This year, with her systems streamlined, she planned to extend that service.

In response to customer demand for the business to open in the evenings Sanchia was in the process of applying for a BYO licence.

“If people are asking me, the demand is there and of course I’ll do it,” she said.

Not one to keep still, she also plans to add specialty foods to the menu including modernised Maori food.

Anomaly Rogue – Holli Goddard

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  Fashion stylist Holli Goddard and her partner Steven Setephano.

Iwi – Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue & Ngati Rangiwewehi

Fashion styling is in its infancy in New Zealand but Anomaly Rogue’s Holli Goddard is fast becoming one of the South Island’s most sought after fashion stylists and consultants.

Showcasing her business and creative flair at last month’s iD Dunedin Fashion Week, Holli said it was an honour to be asked to kick off the high profile event with an evening of fashion and styling.

“We did a theatrical evening including 15 models and five different themes so we created and styled outfits around the five different themes.”

She wanted to give clients a holistic styling experience for Winter 2009. Holly has been the Director and Head Fashion Stylist & Consultant of Anomaly Rogue in Dunedin for three years. She works with corporate groups, individuals and provides visual styling, with a focus to help people understand fashion and styling using classic pieces and mixing and matching with accessories from different sources.

She said around 100 people attended the event.

“It was crucial for me because fashion styling is very premature in New Zealand. People don’t really know what it’s all about.”

She said the public awareness surrounding iD Dunedin Fashion Week was phenomenal and the media coverage was critical for any emerging fashion business. 

“A lot of the guests who were there actually understand what fashion styling is and how it works on a personal level and on a corporate level and what it does for people in business and how it creates that edge.”

She said Anomaly Rogue provided services for personal clients including seasonal wardrobe revamps. On a business level it created styled ranges for professionals such as accounting and law firms and it had also created a package in the last couple of years for Super 14 rugby teams, dressing a handful of the Air NZ Cup rugby teams. She also did styling on fashion shoots.

“The show was kind of a mix of all of that encapsulated in one night.”

She themed up five different areas of the venue and created and emulated that theme within the props that were used. A lot of the business men and women who came along got an idea how styling could compliment their product or their service or what ever they were actually trying to sell.

According to Holli the response from the event was phenomenal.

“People loved that they were seeing something really different, experiencing something different.”

She said instead of having models walking down a run-way, as people were used to, her show had a real point of difference and that’s what she was all about – a little bit playful and not the norm as her business name suggested.

She said as guests arrived the models in the different areas were all static. They all took a pose as if they were mannequins. For the first half hour they actually stayed in that one pose only slightly changing every couple of minutes, to keep comfortable but also to show they were slowly coming to life, said Holli.

Models set in amongst their theme, Enchantment, at Holli Goddard's iD Dunedin Fashion Week Show.
 

Eventually after 20 minutes they all totally came to life and interacted with the guests. They all sat in their little themed areas and all had something interactive going on. For example in the Southern Man area, we had five Highlanders and when they came to life they were giving out Speights beer to the guests from their little stage, she said.

“It was really interactive, it was different and that’s what guests enjoyed. They never knew what they were coming to see and as they stayed on the 2 1/2 hour show unfolded.”

Holli said while she did design her own menswear range, called Rogue, most of her clothes and accessories for styling were sourced locally from wholesalers and retailers.

When asked how the idea of her business came about Holli said it was actually after a frustrating start. She held a four-year degree in Fashion and Design studying at both Auckland University of Technology and Massey University but had no idea what she was going to do when she completed it. At the time she was based in Hamilton.

“I was beside myself wondering what I was going to do. I had spent four years and $40,000 on this degree and I’d had expectations of this fabulous, glamorous industry but no prospect of any job.”

After a year working in retail earning $13.50 an hour she decided her talent was in fashion styling.

“I had already established a real following of men coming in for me to help them with their winter and summer wardrobes and I realised I was really good at this.”

Three years ago she left that job and set up her business and has never looked back. She said a move to Dunedin, brought about after her partner was offered a rugby contract there, was the best move possible for her too.

“Everyone here in the industry is so embracing.”

She is currently working with many high profile and elite clients. She said she divided her business between fashion conscious individuals and businesses looking to develop their own corporate image.

She said Anomaly Rogue's approach to fashion styling respected the individual styles of each client while infusing its unique views of current fashion trends. Holli prides herself in providing up to date and current fashion information on trends, colours and styles while maintaining a tailored service specific to the individual client. Be it current fashion, beauty tips, hair styles or design, her services aim to encourage and strengthen a client's sense of unique style, individualism and confidence.

For more information view - www.anomalyrogue.co.nz

KUMA Networking Event – a great success

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Te Kupeka Umaka ki Maori Araiteuru (KUMA), the Maori Business Network for the Otago and Southland region held a networking event for members and invited guests at the Cromwell Races last month. 

Geographically, Cromwell was centrally located for the members who were to travel from as far as Invercargill, Dunedin, Queenstown and surrounds. 

KUMA spokesperson Karen Burnett said the day was an opportunity to network with members from surrounding locations, to make new contacts and to share information whilst in a social surrounding.

Businesses that were represented included Stockdale Farm, Kiwi Haka Ltd, NZ Haka Elite, Sportsmagicnz, Polson Higgs, Transitionz Group Ltd, Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre, Mount Difficulty Wines, Poutama, Te Kaika - The Homestead, Karen Neill School of Rock, Nelson Clarke Enterprises, 50 on Princes and 63B Caterers.

She said members were invited to showcase their business and the invitation was accepted by Buff Health & Beauty, Alexandra and Mannatech Ltd, Queenstown both of whom provided a valuable insight of the daily activities involved within their business. 

“The weather held out for the horses and for us and helped to ensure a great day.”

She said there was something for everyone including children’s entertainment, side shows, a fashion show, market stalls, live entertainment and a rodeo atmosphere was briefly created with the appearance of the bull rider.

The day was successful with a number of new connections being made and business opportunities were realised, said Karen.

She said KUMA thanked Poutama for its support and Richard Jones for being available to members at this event.

50 on Princes

 

Small business tax relief - in effect April 1

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Are you ready for the Small Business Tax Relief Package?
The small business sector gets a helping hand in difficult and hard times as cashflows begin to tighten up.  A new tax relief package will certainly go some way in alleviating some of the pain and the short term pressures on working capital.  The key changes include lower provisional tax, lower ‘use of money' charges and a reduction in paying PAYE from twice a month to once a month for 15,000 businesses. The changes may affect how you manage your tax obligations and how much tax you pay.

These measures are all about easing growing pressures on immediate cashflow requirements and being able to access this assistance requires some active forward planning and a clear understanding of the new tax changes.  Working closely with your accountants will help determine areas of potential savings and assess if you are in a position to take advantage of the following initiatives:

Visit the Inland Revenue Website for more information or contact one of our Business Advisors for assistance.

Small to Medium Sized Enterprises now have option of 90-day trial – Department of Labour

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From March 1 employers in small to medium sized businesses can agree with new employees to a trial period for up to 90 days. This will allow employers to evaluate a new employee’s suitability for employment, without the risk of legal proceedings for unjustified dismissal if the employment relationship does not work out.

Eligibility

To be eligible employers must employ 19 or fewer employees. Employees can be full time, part-time, fixed term or casual as long as the total number of employees does not exceed 19 at the beginning of the day on which the employment agreement is entered into.

Trial periods are only for new employees

Only new employees can agree to a trial period. If employees have previously been employed by the employer, they cannot agree to a trial period. For example, an employee who was employed for 6 months in 2006 and then applies for a position with that same employer in 2009 cannot agree to a trial period.

Trial period must be in writing

Whether or not an employee accepts a trial period is a matter of agreement between the employer and the new employee. However, if a trial period of employment is agreed to, it must be specified in a written employment agreement.

Obligations

During a trial period an employee has the same protections regarding pay, conditions, leave, and health and safety as other employees.

Ending a trial period

During the trial period the employer may provide notice of dismissal to the employee.  Notice must be given during the trial period, even if the dismissal does not become effective until after the trial period ends.

An employee who is given notice of dismissal before the end of a trial period cannot raise a personal grievance on the grounds of unjustified dismissal. He or she may, however, raise a personal grievance on other grounds, such as discrimination or harassment or an unjustified action by the employer that disadvantaged the employee.

The employer may provide the employee with reasons for dismissal, but they are not legally obliged to.

If an employee successfully completes a trial period, his/her employment continues as agreed in their written employment agreement and the protections under the Employment Relations Act apply, including the ability to raise a personal grievance on the grounds of unjustified dismissal. 

For further information go to www.dol.govt.nz/90-days

Department of Labour - Te Tari Mahi

Calendar

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Poutama Calendar of Events / Regional visits for March 2009

In each edition of Poutama’s monthly newsletter staff will publicise scheduled road trips and any networking events they will be attending in this calendar. They encourage you to contact them in advance if you would like to meet with them while they are visiting or attending events in your area.  The calendar also highlights upcoming events featuring tourism, small business and Maori business so please contact us if you have an event you would like us to add to the calendar by emailing

Richard Jones

April 08 – Wellington
April 09 – Rotorua
April 20 – Dunedin/Christchurch
April 21 – Wellington
April 22 – Rotorua
April 23 – Auckland
April 30 – Wellington

Oscar Nathan

April 1/10 - Offshore - UAE, Abu Dhabi & Dubai

Vonese WALKER

April 07 & 08 – Wellington
April 16 & 17 – Kaitaia/Bay of Islands/Whangarei
April 17 & 18 – Northland biz expo in Whangarei
April 23 & 24 – Rotorua/Tauranga
April 28 & 29 – Auckland

Tom Manaena

April 6 – Nelson
April 9 – Hastings/Napier

Contact Us

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Tom Manaena, Commercial Manager ( 021 538 838 or 04 495 1132) – Tom is responsible for the finance, investment and accounting side of the business and also spends a lot of time out on the road covering the lower North Island, Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Central and Upper South Island regions. He also deals with clients at all levels and in all sectors.

Oscar Nathan, Business Adviser (  021 801 559 or 07 348 8903) – Oscar covers the wider Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions and deals with clients at all levels and in all sectors.

Vonese Walker, Information Manager ( 021 683 681) – Vonese covers the Northland, Auckland and lower North Island regions. She deals with clients at all levels and in all sectors.

Gail Maxwell, Office Manager ( 021 375 090 or 04 473 2652) – Gail is often the first point of contact for Poutama clients. She also supports Tom with the accounting function and provides back up to all of the team.

Kylie Stafford, - Communications, ( 021 494 977 or 03 570 5333) – Kylie is responsible for Poutama’s newsletter and communications. Feel free to make contact with her with any relevant information or networking events for publication in the newsletter.

Richard Jones, CEO ( 021 619 075 or Skype richtj) – Richard looks after the national and international stuff, strategic issues/relationships/development and also deals with clients at all levels and in all sectors.

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Other News

Minister appoints Taskforce on Maori economy

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The Minister of Maori Affairs has asked seven iwi and business leaders to head a taskforce on how Maori can avoid the worst impacts of the recession, and strengthen the Maori economy in the longer term.

Dr Pita Sharples said Mark Solomon, Ngahiwi Tomoana, Bentham Ohia, Daphne Luke, John Tamihere, June McCabe and Rob McLeod would lead this work for two years.

“These seven movers and shakers in Maoridom have particular expertise in tribal asset development, the primary sector, education and training, small to medium enterprises, social and community development, investment and enterprise, and economic growth and infrastructure,” said Dr Sharples.

He said together they made up a balanced team with wide networks and diverse interests, and they had the knowledge and experience to deliver results in the face of the huge economic challenges facing our nation.

“The key to our success is co-operation, and this team can achieve that for sure.

Dr Sharples said the taskforce would follow through on the ideas that emerged at the Maori economic workshop I called in January.

“I have set aside $4.5 million per annum for the Taskforce to work with. At the same time the Taskforce will lead rapid responses to the outcomes of Prime Minister’s jobs summit.

He said the PM’s Jobs Summit emphasised interdepartmental co-operation, and this task force was expecting to follow that approach as well. Some projects may be taken up by other agencies with Maori clients, he said.

The task force would be backed by a small secretariat in Te Puni Kokiri, with a private secretary right in the Minister’s office. Members would be expected to maintain their own networks to gather information and co-ordinate responses from flax roots and iwi organisations.

FoMA announces new Chief Executive

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www.foma.co.nz

Rino Tirikatene was named the new Chief Executive of the Federation of Maori Authorities (FoMA) last month. 

FoMA Chairman Temuera Hall said he believed it had chosen an excellent leader who would guide FoMA’s efforts to foster and promote the economic advancement of Maori commercial entities.

He said Rino had more than 12 years of industry experience working to promote Maori economic development and he brought a wide range of sector knowledge to FoMA.

For the past five years, Rino had worked for Ngai Tahu in both corporate and oversight roles where he spearheaded significant advances for its seafood business.

Before joining Ngai Tahu, Rino worked in the Maori Enterprise Team with Trade New Zealand where he led a number of export initiatives across Maori.

“We are also delighted that he has an understanding of legal and commercial issues as a result of his experience as a commercial lawyer.”

Living Landscapes documentary to feature on Air New Zealand flights

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Visitors and New Zealanders flying into the country can now see Wellington through Maori eyes thanks to a new documentary-style film available on Air New Zealand flights.

The New Zealand Maori Tourism Council (NZMTC), Maori regional tourism organisation Te Ara a Maui and Positively Wellington Tourism worked together on the 18 minute film which tells the story of Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui – the Head of the Fish of Maui.

It is the first of a number of films planned as part of the Living Landscape Strategy. The film is currently featured on Air New Zealand’s in-flight entertainment system.

Living Landscapes is a promotional framework that introduces the regions of New Zealand from a Maori view and adds significant value to the portrayal of the New Zealand experience.  It expresses the important connection that New Zealanders, and particularly Maori, have to the land through genealogy and legends such as the Fish of Maui.

The Te Ara a Maui website www.taamtourism.co.nz features both “Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui” and another entitled “Te Tau Ihu o te Waka a Maui” – The Prow of Maui’s Waka (Top of the South).

Some interesting points on Maori tourism: