On the 2 March 2022, Toi Kai Rawa in partnership with Ara Rau and Amotai facilitated an event that brought together Māori business owners from within the construction and infrastructure industry to learn about Social Procurement processes and contract opportunities.

“As a part of the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga City Council’s Long Term Plan, there are proposed capital investments in infrastructure of $4.6b over the next 10 years, which highlights the importance of securing these strong and mutually beneficial connections between Māori businesses and the infrastructure industry” commented Priority One Project Manager, Marissa Nikora.

The Social Procurement Awareness event is part of a series of opportunities to support Māori talent and Māori businesses and their readiness to take on these contracts, at scale. “….This is part of a significant piece of work that Toi Kai Rawa has been working on to mobilise the Māori Business networks across the wider Bay of Plenty. The collaboration between our three organisations is critical to amplify our collective efforts…” said Operations Manager of Toi Kai Rawa, Kylie Smallman.

With over 25 attendees from 8 different Māori businesses alongside our speakers Tony Fisher – General Manager District Courts at NZ Ministry of Justice, Carmel Lapwood – Comms & Engagement Advisor at Fulton Hogan, Monique Nee Nee – Step Change Manager at Fulton Hogan and Neihana Bennett – Founder at Wera Works, the event provided a great learning platform to showcase some of the project opportunities on the horizon.

The event provides an important space for contractors to talk about their procurement process and a platform for Māori businesses to learn how to better align themselves in order to secure upcoming contracts.

Moving forward we are excited for this event to be the first of many as we continue to weave the social procurement pieces together. Our collaboration between Toi Kai Rawa, Ara Rau – Pathways to Work and Amotai will be pivotal in supporting our Māori businesses on their journey.

The next event is scheduled to take place during May in Tauranga Moana.
For more information, or for enquiries as to how you can collaborate with the event, please get in contact with us at: info@toikairawa.co.nz.