Business Conference opens hearts as well as doors

Tu Tangata, Issue 5, 1 April 1982, Page 2

Business Conference opens hearts as well as doors

Just what can you pick up from a three day inaugural conference on business development, with a delegation of successful Hawaiian businessmen included as guest speakers.

To get a personalised answer you’d have to ask one of the eighty Maori businessmen or women who attended the first ever Maori Business Conference in Auckland in February.

For the generalised answer you could say the participants would have picked up confidence, pride and a sense of belonging to a group that’s changing the Maori economic base. Referred to often during the conference as being ‘the cream of the Maori people’, it would be fairer to say those attending were successful enough in their varied commercial backgrounds, to find the time off from work to get some perspective on where they were headed as a people. From the opening at the prestigious Trillos on the Wednesday night it was obvious that this was going to be a ‘showcase’ conference putting Maori business expertise in the best possible light. A fair slice of who’s who in the board-rooms of Queen Street were represented at the opening banquet. Names like Bob Owen, Hugh Fletcher, Gordon Dryden, Sir Dennis Blundell and then of course the Maori equivalents, Sir Hepi Te Heu Heu, Huia Briggs and up and coming Huarahi company man Claude Edwards.

Dazzling show If it could be said that Maoris generally lack impact on the commercial world, that wouldn’t be true for show business. Delegates and guests at the conference opening were treated to a dazzling show that previewed the Te Kopu Fashion Awards as well as showcasing who’s who in the entertainment world. Billy T. James, Tina Cross, The Yandell Sisters, Robyn Ruakere, and then of course conference co-ordinator Howard Morrison, they all performed well. For those wondering when the fun was going to stop and the business to begin the time came too soon. Early on Thursday morning came the wake-up call to the first breakfast work session. Fittingly enough it was hosted by a spritely looking Arthur Lydiard defying his 65 years of age. His topic was healthy living and exercise, with the corresponding benefits to business through ‘healthy body, healthy mind’.

And then on to the first conference session, ‘Technology and its implications’, courtesy of two IBM men, John Gunn and J.D. Matheson. These men talked of organisational changes disrupting previous norms in the market place, with the subsequent hardship for those not adaptable. Unfortunately it was noted that most Maori workers are in the areas where jobs are being lost through technology. Straight shooting For the businessmen at the conference there was some straight shooting advice. “Know the business you are in and stay abreast of advancements in the field so that you don’t fall behind. Don’t be fooled by the technology you use today this is just a tool to do a job in achieving your business objectives today. There may be a better tool tomorrow. To remain competitive you must have the best for your business for productivity and for cost effective reasons.” The following address by the young successful Hugh Fletcher was probably

best value for money for business-eager delegates. From the outset Fletcher

made it clear his business position was partly inherited and partly self-chosen. (Part of his address is published on page 32 of this issue. EDJ.

However while quick to minimise his own achievements, Hugh Fletcher opened up considerably with pointers on how Maori businessmen might use the team approach in small business. As he put it, “in your own business you can organise the way you want, in a cooperative manner, while in someone else’s business you must accept the organisation (until you get to the top and can then change it).” Some comfort

Delegates would have drawn more comfort from Hugh Fletcher’s comments that small business was more suited to the Maori cooperative approach and that this was the main growth area in industry.

The overview by Ngatata Love, from the Massey University Business Course, neatly summed up the day’s proceedings. From comments such as likening Maori business to ‘winking in the dark at a pretty girl’, to synopses of the main paper, it was all covered.

And the presence at the conference of seven students from the Business course at Massey was a source of great comfort and pride to delegates. Of course it was also a chance for students to show themselves and their ideas to prospective Maori employers. From the feedback I received from the students and employers alike, this was one of the success stories of the conference.

The Thursday night of the conference was reserved for ‘social’ business with a cruise on the harbour. From some of the faces clocking in at the next day’s early morning conference, business looked as though it had been successfully concluded.

Friday’s speakers were billed as ‘Kenny Brown and the Hawaiians The New Economic Chiefs’.

Well with that sort of fanfare, great things were expected. And they didn’t disappoint. Kenny Brown, the chairman of the board, that is the Ainamalu Corporation, was the delegation Rangatira. Kenny is also the president of the Mauna Lani Resort Inc. amongst other hats he wears.

Kent Bowman, president of Davies Marine Agencies Inc/Kawaihae Terminals Inc. Dr Mitchell Eli, owner of the Aloha Chiropractic Center. Richard Hartman, general manager of the Auckland Sheraton Hotel. Charles Heen, president of his own interior design firm.

George Henrickson, project director of Kuilima Development. George Kanahele, chairman of the board Hawaii Entrepreneurship Training and Development Institute. Like I said, the ‘new economic chiefs’ or ‘big guns’.

It wasn’t so much what they said but how they said it. Cut and thrust Some like George Henrickson spoke of being brought up by grandparents in an island community, not unlike the rural Maori. He spoke of having to painfully adjust to the European cut and thrust of society, sort of like squeezing into his first pair of shoes at the tenderfoot age of six.

But George wasn’t slow off the mark to realise he had to make his way in a competitive world. He said there was a great need to ‘trust’ in business and that’s how he accounts for retaining his Hawaiian identity while at the same time competing in a commercial world.

For Charles Heen, the interior design artist, it was somewhat different. He told of being like Hugh Fletcher, in being born with a golden spoon in his

mouth. Just out of school, Charles was given a world education, courtesy of a legacy left by a close relative.

With it he travelled the world, attending places of learning and also inhaling the cosmopolitan spirit of differing cultures. He said it was quite normal for him to develop his eye for design and start making money in the marketplace.

Kent Bowman, the part-time comedian with a half Hawaiian-half European upbringing had only one wish as a young man, to go to sea.

Big league

And that’s just what he did, but with one major difference from other sailors. Kent eventually joined forces with a marine agency supplying hardware to the trade and is now in the big league of sea-faring businessmen.

For him it’s been a case of acquiring the skills along the way, but he says Hawaiians have a natural talent for organising people. It’s an affinity he believes the Maori also has.

However the most intriguing part of the address was the openness of

delegation leader, Kenny Brown. He stressed the desire by Hawaiians to rediscover their heritage, pointing out that blood ties are now assuming some importance in being identified as being Hawaiian.

For himself he apologised for not being fluent in the Hawaiian tongue but said the cultural connection had come to him rather late in life. For his part now as a very successful businessman, he was endeavouring to encourage the retention of what native Hawaiian land and culture was left.

Later at various workshops at the conference, delegates had a chance to quiz the Hawaiians on the ups and downs of their individual success stories. What was evident was that while they might be prominent in the commerical world, the importance of retaining their identity hasn’t escaped them.

No hindrance

They don’t see the Maori culture as being any hindrance to commercial success but rather a plus factor in giving more meaning to work. For some of the Hawaiians, it was said, the realisation of that factor had come late in life. That’s why they were particularly encouraged by the concept of distinct Maori business, embodying cultural values in a commercial base that gave more meaning and vitality to the work ethnic.

For conference people, it was all over on the Friday, despite a few still asking when the work was going to start. But for the Hawaiians, it was a breathing space before taking off to the Bay of Plenty on a tour of marae and horticulture expertise.

On the Saturday a busload of Hawaiians and Maori Affairs personnel travelled to Tauranga and were hosted at lunch at Pou Tu Terangi, a Te Puna marae. Among the elders was Turi Te Kani, who in his mihi spoke of the strong links between Maori and Hawaiian. He harked back to the legendary Hawaiiki where the Maori sailed from to settle in Aotearoa.

For Kenny Brown, the reply was an emotional one telling of how privileged he felt to be once more reunited with his family.

New baby

And then after lunch, back on the bus and a visit to the nursery of Huarahi Developments, a new Maori horticulture company. Proudly company chairman Claude Edwards showed off the 14 month old baby of the company.

Eight hectares of land, with the nursery established on one hectare growing avacado, kumara, kiwifruit and shelter willows. The aim is to provide the best virus-free variety of seedlings, firstly to Huarahi growers, and then to the public.

The total value of the nursery is SIOO,OOO plus.

Back on the bus Claude explained the background of Huarahi, as being the first Maori export company venture to have sprung from shareholders in Maori land. All the growing of crops is done by shareholders from several tribes on their own land, with TNL of Nelson having forty percent shareholding, handling all the marketing of the produce.

At the moment the first season has started for Huarahi with the processing and exporting of squash (200 acres) and sweetcorn (400 acres) to markets in Japan and Malaysia.

The yield for sweetcorn is 4 tonne per acre and 6 tonne per acre for squash.

Clause explained how the squash seed was bought from the Kaneko Seed Company in Japan on a recent overseas trade mission.

As well as the nursery, Huarahi has its own cool store in Taneatua where the processing takes place. Claude added that the people grow produce for themselves, with some crops purchased in the field and some at the factory door. Huarahi provides a nursery manager, an orchard development person and a marketing person.

To the Hawaiians, the Huarahi setup made sense and they thought it was a great example for Maoris to follow.

By this time the bus had arrived at Roimata marae, a very peaceful settlement overlooking Ohiwa Harbour. Once

more the mihi extolled the ties with the legendary Maori homeland of Hawaiiki.

Old ties

In the meeting house that night, the visitors were very privileged to take part in a Ringatu church service. And later it was obvious from the talking and singing with the locals that they were re-cementing old ties with longlost family.

In the morning was a visit to the Whakatohea Trust Board. Here the former secretary to the board, Sir Norman Perry gave a rundown on how the board was set up. He explained that some years back the Government made a compensation offer to the Whakatohea people for lands confiscated in the land wars.

The offer was for SI6OO a year in perpetuity, but the locals instead opted for a lump sum payment of $40,000.

This large sum was put together with a Maori Trustee loan and enabled a farm to be purchased.

Charitable trust

By judicious handling the original investment provided work for four families but it was felt that more job creation was needed in the area. So a shoe factory was purchased near the present site of the Whakatohea Trust Board office.

A team of young people run the factory and have recently been successful in gaining large orders for markets in the United Kingdom, Fiji and Czechoslaviakia.

The Whakatohea Trust is now a charitable trust with assets of around the two million dollar mark. As the prime purpose of the trust is service to the Whakatohea people, its success and profitability is measured differently to other commerical enterprises. All profits are ploughed back for the running of education programmes, marae maintenance and more job opportunities.

For the writer that was the last day spent with the Hawaiians, who had a day in Rotorua before returning to Auckland and then home.

All in all, the business conference and trip was an educational experience that not only opened business doors, but also hearts and minds to the common links Pacific neighbours have.