Māori businesses in Otago, Southland and the Queenstown Lakes are being invited to enter an awards event that celebrates resilience, collaboration and business success.

Te Kupeka Umaka Māori ki Araiteuru (KUMA), the Māori business network for the Otago/Southland region, has opened entries to the biennial KUMA Māori Business Awards.

After a year when people around the globe were asked to isolate, for many the past 12 months has provided opportunity to reinterpret that message, KUMA board co-chair Claire Porima said.

“What I have seen is the demonstration of kaupapa Māori entrepreneurship,” she said.

“We have focused on valuing our whānau connections, supporting each other personally and professionally, and creating innovative ways to strengthen our businesses. This is whakawhanaungatanga in action, one of our key values at KUMA. Our vision is captured in the whakatauki ‘Kia tipua tahi ai’, Let us grow together.”

Businesses that identify as Māori are eligible to enter the awards, for which this year’s theme is Manawaroa (resilience) and Kotahitanga (collaboration/oneness). The categories for this year’s event are: collaboration and innovation, employment and growth, resilience and wellbeing and emerging enterprise (includes Rangatahi).

The supreme winner will be awarded the Suzanne Spencer Tohu Maumahara Business Award. Suzanne was highly regarded as one of the founding members of KUMA. This award is an acknowledgement of her significant contribution to Māori ki Araiteuru and her enduring legacy.

An independent judging panel will select finalists, who will be acknowledged on the night alongside the category winners. 

Entries close on Thursday, June 17. Entry forms can be downloaded and are to be submitted to [email protected]. The awards dinner will take place at Elmwood Gardens in Invercargill, on July 2.