October 28, 2022
Robot maker Saunders a plus for Māori business
Agriculture technology entrepreneur Steve Saunders of Ngāi Te Ahi and Ngāti Ranginui has won the Te tohu Kairangi mō te Kaiārahi Pakihi Māori Outstanding Māori Business Leader Award I this year’s Ngā Taumata Rau Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards.
He’s the co-founder and chief executive of Tauranga-based Robotics Plus, which has developed a range of products including unmanned ground vehicles for orchard and vineyard use, the Āporo fruit packer and a log scaler for port automation.
The Dame Mira Szászy Lifetime Award went Robin Hapi of Ngāti Kahungunu, who has held a range of governance and executive leadership positions of importance for Māori development.
Fast-growing Whangarei-based drilling company North Drill won the Outstanding Māori Business Leadership Award, and waste reduction organisation Para Kore Marae Incorporated won an award honouring the late Māori academic Dr Mānuka Henare which recognises education, service and leadership.
Georgia Latu, the 16-year old CEO of Pōtiki Poi, the largest poi manufacturer in the world, won the oung Māori Business Leader Award
The awards are run by the University of Auckland Business School.