SAMOA BECOMES THIRD COUNTRY TO BENEFIT FROM PACIFIC ISLANDS BUSINESS MENTORING PROGRAMME

The new Pacific Islands Business Mentoring Programme has been launched in Samoa. Five volunteer mentors from Business Mentors New Zealand (BMNZ) landed in the country on Monday.

Samoa is one of 11 Pacific island countries to be included in the BMNZ managed project over the next three years with funding provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Samoa is the third country to have welcomed the initiative. The first two recipients were the Cook Islands in May and Tonga in June.

The programme aims to assist small and medium sized businesses in the Pacific to manage and grow their businesses in a way that supports sustained increases in production and employment over time. It is hoped the programme will be a catalyst for identifying other business needs such as training, and create opportunities for partnerships and joint ventures, and increased Pacific exports, including to New Zealand.

Litia Brighouse, Executive Officer at the Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the BMNZ agent for the scheme, says: `The economy in Samoa is slowly picking up, after the impact of the global recession, but it will take a while for business confidence levels and productivity to return to the levels they were at. Sitting down with an experienced NZ mentor will help our business owners spot weaknesses and opportunities for growth that they may not have considered before. It will also enable them to widen their skill sets so that they can get through these more difficult times and move forwards, in a positive direction.’

Ian Furlong, Pacific Manager at Business Mentors, adds: ‘The things that Samoan business owners need assistance with are quite similar to elsewhere in the Pacific Islands. Human resources, business planning, use of financial information and I.T are all areas that many would appreciate some help and guidance around.

'We’ve had a fantastic response from local businesses in Samoa and have received applications from a very diverse cross section of industries,’ adds Ian. ‘As well as the positive response from business owners, there has also been strong government support, especially from Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Misa Telefoni Retzlaff. It has been really encouraging to see them put their full weight behind promoting the initiative and making sure that company owners are made aware of the benefits of mentoring.’

Prime Minister John Key announced the development of the new Pacific Business Mentoring Programme last year to provide practical support for Pacific businesses, explaining: ‘Many of the Pacific business people I have met recently have told me how useful it would be for them to have greater access to business advice and mentoring from New Zealand.’

CARE CHEMIST TEAMS UP WITH WELL KNOWN CAMBRIDGE PHARMACY

Comins Care Chemist, based in Cambridge has become the latest store to join Care Chemist, New Zealand’s fastest growing community pharmacy group.

Cliff Comins, owner of Comins Care Chemist explains: ‘The Care Chemist offer appealed to me as it means we will receive valuable assistance with our systems, staff training and marketing. Yet we will still be able to retain our individuality. We will also benefit from group buying discounts and the high profile of the Care Chemist brand. It was definitely the right decision for us and I’m looking forward to working with the group and taking the business forward.’

‘At the end of the day, it’s all about providing the people that come into the store with the best experience possible,’ adds Cliff. ‘Being part of a group will enable us to spend more time doing what we are good at; looking after our customers.’

Care Chemist spokesperson, Anthony Yee, says: ‘We are delighted with the new addition to the Care Chemist team. Cliff has a very warm and welcoming personality and is exactly what we look for in a Care Chemist. Both he and his employees enjoy interacting with their customers and helping them to discover ways to manage their medical conditions or stop them occurring in the first place. They are all very enthusiastic about their role as ‘health coach’ to the local community.

‘Comins Care Chemist embodies everything that we strive for, focusing on the customer and providing them with a superior professional healthcare service.’

Comins Care Chemist can be found at 67, Victoria Street, Cambridge.

For more information on Care Chemist, visit the website here

TOWER LENDS FUNDS TO HELP KIWI MEN LIVE LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES

Taking the message that men need to be more aware of the importance of looking after their health, directly to the workplace, has just received a major shot in the arm thanks to TOWER Limited, one of New Zealand’s leading investment and insurance companies.

Men’s Health Trust New Zealand has signed a three year corporate sponsorship with TOWER, which will help fund the Trust’s workplace programme.

Men in New Zealand live on average, four years less than women, and death rates for Maori men are double that of non-Maori.

Nearly a quarter of men smoke, over 50 percent are overweight, 27 percent indulge in potentially hazardous drinking, and two die each day of preventable illnesses.

It’s these unacceptably negative statistics that the Men’s Health Trust New Zealand is committed to improving by talking directly to men in their workplaces.

"New Zealand men go to see a doctor three times less often than women, and men in general lack awareness of the importance of health screening to help detect preventable diseases and deaths, from conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease,” says Dr Graeme Washer, Trustee and medical consultant to the Trust.

Men are also over represented in the areas of high cholesterol and suicide. The suicide rate for Maori males is 30 percent higher than the rest of the population.

The chairman of Men’s Health Trust New Zealand, Colleen Thurston, says the corporate sponsorship with TOWER is critically important to the success of the Trust’s workplace initiatives.

“This is a wonderful and very significant step forward as it helps the Trust take its workplace awareness program to more companies, which is a major goal for us,” Colleen Thurston says.

Rob Flannagan, TOWER’s Managing Director, says “this sponsorship sees TOWER enhance its social responsibility within an important segment of our society. It is very well aligned to the company’s workplace markets in which we offer life and health insurance as well as Kiwisaver to employees of over 700 companies, many of which have predominantly male workforces.
TOWER’s association with these companies makes us an ideal partner to assist the Trust raise the awareness of men’s health within the workplace,“ Mr Flannagan says.

The Men’s Health Trust New Zealand was formed three years ago to address these serious men’s health problems, and to actively encourage New Zealand men to take more personal responsibility for their own physical and mental well being.