44 | CONTRACTING Kāpehu Civil Innovation T T Kelly Deeks Setting their subbies up for success Kāpehu Civil Innovation provides a wide range of civil construction and geo-technical remediation service. Kāpehu Civil Innovation is a family business with a difference. Providing a wide range of civil construction and geo-technical remediation services, company directors Tani Tuake and Whakapono Nepata-Tuake project manage and administrate while their team of 15 subcontractors (all whānau, and “all Māori and Pasifika”) carry out the work while growing their own profiles and their own businesses. “They are business owners who have come from where we started,” Tani says. “Our whole business idea is to help them develop their companies as well.” Tani and Whakapono both have a defence force background, with Tani still part time in the Army Reserve Force, and Whakapono having served for 13 years. They use the disciplines of the military throughout every aspect of Kāpehu Civil Innovation. Tani has a strong background in civil construction project management and supervisory roles, from which he developed many important relationships and connections that enabled him to start Kāpehu Civil Innovation in 2018 with a discerning client base. He saw in the marketplace sole trader contractors with their own machines and their own businesses, high on passion, experience, and skill, but low on business acumen. He knew he could help them to learn and succeed by sharing his own knowledge and experience, and supporting their growth with Kāpehu Civil Innovation. Tani provides leadership and direction across the business and ensures the team is operating to the expected operational readiness, with overall financial, client, and contractual relationships and business KPIs across all functions. As a project manager who recognises the global view to achieve wider social, environmental, and sustainable outcomes, Kāpehu Civil Innovation has an agile edge and a tactical advantage. Whakapono provides effective and innovative business management and leadership with financial and contractual requirements. She keeps the wheels in motion, maintaining respectable and professional relationships with clients and contractors, and ensuring the team is operating to a high standard and maintaining a high calibre of health and safety consciousness. Today Kāpehu Civil Innovation has a high functioning and diverse team with various expertise and capabilities. Tani’s leadership style plays to the individual strengths of each team member as they complete a range of projects from hardscaping, infrastructure services, and drainage to geotechnical remediation, high density residential development, and highspeed rail construction. “We like to pull the strengths out of people,” Tani says. “By making sure their skill sets and their understanding matches the tasks they are allocated, we’re setting them up for success on their projects and in their businesses.” Kāpehu Civil Innovations is committed to a sustainable future for Rangatahi and to the longevity of the civil construction industry for years to come. As part of its sustainability model, Kāpehu Civil Innovation now has the ability to track its footprint with data logging and a re-purpose, re-use policy which encompasses the company’s commitment to sustainable life.
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