Kia Ora Koutou Katoa. Ko Toko Mahanga Samuels toku ingoa, e noho ana au ki Kemureti, no Te Moutere o Matakana me Pohara Marae ahau.

Mahanga to Me. The name ‘Mahanga’ originates in Whangarei which was passed down to me from my Grandmother. Mahanga can mean numerous things, when founding this business I wanted to represent my people and heritage. Mahanga broken down is Ma (for many) and Hanga (to build) which carried a lot of meaning to me as this meant I could carry out my vision building for many of my Whanau.

Inspiration. Growing up I always heard the stories of my grandfather, on the island of Matakana. Whenever there was a problem he was the only one that could solve them.  As a young boy this always stood out to me because of how much he helped people. I remember hearing one story in particular; he owned one hand saw which he would customise depending on the job. This would involve setting the teeth to the particular cut that he needed, for example from crosscut to rip saw. Anyone who knows a bit about construction knows how much of a mission this is. He always inspired me to follow that path of helping our people.                                                                                   My older brother Wina was also a huge inspiration to me, we had planned to start our own construction business over in Australia. My brother Wina was an electrician and one of my biggest mentors both in life and our passions. Sadly before we could start this journey he passed away. This pushed me to start this journey and achieve our dreams with him watching over me.

Journey. Mahanga Builders LTD was founded in March of 2021. Our service area began in the Waipa District and has now expanded from South Waikato to Port Waikato and through to Tauranga. In the beginning it was just a solo effort for 6 months, completing a variety of projects consisting of small jobs to relatively big jobs such as full renovation. Now, we have the capacity to complete full renovations and new builds in a timely manner with a number team members which are allocated to multiple jobs. During this time we have completed a lot of work for the iwi which in turn has given us the status of ‘their preferred builder’. We are now working on more expansion and the hopes of upskilling our people in order for them to gain more knowledge and be put into higher positions in the building industry.