Good News Aotearoa Digest 20th September 2025
🌿 Bright Spots From Around the Motu
It’s easy to think the headlines are all doom and gloom. Rising costs, politics in a spin, international worries - sometimes it feels like the world is wobbling on its axis and yet, if you pause and look closer, you’ll find a different current running quietly but strongly through Aotearoa. Communities are creating, businesses are thriving and clever people are finding ways to make life just a little brighter.
Here are some of the good things happening right now -
🚀 SMEs stepping up and shining
In Taranaki, Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki has just launched the second round of its Scale Up Grants. Local enterprises can apply for up to $5,000 each to help them expand, test new ideas, or take their next growth step. To some, five grand might sound small, but for an ambitious startup or family business, it can mean the difference between dreaming and doing. It’s yet another reminder that regions aren’t waiting around for someone else to fix things - they’re building their own ladders.
Meanwhile in Hawke’s Bay, a small but mighty company called Freenergy Solar Solutions has been recognised at the national SEANZ 2025 Aotearoa Industry Awards. Their work in renewable energy shows that the clean-tech revolution isn’t just for Silicon Valley or government agencies. Right here in New Zealand, SMEs are installing panels, cutting emissions and proving that business can be both profitable and planet-positive.
Then there’s Xero, shining a spotlight on entrepreneurs through its new podcast “Open for Small Business.” Real Kiwi owners are sharing their ups and downs, the lessons that textbooks never teach. It’s another way the small business community is cheering itself on and reminding us that courage, creativity and resilience are baked into our DNA.
🌱 Community strength in action
In South Auckland, a quiet transformation is growing in the soil. More than 100 community gardens now dot the area, including 44 on council land. These gardens aren’t just about silverbeet and spuds - they’re about people. They create places where neighbours meet, kids learn and families save a bit on groceries. In times when costs bite hard, the simple act of growing kai together is a gentle but powerful act of resilience.
Porirua has its own brand of innovation, too - not tech or widgets, but finance. Locals there have created a community savings pool that provides interest-free loans. No hidden fees, no sharks circling, just people helping people. For families who would otherwise be trapped by predatory lenders, this grassroots “wealth pool” is a lifeline. It’s local solidarity in its purest form.
Let’s not forget the sparks of joy from the “On The Up” stories - young musicians securing funding to record their first single, teenage bakers turning passion into business, tourism operators getting recognised for lifting their regions. These aren’t the kind of stories that crash news sites, but they’re the ones that remind us where hope lives.
⚡ Clever Kiwi thinking
Aotearoa’s flair for problem-solving is showing up in unexpected places. Researchers have rolled out a prototype AI-powered tool to test energy efficiency scenarios for New Zealand homes. Think of it as a digital twin for your house - you can run the numbers on what happens if you add insulation, swap bulbs, or upgrade heating. The goal? To help whānau save money, cut emissions and live in warmer, healthier spaces. It’s a glimpse of how smart science can slot neatly into everyday life.
🌟 Why it all matters
These aren’t just nice side-stories. They’re reminders that beneath the noise, communities are pulling together, businesses are innovating and solutions are sprouting in unexpected corners. Whether it’s a small grant in Taranaki, a solar award in Hawke’s Bay, a garden in South Auckland, or an AI tool built for Kiwi homes, each story points in the same direction: we’re not standing still.
So next time the headlines feel heavy, remember these bright spots. Not everything is awful. In fact, plenty is quietly, steadily, wonderfully hopeful.
✨ Good news travels better when it’s shared. Pass it on.
If you’d like a confidential, free of charge, free of obligation conversation about your business, here’s how to get me.
📞 Phone +64 275 665 682 ✉️ Email john.luxton@regenerationhq.co.nz 🌐 Contact Form www.regenerationhq.co.nz/contact
If you’d like to read more RegenerationHQ thinking on SME business and other things, go here – www.regenerationhq.co.nz/articlesoverview
🔹 RegenerationHQ Ltd - Business Problems Solved Sensibly. Supporting NZ SME Owners to Exit Well, Lead Better and Build Business Value.