While the inn continues to operate as a popular social venue, the Innovation Hub is located on the corner side of the building. Set up with meeting rooms and comfortable lounge areas, it is fast becoming a port of call for community development groups and collaboration activities.
Digital workshops, ACE courses and even a nannies’ activities space are just some of the goings-on at the hub.
“Bringing ideas to life and supporting grassroots entrepreneurship,” are key action plans for Ms Stender.
One project gaining momentum is Tolaga.org an “evergreen fund” — with start-up loans of up to $20,000 and a mentorship opportunity for entrepreneurs with a service-minded business plan.
So far, the businesspeople who have taken advantage of this are involved in lawn mowing, solar installation, concreting, portable saw milling and recovery ventures.
With a low 5 percent interest rate and all repayments returned to help the next business enterprise, it presents as a good option for helping to turn a commercial idea into a successful business.
There is an opening for eight more placements to come on board, at this stage.
Ms Stender’s involvement with the Edmund Hillary Fellowship provided her with the platform to ask for champions to support her idea. With a membership of 500-plus investors and innovators, the fellowship’s goal is to create solutions to challenges our country may face and to make a positive impact for global change.
Enter Scott Miller, a fellow Ed Hillary member who heard of Lily’s pitch for the area. Based in America, Mr Miller visited Tolaga Bay in late 2022.
“He liked what we were trying to drive here,” Ms Stender said.
Mr Miller initiated the evergreen fund concept, which also provides mentorship on an ongoing basis.
“I always had the idea of spreading entrepreneurship in some way, to align myself with a community where I could bring my life-long learning and skills of entrepreneurship,” Mr Miller said.
An initial two to three-day mentoring session is followed by quarterly Zoom sessions.
Mentorship is important, Ms Stender says, especially when starting out as it includes advice on how to set up a business, through to bookkeeping, writing up invoices etc.
“They’re not on their own, they have some expertise to lean on,” she says.
Supporting the community is a key motivation for Tolaga Bay Innovation.
“There’s a lot of hardship, there’s a lot of struggles, especially since the devastating weather events,” Ms Stender says.
Finding new ways of beating unemployment and to pay the bills, by transitioning to being your own boss, is just one avenue Ms Stender is keen to grow.
For more information on Evergreen Funding visit Tolaga.org
