Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 1 March 1983 — BUSINESS ASSISTANCE FOR MINDRITIES [ARTICLE]

BUSINESS ASSISTANCE FOR MINDRITIES

If you're a member of a minority group — and the owner of a business — you ean get low-cost management and technical assistance from Honolulu's Minority Business Development Center. The firm, located at 1 150 S. King St., is federally funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce. One of 100 such operations nationwide, its purpose is to provide professional business consulting services at reduced rates. That means $2.50 per hour if your firm's sales are less than $500,000 a year or $6.25 hourly for companies with higher annual revenues. What kind of services? They range from loan packaging to procurement assistance, feasibility studies, development of marketing plans, budgeting and forecasting, business planning and evaluations, accounting help and construction and bonding assistance. According to the firm, MBDC's professional staff, whieh includes CPAs and MBAs, ean provide management advice on just about any aspect of business — from setting one up to pullingone backfrom the brink of bankruptcy. Who qualifies for this aid? Businesses owned by members of ethnic minority groups or potential minority entrepreneurs. Like the other U.S. Centers, Honolulu's MBDC uses the federal definition of minority. It includes Asians, Pacific lslanders, Hispanics, Puerto Ricans, American Indians, Blacks, Eskimos, Portuguese and Hawaiians. In Hawaii, that means that just about anyone who isn't caucasian is eligible for the subsidized services. MBDC opened in November 1982andsayssofarithas lent a helping hand to more than 50 minority-owned firms. You ean get more information by calling MBDC at 531-7502 or stop by the office on the second floor of the Atlas lnsurance Building.