Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 11, 1 November 2014 — Business caucus promotes access to help, resources [ARTICLE]

Business caucus promotes access to help, resources

By Harold Nedd Dozens of Hawaiian business people descended on the Hawai'i Convention Center in Honolulu for discussions about getting access to capital, expanding their network of contacts and identifying policies that could help them succeed. Called the Small Business & Eeonomie Development Caucus, the meeting was hosted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, where business loans account for 20 percent of the 1,300 loans still in the agency's pipeline. The meeting was among the highlights of the 13th annual Native Hawaiian Convention held Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, and organized by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.

"When we were asked to host the caucus, we jumped at the opportunity in an attempt to ensure that Native Hawaiian small businesses are getting access to the right help and support," said Winfred Cameron, manager of OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund, whose borrowers ean take out up to $19,999 to start a business, or as mueh as $1 million to expand an existing one. Among those assembled for the caucus were business professionals as well as state and federal agency representatives who brought insight from a variety of backgrounds and fields of expertise. For example, the Hawai'i Department of Business, Eeonomie Development and Tourism offered perspective on enterprise zones and tax incentives for loeal small businesses. In addition, the U.S. Small

Business Administration provided an overview of grants, loans and resources it makes available to help entrepreneurs and others thrive. At the same time, Ray Jardine, the chief executive officer for Native Hawaiian Veterans LLC, announced during a presentation his plans to begin conducting a series of workshops across the state for Native Hawaiian business owners who are interested in securing federal govemment contracts. As a Native Hawaiian smallbusiness owner, Jardine said he has benefited in a big way fromknowing how to clear hurdles in the path to securing lucrative federal government contracts and is turning his attention to helping others do the same. "The key for me was getting off this island and chasing work on the U.S. mainland," Jardine said. "There

is a market here in Hawai'i with the U.S. Department of Defense, but there are also markets in 49 other states. It was when I went into those other markets that my business really started to grow." Aside from accessing capital and federal government contracts, another big theme at the caucus was networking. Its importance was emphasized during speeches at the caucus and two well-attended networking receptions held afterward. "Networking is a critical success factor," Wally T suha, co-founder of the Asian Paeihe American Chamber of Commerce, said during a speech at the caucus. "Don't sell it short. It ean help you scale your business. If you see successful business people, go and talk with them. Don't be afraid to ask successful business people to be your mentor. Most will say yes."

Capping the caucus meeting was a roundtable discussion on policy priorities aimed at helping Native Hawaiian businesses succeed. The discussion centered around such topics as challenges these businesses share, the role the Hawai'i delegation in Congress ean play to help, and how Native Hawaiian businesses ean work better together. "My hope for the business caucus was to provide information, resources and an opportunity for networking supportive of growth for Hawai'i's small-business sector," said Miehelle Kauhane, CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. "The key takeaway was that we must focus beyond the caucus on building collaborative efforts locally and nationally around public policy to support Native Hawaiian small businesses." For information about OHA's business loans, contact Robert Crowell at ( 808) 594-1924 or email robertc@oha.org. ■

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