Maui Small Business Week Attracts More Local Sponsors

HPEC and HTDC are in the list of visionaries and innovators sponsoring the 2016 Maui Small Business Week. Maui SBW graphic

Maui Small Business Week will kick off a week of events on Monday, May 9.

The business community is invited to join this celebration at the Kahili Golf Course in Kahului, starting at 8:30 a.m.

RSVPs should be made online via www.mauibusinessweek.org.

Maui has celebrated Maui Small Business Week since 2014 with free educational events open to every business person in Maui County. In 2014 and 2015, the out-of-state sponsors outnumbered the local ones.

This year, for the third annual Maui Small Business Week, the organizing team has announced that the number of local business organizations sponsoring the week of events outnumber the out-of-state sources.

Current Maui SBW sponsors include:

• Hawai’i Pacific Export Council (HPEC),
• High Technology Development Corporation (HTDC),
• Innovate Hawai’i,
• Hawai’i Medical Service Association (HMSA),
• HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union.

“Maui Small Business Week is a wonderful opportunity for our entrepreneurs and manufacturers to take advantage of key resources that will advance their business to the next level,” said Robbie Melton, HTDC executive director and CEO. “We are grateful that these resources are also being provided to our neighbor islands. HTDC is proud to support these events as it helps to drive the state’s 80-80 Initiative of creating 80,000 new jobs earning high wages for our kama‘āina.”

“We support the Maui Small Business Week program focused on helping small businesses succeed,” said Jenny Chan Takemoto, HPEC secretary. “HPEC programs are to educate and promote local business owners as they spread their wings to do business overseas, by reaching out across all Hawaiian islands, Guam and Samoa.

“In 2016, the HPEC has new and exciting programs in partnership with DBEDT, United States Department of Commerce, Trade International and the Direct Export Council,” Takemoto continued. “The HPEC Export programs include professional assistance on how to obtain assistance and resources from federal, state and local agencies, overseas, and from DEC offices in Southern Region and Nevada.”

“This is encouraging and rewarding to the voluntary organizing team,” said Maui SBW organizer Lori Fisher. “This show of local business support confirms that Maui SBW is on the right track with its main purpose: bringing information and education to help local businesses achieve success.”

Small Business Week is a free, nationwide event. Just as in larger metropolitan cities on the Mainland, Maui SBW offers a full five-day agenda of free events targeted for the business community.

Because Maui County has fewer financial resources than many big cities, its voluntary organizers rely on appeals to potential sponsors to fund the venue and operational costs of the event.

Maui SBW is seeking more sponsorships.

Call organizer Grace Fung at (808) 463-8528 to offer support for this event.