MBB Partners with Kamehameha Schools to Bring Businesses into the Classroom

MBB’s Lori Fisher works with KSM Faculty Keali’I Mossman and Tracy Razo to plan the student workshop. Photo Courtesy MBB

Maui Business Brainstormers is expanding its activity during National Entrepreneurship Week this year by bringing business into the schools, with an inaugural all-day business workshop at Kamehameha Schools Maui to be held Feb. 23, 2018 on the Kamehameha Schools Maui campus.

The workshop will bring Kamehameha Schools alumni, as well as local business owners, into the classroom to share start-up and business experiences, along with prominent members of the local community, such as representatives of the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce including Kai Pelayo and Teri Freitas Gorman.

Working with MBB to design the workshop, Kamehameha Schools Maui Business Academy faculty member Kealiʻi Mossman describes the goal as “bringing business owners face-to-face with our students in a series of facilitated interactions, so the students gain a real sense of what it takes to succeed in business after graduation.”

“We think this workshop offers a unique opportunity for our students to spend a day in the real world of business, learning transferable ideas and business principles in a supportive yet challenging setting,” said faculty member Tracy Razo.

MBB workshop facilitator Lori Fisher says students will practice business and market analysis, as well as developing creative and innovative business ideas. “Students will need to demonstrate teaming skills, and practice clear and concise communication of ideas under time constraints. Additionally, they will need to practice active listening as they receive constructive feedback from the judging panel,” she said.

As part of the workshop, Board members of the MNHCoC will interact with students on specific proposals to link business to culture and community.

“Entrepreneurial success goes beyond establishing a small business,” said MNHCoC president Teri Freitas Gorman, “Long-term success includes contributing positively to the community. We will challenge students to expand a business concept by infusing Hawaiian values that benefit others.”

Other 2018 National Entrepreneur Week events in Maui County will include business community forums focused on “Mom-and-Pop” retailers and services, being held at multiple locations across the County.

National Entrepreneurship Week is a congressionally-chartered week dedicated to showcasing entrepreneurship throughout the United States. It was founded in 2006 by the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education to highlight the importance of entrepreneurship and engage communities across the US in activities to promote and support entrepreneurship in their communities.

This year, National Entrepreneurship Week takes place Feb. 17-24 across the US, with local events planned across Maui County.