Business Development and Support Division

2017 Small Business Fair: “Launch Your Dreams into Reality”

Presented by DBEDT and Leeward Community College

Event Details

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Location:

Leeward Community College
96-045 Ala Ike Road, Pearl City

Timeline:

7:30 am to 1:00 pm
7:30 am Registration begins
8:30am -12:15pm Free workshops
7:30am -1:00pm Exhibitor booths open

Organizing Committee: Leeward Community College, Dept of Business Economic Development & Tourism, Business Action Center, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Internal Revenue Service, SCORE Hawaii, and Honolulu Community College.

Exhibitors: US Small Business Administration, Dept of Taxation, Dept of Ag, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Dept of Commerce & Consumer Affairs, US Postal Service, Pacific Gateway Center, Ewa Beach CDBO, Financial Institutions and many more.

Video

Watch a video on Hawaii News Now about the event.

Event Registration

Register online for the event. Online registration closes May 2, 2017. Afterwards, walk-ins are welcome.

Questions?

Call 808-945-1430 or 808-694-8332.

Event Photos

Click through the Flickr album below to view photos of the 2017 Fair.

Class Schedule

Class Presenters

Eric Coyle, U.S. Census Bureau

Eric Coyle is a Data Dissemination Specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau for the western region of the US. He conducts data access workshops and presentations every month to a variety of organizations, local governments, businesses, media, and universities.

Jan Nakamoto, DBEDT

Jan Nakamoto is a Research Statistician with the Research and Economic Analysis Division of DBEDT. She is the Coordinator of the Hawaii State Data Center, a federal-state cooperative program with the U.S. Census Bureau, and has worked with the Bureau for 26 years.

Steve Sue, President of StoryManager, Inc., a creative consulting firm

Mr. Sue holds a BA in Design from UCLA and a law degree from UC Berkeley. He has built and designed homes, multi-family, commercial, foodservice and entertainment environment experiences from California to Las Vegas. He is also the creator of BizGym.com, a cloud-based entrepreneur growth software, and the founder of Lemonade Alley, a biz challenge event for kids.

Melissa Chang, AdStreamz, Inc.

Melissa Chang is Vice President of AdStreamz, Inc. and has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and public relations, including work with Starr Seigle Communications, as the marketing director for Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, and as the marketing director of Aloha Tower Marketplace.

Russ Sumida, AdStreamz, Inc.

Russ Sumida is the President of Adstreamz, Inc., a social media firm with more than a dozen clients from Outrigger Waikiki and Pearlridge to the GoAkamai traffic app and Chart House Waikiki.

Gordon Zane, HI Dept. of Taxation

Gordon Zane received a BA from the University of Hawaii, and a JD-MBA from the University of Santa Clara. He spent a number of years as a financial analyst, contracts supervisor, and Financing Manager for a computer firm. Currently, he is a Special Enforcement Investigator at the HI State Tax Department.

Casey Cook, HI Dept. of Taxation

Casey Cook received an AS in Paralegal studies and a BA in Criminal Justice Administration. With a long career in law enforcement, he worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on criminal investigations. Currently, Casey is a Special Enforcement Investigator at the HI State Tax Department.

Jason Lai, HI Dept. of Taxation

Jason Lai received a BA in Political Science and Masters in Public Administration from the University of Hawaii. He worked as a legal assistant for a law firm and as a fingerprint/criminal background check specialist for a contracting company. Currently, Jason is a Special Enforcement Investigator at the HI State Tax Department.

Shawn A.K.O. Hasegawa, Fukuya Hasegawa Partners

Shawn Hasegawa is a partner with Fukuya Hasegawa Partners, LLC. She has been assisting clients for more than 21 years and was previously a Manager at Deloitte and Touche LLP. Shawn has experience providing business, personal, trust and fiduciary tax, consulting, and financial reporting services.

Jerry Hiromoto, U.S. IRS

Jerry Hiromoto is a career employee with the IRS. He has worked in several positions including Revenue Agent. Jerry, as a federal employee, is a non-practicing CPA.

Ted Ketcham, Island Life Hawaii

Ted Ketcham is a former Certified Financial Planner. Since 1996 he has done private accounting, tax and consulting work through his firm, Island Life. He has owned several businesses and has had as many as 30 employees at a time. He is a QuickBooks Pro Advisor and takes a very practical business owner’s approach to accounting and record keeping.

Robbie Melton, Exec. Dir. & CEO, Hawaii Technology Development Corp.

Prior to HTDC, Ms. Melton was Director for Entrepreneurial Innovation for the Maryland Technology Development Corp. and portfolio manager for 35 technology companies. Robbie is the co-founder and past president of Women In Bio, a non-profit organization dedicated to career development for women in life sciences. She received her MA in Science, Technology and Public Policy from the George Washington University.

David Sikkink, Administrator of the Hawaii Foreign Trade Zone No. 9, a division of DBEDT

Mr. Sikkink has been involved with the FTZ9 program since 2008 and has served as Administrator since 2011. Prior to that, he owned two companies in which he was instrumental in developing of one of the first commercially available multimedia software programs on the market. He is also a SAG-AFTRA actor who has appeared in several US and international television shows and movies.

Rebecca Justine ‘Iolani Soon, Chief Operating Officer of the government consulting and planning company, Solutions Pacific

Ms. Soon is passionate about local, home-grown, small business as a way to empower and enrich communities. She works on policy, programs, and financing to support community-based sustainability, with focus in the Native Hawaiian community. A graduate of the UH William S. Richardson School of Law, Rebecca sits on the board of KEY Project, RED Manīnī Loan Fund, and the Lighthouse Project.

Martin Hsia, Chair of the Intellectual Property Practice Group and the Technology and Electronic Commerce Practice Group at Cades Schutte LLLP

Mr. Hsia is a registered patent attorney, one of the few patent attorneys in Hawaii. Mr. Hsia practices patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, right of publicity, computer, licensing, Internet and entertainment law at Cades Schutte. His practice includes advising clients about all aspects of US, foreign and international intellectual property rights.

Mike Vasper, Jr., HR consultant at Hawaii Employers Council

Mr. Vasper is a Senior HR Consultant at the Hawaii Employers Council and has 20+ years of Human Resources experience in the healthcare, retail, insurance and staffing industry. Mike supports HEC members with HR best practices, compliance issues, and training programs on topics such as discrimination and harassment, ADA, performance management, and supervisory skills.

Duane R. Fisher, founding director of Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher, a law corporation

Mr. Fisher has negotiated, drafted, reviewed and analyzed literally thousands of contracts for business of all sizes. Over the course of his 25-year legal career, he has worked with business owners and executive teams advising them on how to create a fair and appropriate contract for each client circumstance.

Ian Kitajima, Director of Corporate Development and “Technology Sherpa” at Oceanit

Oceanit is a “Mind to Market” lab of 160 scientists, engineers, designers, and dreamers conducting advanced research for government and private clients – like Q’s lab from the James Bond movies. A proud graduate of the public school system (Castle HS, Windward CC, and UH Manoa), Mr. Kitajima also serves on several boards, including the Public Schools of HI Foundation and Design Thinking HI.

Terri Funakoshi, Director of Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership

Retail Executive, Entrepreneur, Professional Leader, Teacher, Guide and Mentor. Terri has several years of experience in the Travel Retail industry and gives back to the community by volunteering her time to a variety of causes and charities in Hawaii. She enjoys mentoring young entrepreneurs.

Poni Askew, Street Grindz

Poni Askew is the Founder and Co-owner of Street Grindz, a platform for Hawai’i’s Mobile Food Industry, offering a long lasting program that will include the production of events, marketing and social media support and the continued effort to remain viable as an industry.

Peter Oshiro, HI Dept. of Health

Peter Oshiro is the State Department of Health Sanitation Branch Chief. He instructs the public on food safety in Hawaii.

Erin Villanueva, HI Dept. of Health

Erin Villanueva is the State Department of Health Sanitation Standards Officer. She instructs the public on food safety in Hawaii.

Donovan Koki, Senior Vice President at Bank of Hawaii’s Credit Training Manager

Mr. Koki earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a finance emphasis and a certificate of accountancy from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Leventhal School of Accounting, respectively. He also earned and Masters of Business Administration from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business. His banking career spans approximately 35 years.

SCORE

SCORE Hawaii is a chapter of the national nonprofit association of SCORE, dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small businesses. It provides free professional counseling, education, and mentoring to our community and our members serve all islands. It also offers workshops for a modest fee.