Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 1, 1 January 1982 — Eeonomie Development Wants to Assist Hawaiian Business Community [ARTICLE]

Eeonomie Development Wants to Assist Hawaiian Business Community

ln its efforts to foster and encourage native Hawaiians and Hawaiians into entrepreneurship, OHA will be seeking legislative funding for (1) the creation of a Hawaiian Business Foundation, (2) a revolving loan fund, and (3) a planning and development fund. As envisioned, the Hawaiian Business Foundation would be created by OHA, operated as a non-profit corporation, and be temporarily attached to OHA's Eeonomie Development Division for administrative purposes. It will serve as a clearinghouse of existing statewide eeonomie development, direct service programs, and the instrument through whieh OHA's eeonomie direct development services programs would be conducted for all Hawaiians. Secondly, based on the volume of requests for business loans and the problems encountered by Hawaiians seeking loans from private lending institutions and governmental agencies, OHA proposes to assist in closing the financing gap by establishing a revolving

loan fund of $1,000,000 for e!igible beneficiaries who want to start or expand existing business ventures. An investigation of the existing loan programs (private, federal, and state) conducted by OHA revealed that no such equity funds are available. Finally, in the interest of maximizing the yield of public land trust proceeds and self-sufficiency, OHA has been interested in making investments that would substantially increase revenues. Examples of such investment ventures might include acquisition and development of lands for industrial or agricultural parks, traditional cultural facilities, office buildings, housing projects, establishment of a bank; and/or the acquisition of the assets of an existing eoneem. In order to properly determine the feasibility of such ventures, however, OHA is requesting appropriations to hire consultants who would conduct a number of feasibility studies in OHA's behalf. The total being requested is $100,000.