Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 9, 1 September 1999 — Small business conference [ARTICLE]

Small business conference

WHILE THE cornerstone of Maile Visions is the talent Maile Amorin was born with, she is stHl honing her business skflls. "I need to develop areas such as bookkeeping and sales," she said. Amoiin also acknowledges the on-going benefits of mentoring by Make'u Awai and networiring through a hui of diverse designers linked by Native Books and Beautififl Things. "Before that," she said, "I made major errors, major mistakes. I could have saved a lot of money by being in contact with other people in the same area." Like many other Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund borrowers, Amorin recently received notice of the NHRLF's Small Business Conference

designed to address some of these needs and scheduled 8 a.m. - 4:40 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Sheraton Waikūā. Aimed at providing useful information and valuable contacts for potential loan apphcants as well, the conference will offer a tutorial in basic accounting and a course on the use of the internet in addition to covering marketing techniques for products and services, the development of home-based micro-enterprises, and the food service business. The $20 fee covers luneh with keynote speaker, Nā Leo Pilimehana's Nālani Choy. A concluding panel discussion by Native Hawaiian business owners features Kathleen Thruston of Thurston Pacific; Wainwright Piena of Kapala'Ahu, Sandra Fujimoto of Flight School Hawai'i, ine.; Maile Meyer of Native Books and Nathan Reyes of Matt's Transmission. The deadline for registration is Sept. 17. Twenty scholarships for interisland aiifare are avaflable on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, eall Gerald Honda, NHRLF manager, 594-1925. ■