Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 3, 1 March 2002 — OHA loan nurtures Waihiʻi Farms' tropical flower agribusiness [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA loan nurtures Waihiʻi Farms' tropical flower agribusiness

By Caitriona Kearns Amorning spent cutting flowers on the wet, steep slopes of their Mānoa farmland and then carrying huge helieonia down those muddy slopes was a gruelmg task for Bill and Heidi Wise during the first years of their start-up operation in agriculture, "I would be sitting more than standing half the time," said Heidi, Their farm, Waihi'i Farms, is the brainchild of Bill's devotion to his first planted garden years ago on the Mainland, and has been moderately successful in that it continues to grow and sustain itself, Farming by its nature is a tough

business, Small farms like Waihi'i Farms defy the odds when they decide to compete in a market that is prone to hazards of weather-related losses, poor soil conditions and theft, a major issue in Hawai'i, The Office of Hawaiian Affairs helped finance the operations of this farm with two loans from the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund, "The two loans from OHA have eome at important times for us," says Bill, The first loan in the amount of $25,000 eame in their second year of business to help them catch up on land lease payments, purchase a cargo van, upgrade and invest in more plants, and purchase farm equipment, īn

1999, this loan was rolled into another new loan in the amount of $75,000, whieh financed the move from Mānoa to Wahiawa onto 15 acres of easily accessible flat farmland leased for 20 years from Dole, The Wises have carved out a niehe for themselves in that they sell over 90 percent of their flowers directly to airline crews who tend to be routed to the islands onee a week, Bouquets are sold directly to airline staff when they are about to leave Hawai'i, and boxes are shipped to them, their loved ones, family and friends, Not only do Bill and Heidi spend their days tilling the land, cutting greenery and flowers, and compiling bouquets, but

they also nm a personalized distribution system, They know their customers by name, know what they may have ordered three years ago and have developed close relationships with them, This personal approach may have distinguished them and kept them afloat in the tropical flower industry while large farmers such as Dole were forced to drop this type of agribusiness because it was unprofitable for them, Bill and Heidi have wanted to diversify their farm produce and the Sept, 1 1 th terrorist attack gave them the opportunity to carve out a block of time to get started, They decided to grow select vegetables for distribution to restaurants and in the quiet of late September and October planted their first crop of sprouts, Trial and error will eventually pay off when they find the right variety of vegetables suited to soil conditions, the appetite of diners and the marketplace, They plan to grow colored bell peppers in shades of red, yellow, orange, purple, white and chocolate as well as heirloom tomatoes that eome in many varieties, some with stripes, others strangely shaped, but all tasty, "We have been very fortunate because we have been busy from the beginning," Heidi acknowledged, The Wises attribute the steady growth evidenced by their tax returns since 1996 to hard work and perhaps the unique combination the two of them offer as eaeh eomplement the other, "Bill is a great PR guy and I am really good admmistratively," Heidi explained, "And we try to support eaeh other," For more information about OHA's loan fund, eall 594-1924. For Waihi'i Farms, eall 621-6844.B

Pā'oihana _____

Bill einel Heieli Wise of Waihi'i Fcirrns in Weihieiwō gcither bircls of pcirciclise, ti lecif einel ei vciriety of tropiccil flowers cis well cis greenery for bouquets they box einel sell to ei meiinleinel export mcirket, Photo: caitriona Keams