Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 6, 1 June 2002 — Hawaiian small business of the year [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian small business of the year

By Caitriona Kearns After six years of dedicated hard work nurturing a new business, Clayton Thomas received the 2002 Native Hawaiian Small Business of the Year Award from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund, Thomas Service and Repairs is a maintenance and repair service for heavy equipment including

trucks, buses and trailers, īt ran solely as a mobile unit until last summer when it expanded its operation by opening a shop in Waipahu, financed by a conventional loan from Bank of Hawai'i, a move indicative of its healthy financial status as a small

busmess, īn 1996, Thomas received a

$60,000 loan rrom the NHRLF, whieh allowed him to launeh his business, buy a van and equipment to get started as well as working capital to keep him afloat financially, He resigned from his job after 9 years at Pacific Machinery to go out on his own with this new venture, "OHA was there with the funding and gave me

the ehanee to work towards my dreams," he says, "īt would have been real hard to do it otherwise," OHA pro~ vided financing when a conventional loan from two other banks was denied, Thomas is a text book case in how to start your own business, Onee he started, revenues increased progressively just like he outlined on the business plan he submitted to OHA with his application for the loan.

The plan chartered the direction he would take and all the goals he would accomplish step by step, "Just like a map, you have to draw it out and see what your destiny is," he offers as advice to other Native Hawaiians with dreams of starting

their own businesses, "ī make sure every step ī take is right on track

with my goals," That careful eonsideration led to a two~year search for the right location for Thomas' shop, The decision to lease space was the logical next step to take in growing the enterprise and expanding his staff of mechanics, He wisely searched until the perfect location eame

along where he now is located between a maehine shop and a parts distributor, Lots of time and energy went into finding the workshop but it was worth it in the end to hit the right spot, There were days in the beginning when Thomas lacked confidence before he started seeing his efforts pay off, He would have a bad day and his wife, Lei, would always be there encouraging him, giving him the push he needed to continue and

ready to tell him that tomorrow would be good or at least a better day, "Encouragement is the part that will make or break you," he advises, Without the support of Lei, he is not sure that he would have succeeded with the business, "ī really owe a lot to her," he says, The years went by "real fast," Thomas says, Today his focus is directed on expanding his staff of technicians, whieh will hopefully relieve him so he ean sharpen his skills by attending current training and certification programs, Keeping up with technology is an investment Thomas believes in wholeheartedly, "īn the trucking business, ī learn how to fix, maintain and keep up with the technology, fixing anything that is on the vehicle for all different makes and models," he explains of the type of service he provides, Customers are valued and Thomas's philosophy is to provide consistency in service year after year, He remembers that it was not always easy getting his customers during the early years and focuses on maintaining a high level of service, "The business must stay at the same paee to achieve our next goal," he says, driving himself to succeed, "We can't get side~tracked," For more information about OHA's loan fund, eall 594-1924. For Thomas Service and Repairs, eall 676-2660. ■

'OHA was there with the funding and gave me the ehanee to work towards my dreams. It would have heen real hard to do it otherwise' - Clayton Thomas OHA loan recipient

Pā'oihana

Clayton Thornas repairs an engine at his new shop in Waipahu