Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 7, 1 July 2013 — LOAN PROGRAM BUOYS BUSINESSES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LOAN PROGRAM BUOYS BUSINESSES

By Mary Aliee Ka'iulani Milham While the U.S. economy recovers fromthe Great Recession, Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs Gary Hironaka and Malia Lageman are moving their businesses forward with confidence. Among the first to benefit from OHA's Hua Kanu Business Loan Program, they've weathered the recession and positioned their respective businesses for success in the years to eome. "What OHA is doing is really providing small companies a ehanee to be able to be forward-look-ing instead of struggling to meet the day-to-day bills," says Lageman, owner of Cardinal Mailing Services. "When you're fighting just to stay alive, it's hard to think about how to get to the next level." Lageman bought the company from her parents when they retired in 1997 after 25 years in the business. She later bought Hawai'i Presort Mail Service Ine. when a competitor offered it up for sale, and launched her second business, Cardinal Presort Services, and moved both businesses into

a new 23,000-square-foot facility. It was during this period of major changes that Lageman heard about the Hua Kanu Business Loan program.

"Small companies are still struggling and banks are still not lending, contrary to what people say. It is very difficult for a business, especially a small business, to get a loan," says Lageman. Typically, she says, companies that are struggling are too busy worrying about bills to plan for the future. That's the beauty of the Hua Kanu loan, she said. "This (loan) has afforded me the time to say: 'OK, wow! This is the next step that I think my company needs to go to.' " Having submitted her application in spring 2012, Lageman secured a $200,000 Hua Kanu Business Loan by fall and is now preparing to take her presort and direct mail business to the next level.

"We're looking at what ways we need to transform to keep abreast with the way technology is going in communications," says Lageman. "People are becoming mueh more multichanneled in the way they're marketing and communicating with customers and prospects." Another bonus is that, unlike conventional bank loans, Hua Kanu loans include technical assistance, through Solutions Paeihe LLC - before, during and after the loan to provide support when needed. In many ways, Gary Hironaka's entrepreneurial experience resembles Lageman's. Like Lageman, Hironaka grew up steeped in the industry his parents had established themselves in, in his case a family-owned senior care home, the Hironaka Care Home, on the Windward side of O'ahu. Hironaka opened his own senior living home, SEE HUA KANU ON PAGE 16

HUA KANU BUSINESS LOAN

The application period forthe current round of Hua Kanu loans opened in mid-June. Term loans or lines of credit up to $1 million at 6.25 percent interest are available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more details, go to www.oha.org/huakanu.

Small companies are still struggling and banks are still not lending, eontrary to what people say. It is very difficult for a business, especially a small business, to get a loan."

— Malia Lageman, owner, Cardinal Mailing Services

EC0N0MIC SELFSUFFIGIENGY

For Malia Lageman, standing in her Sand lsland warehouse, the Hua Kanu Business Loan helped her plan for the long term instead of "struggling to meet the day-to-day bills." - Photo: UsaAsato

Gary Hironaka, right, pictured with OHA technical assistance specialist Robert Crowell, opened a senior living home in Kahalu'u just as the recession began. He has since opened two more senior living homes, in Kailua and Hawai'i Kai, whieh had a soft opening in April. - Photo: Aliee Silbanuz

HUA KANU

Continued from page 5 in Kahalu'u, in 2008, just as the recession was beginning. Like Lageman, he beat the recession odds and instead of failing established two more senior living homes, in Kailua and Hawai'i Kai, over the next few years under the name Retreat Living. The Hua Kanu loan enabled Hironaka to buy equipment and make structural upgrades to his Kahalu'u facility for disabled access. "Interest-rate wise, it's a great way to go if you're looking at a loan," says Hironaka. "The process is easier than going through the banks, that's for sure. Or maybe OHA just made it so simple that it felt easier." Hironaka says he found the qualification was "pretty mueh the same" as with a conventional bank loan. But, he says, unlike the

HELOCs, or Home Equity Lines of Credit, whieh banks and credit unions offer at 60 to 85 percent of the value of the collateral, Hua Kanu loans allow borrowers up to 100 percent. "That extra that OHA is allowing on the collateral portion

helps a lot," says Hironaka. ■

Marv Ali.ce Ka'iulani Milham, a Portland, Oregon-based freelance journalist, is a former newspaper reporter and columnist from California 's Central Coast.

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Gary Hironaka's Legacy Villa senior living home in Kahalu'u. - Photo: Aliee Silbanuz