Honolulu, April 18, 2012 – Hiilei Aloha LLC was named the top, $10,000 prize winner at Wednesday’s Hogan/American Savings Bank Nonprofit Business Plan Competition. Hiilei Aloha plans to create a mobile certified kitchen and poi mill to assist farmers in converting taro into poi. The plan would allow farmers to get a higher price for their poi and, because of its preparation in a certified kitchen, would enable broader distribution to food and retail outlets.

There were four other winners in the competition.

HOPE Services Hawaii was awarded $6,000 for its “Malama Our Kupuna” recycled housing project; Kanu Hawaii won $4,000 for its “Engage Donors” project; the Waikiki Health center won $2,000 for its “Next Step” janitorial school job training program, and Full Life Hawaii was awarded $1,000 as well as 80 hours of free consulting services from public relations and marketing firm Olomana Loomis-ISC.

The remaining three finalists, Business Law Corps, BizGym Foundation and the United Cerebral Palsy Association and its partners, were awarded $1,000 in the fifth year of the business plan competition staged at Chaminade University’s Hogan Entrepreneurs program.

More than $30,000 in prizes were awarded to the winners of the competition. The competition is one of the first to be initiated in the state.

Chaminade University’s Hogan Entrepreneurs also celebrated the graduation and induction of its students. This marked the 10th graduation for a unique program that encourages students to use their entrepreneurial passion and academic achievements as means to contribute to their communities.The program’s motto continues to be “doing business things that make social sense; doing social things that make business sense.”

Featured speakers included Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Ed Hogan, chair and co-founder of Pleasant Holiday, and Gabe Lee, the EVP of American Savings Bank. The university also confered an honorary professorship upon Gary Hogan, the CEO of Hawaiian Hotels and Resorts.

EIGHT FINALISTS

* Recycle Bicycle, Honolulu
United Cerebral Palsy Association in partnership with Lanakila Pacific and Abilities Unlimited.

The Business Plan
To start a job-training program for adults with disabilities centered on bicycles. Recycle Bicycle will refurbish used, donated bicycles, and sell them to the public. The bicycle re-furbishing will be led by professional mechanics and will include volunteers as well as adults with disabilities from Lanakila Pacific and Abilities Unlimited. Recycle Bicycle will embody the three groups’ shared mission of assisting individuals with disabilities.

* Malama Our Kupuna Recycled Housing Project, Pahoa
HOPE Services Hawaii, in partnership with the County of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, Diocese of Honolulu, Sacred Heart Parish and other parishes on Hawaii Island.

The Business Plan
To “recycle” 19 units of affordable housing for seniors in one of the most impoverished areas of Hawaii. The closure of the Kawaihae Transitional Housing project on Feb 28, 2011 left the County of Hawaii with 24 vacant housing units. Of these, 20 passed structural inspection for relocation and renovation. One unit will be turned into a community center while 19 others will be turned into low income supportive housing for seniors. This will help alleviate homelessness, prevent unnecessary disposals into the local landfill, help strengthen the community, and improve tenant health. Above all, it will provide desperately needed housing units for a highly vulnerable population: low income kupuna.


* Engage Donors, Honolulu

Kanu Hawaii

The Business Plan
To launch a fundraising platform for small to medium-sized causes to enable even the nontechnical to set-up and launch online fundraising that is compatible across any device. This can then be shared across social media and centered around the stories and dialogue that defines social content. The focus will be on socially-enabled fundraising that is simple to integrate and effective in engaging donors. The objective is to make online fundraising five times more effective than traditional fundraising and create unrestricted income for Kanu Hawaii.

* Business Law Corps (BLC), Honolulu
Business Law Corps

The Business Plan
To create a platform that connects business attorneys willing to do pro bono work with new small business owners and entrepreneurs with limited means. The idea is to give these start-up business owners free, top-tier legal services and advice so that they may properly form, protect, and strengthen their business interests. By helping these new small business owners create jobs in their own communities, BLC seeks to increase access to the legal system and promote economic justice.

* Business Literacy for All, Honolulu
BizGym Foundation

The Business Plan
To reinvent the business planning process in an easy and fun “just-in-time” learning and knowledge management system. BizGym Foundation empowers self-starters young and old, to build better societies and economies worldwide. It seeks to leverage the revolutionary BizGym success system in order to offer a suite of hands-on business and financial literacy programs. These include “Lemonade Alley,” a nationwide, hands-on contest for K-12 students: Camp BizGym, an advanced entrepreneurial conference for kids; and BizGym Missions, like the Peace Corps for business students to mentor non-profits, socially-conscious small/start-up entrepreneurs in developing countries.

* Adult Community Autism Program (ACAP), Hilo
Full Life Hawaii

The Business Plan
To provide an autism-specific day program for adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) that focuses on fostering living and job development skills to enable our clients to live full and independent lives. The programs that currently exist do not meet the unique social, communication and learning needs of individuals on the autism spectrum. Without that, adults with ASD will remain in adult day programs throughout their lives and continue to impact the productivity of their families. The ACAP program will be a demonstration of best evidence-based practices and will provide resources to families to fully utilize the support resources available to them.


* Mobile Certified Kitchen and Poi Mill, Honolulu

Hiilei Aloha LLC

The Business Plan
To create a mobile certified kitchen and poi mill that would go to taro farms to help farmers make their taro into poi. This will help farmers get a higher price for their poi as a value-added product. By doing it in a certified kitchen, farmers are able to distribute and market their legally-approved poi through a much broader range of food and retail outlets. The higher price that poi commands and the broader distribution this plan will make possible will help taro farmers become self-sustaining. It will help improve the prospects for long term sustainability of taro farming as a profession and cultural practice while also increasing local food production and reducing our dangerously high dependence on food imports.


* Next Step Job Training Janitorial School

Waikiki Health Center

The Business Plan
To provide janitorial on-the-job training for the people living at the Next Step Homeless Shelter between Pier One and Kakaako Waterfront Park. Waikiki Health Center runs the Next Step Homeless Shelter and the Janitorial Job Training School that provides on-site services at the public rest-rooms at Kakaako Park and Kewalo Basin. Many people at the shelter want to work but have barriers to employment including a lack of skill sets, job search resources and the work experience to fill out a resume. The Janitorial Job Training School gives trainees employable skills that they can market and starter income for necessities such as clothing for interviews.


Media Release. “Hogan/American Saving Bank nonprofit winners announced” Hawaii 24/7, 18 April. 2012.http://www.hawaii247.com/2012/04/18/hoganamerican-saving-bank-nonprofit-winners-announced/