January 15, 2014 - Volume 30, Issue 3
The
Molokai Dispatch T h e i s l a n d ’s n e w s s o u r c e - w w w. t h e m o lo k a i d i s patc h . co m
MHS Athletics Welcomes Assistant Director
Since 1985
Holomua Junction
Open for Business By Catherine Cluett | Editor-InChief “
By Jessica Ahles | Staff Writer
W
ith high goals set to bring more sports tournaments, more games and to build the athletics program on the island, the Molokai High School Athletics Department welcomes new Assistant Athletic Director, Joannie Espiritu-Tanabe, to the team. “Having an assistant alleviates a lot of stress for me,” said Hoku Haliniak, MHS athletics director. “[EspirituTanabe] is very organized and can step in whenever I need help.” She said much of Espiritu-Tanabe’s job involves helping her at sporting events, taking care of traveling arrangements, scheduling, and making sure coaches have correct paperwork and students are eligible to play. That will leave Haliniak more time to bring more sporting events to the island, she said. “For baseball, now we’ll have four teams coming [to the island],” said Haliniak. “We’re also working on a boys volleyball tournament and on a softball tournament, so we’ll do other things if I can work with her to do a lot of the [school-related] stuff.” Molokai local and MHS graduate Espiritu-Tanabe said she grew up around athletics. “My dad was a high school baseball coach [for MHS] for a long time…” she said. “I went to every game and was the team statistician from sixth
H
olomua” means progress or successful advancement, and that’s just what owners and tenants of the Holomua Junction business and office complex hope for the newly-renovated space. Located at the corner of Maunaloa and Kalae Highways, Holomua now holds two retail businesses -- the Tobacco Shack and Beach Break -- with more than half a dozen more spaces available to rent, according to land owners Diane and Larry Swenson. Almost 30 years ago, the Swensons purchased 11 acres of property from Patterson Construction. The land has been previously home to the Holomua School in the mid-1900s. When the Swensons acquired the acreage, the building that now serves as the office for Swenson Real Estate occupied the property, and they built a warehouse for Larry’s Swenson Construction. There, the company built tresses and other housing materials to save shipping costs of off-island suppliers. In 1996, the Swensons completed the long process of rezoning the land
to light industrial -- now one of two properties on Molokai with that designation. Later, the building was used by Calvary Church, until about four years ago, said Larry. “Since then, we’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the space,” he said. They considered renting it as one large space, or dividing it into smaller units.
Smokin Good Business A few years ago, Tobacco Shack owner Ka`ili Adachi approached the Swensons about renting the space when she was looking to relocate from downtown Kaunakakai. “I saw a vision of what it could be and talked to them about it,” she said. “We came up with a plan together… [the Tobacco Shack was] looking for a new location and we saw that place and decided to take a chance.” Larry said Adachi’s business doubled since the move. “That showed us it was good for retail,” he said. Adachi agreed.
Holomua Continued pg. 8
Assistant Continued pg. 2
Entrepreneurs Receive 3 Years of Resources
This Week’s
Dispatch
By Jessica Ahles | Staff Writer
M
olokai’s creative thinkers have a tough job when turning their hobbies into businesses. Learning the ins and outs of permitting processes, bookkeeping, and developing a customer following can be a daunting learning curve. But over the next three years, a series of small business workshops, webinars and other resources are set up to make it a little easier. “You need to have a tough skin and it’s not always easy,” Veronica Hix, executive director of the Oregon Native American Business and Entrepreneurial Network Inc. (ONABEN), told Molokai entrepreneurs last Friday. More than a dozen seasoned and immerging business owners attended event, which marked the kick-off a series of Native Hawaiian entrepreneurial workshops and training. ONABEN is an Oregon-based, nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase entrepreneurial opportunities for indigenous communities nationwide,
Fruit Growers Featured Farmer Pg. 4 Over a dozen Molokai entrepreneurs attended the first meeting of a three-year series of business training workshops through ONABEN. Photo courtesy of ONABEN.
said Hix. Working with Molokai’s Kuha`o Business Center, ONABEN staff first visited the island last year, conducting a two-day workshop. After receiving a positive response and a $1 million grant awarded by the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) Sustainable Employment of Economic Development Strategies (SEEDS), ONABEN representatives are providing
further training in North Carolina, North Dakota and Molokai. “It’s nice to be here in Molokai again,” Hix said. “We love your island…and we just really wanted to come back and be able to work with the citizens here.” This time, they are committing to build a three-year Native Hawaiian entrepreneurial development program open to new
Entrepreneurs Continued pg. 2
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The
Molokai Dispatch
P.O. Box 482219 Kaunakakai, HI 96748
Students Take Senator on Campus Tour Pg. 7