ByCraig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Joe Hathaway of Presentation Products shows Ann Crowley
of Kaiser Permanente a video projector at the Small Business
on the Move '97 show at Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall
yesterday. Nearly 200 vendors had booths at the trade show.

---

Isle businesses
strut their stuff

Trade-show vendors
seek new opportunities in Hawaii's
stagnant economy

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

"Battery Bill" Ogawa, owner of Battery Exchange Hawaii, spent seven years looking for a profit before his efforts paid off this year.

Judy Magnin, president of Magnin Diagnostics, found new markets for her medical products in Micronesia.

And Mike Rossell of Mike Rossell & Associates went beyond the "sprung" tent structures he builds to diversify his business.

The three were among nearly 200 operators with booths at yesterday's "Small Business on the Move '97," one of the biggest trade shows of the year for Hawaii businesses, at the Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall.

The daylong show, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, offered a variety of new products and high-tech services.

Jonathan Boxold, representing Environmental Purification Systems, demonstrated an odd-looking contraption he said purifies air at home or office.

Tamar Nite, sales representative for Florexotica Hawaii -- the "Unreal" Plant Company -- sat in a garden of low-maintenance silk plants.

Haleiwa resident DeWayne Munoz poured doses of Essential Minerals, a liquid he said allows minerals to be better absorbed.

For small operators without advertising budgets, it was a key opportunity to show off products.

Many said they have been struggling through Hawaii's stagnant economy and changes in the marketplace -- like the arrival of big-volume stores.

"It's just getting tougher and tougher to do business here," said Magnin, whose business went from six employees to just her and her husband before she ventured into the open territory of Micronesia. Magnin Diagnostics has since rebounded to four employees.

Bill Ogawa, who sells and recycles batteries of all kinds, saw his retail sales drop from 50 percent to 15 percent when big battery suppliers got into the market. He adjusted by adding products and concentrating on fleet sales.

"We changed our product line and tried to do business a little smarter, instead of waiting for the economy to get better," he said. "A lot of people are doing that -- waiting for the economy to get better."