TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Pacific networking,
local styleAs with many of the world's best ideas, the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California was borne out of a conversation over "beverages."
"It is a pure volunteer organization that started with three people on a porch in Berkeley about four years ago," said trio member and chamber President Eric Tao.
The other two ex-pat Hawaii guys were Kurt Osaki of California-based Osaki design and California dentist Rodney Park.
Tao is an attorney who serves as business development director for AGI Capital Group and is the son of retired Hawaii Tribune-Herald Editor Gene Tao. He met Osaki by chance at a sushi bar in the Japantown section of the Bay Area. "He's from Kapaa, I'm from Hilo; we're outer island boys and we bonded," Tao said. Osaki later introduced Park to Tao.
The Hawaii connection "breaks this whole level of ice," Tao said. "This is the kind of stuff businesspeople try to obtain after years of relationship." The three agreed to create an organization that will build on that, he said.
The chamber's primary goals are to "promote commerce, culture and education," Tao said.
"We're doing great things," said membership coordinator Susan Haramoto, who by day is the product manager for the online business services division of Silicon Valley Bank.
Chamber member Cori Miller runs student programs at San Jose State University and is spearheading an effort to unify area colleges' Hawaii clubs. The hope is to perpetuate continuity within the clubs and provide mentoring through the chamber, Tao said.
The biggest benefit for Vice President Osaki is the networking. "We (also) have other things like seminars and different functions to get involved with and that's an added advantage," he said.
From Milpitas, Calif., Aloha Family Restaurant owner Richard Nashiro joined the chamber because he wants "to support any kind of Hawaii thing that starts," he said. His company Web site is among those linked to the chamber site at www.hccnc.com.
"There's a couple things all of us want," Tao said, including coming home, raising their children in Hawaii, and wanting Hawaii to be a strong place for clean economic growth. "We have absolute confidence in Hawaii's human capital," he said.
Corporate memberships are encouraged on both sides of the Pacific. Fees top out at $250, Haramoto said, based on the number of employees in a company. Free memberships among individuals have increased 18 percent in the past five months.
"I don't say we are the end-all," Tao said. "I think the strength of the members will create a greater strength for the organization."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com