Jobs are needed in the Kalihi-Palama-Chinatown area, where 60 percent of the island's public low-income housing is located, says Dean Masuno, project manager for the Kalihi-Palama-Chinatown Economic Development Initiative. Initiative pushes
for job creation
in Kalihi regionBy Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.com"There is a real need for job creation, job training," he said, referring to issues and community improvements that will be raised in a meeting at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Farrington High School's cafeteria.
The group is coordinating this and other community meetings with the help of residents, landowners, lawmakers, businesses and schools.
Education, safety, family strengthening, economic development and homelessness were the main issues raised at previous meetings, said Masuno.
The Kalihi-Palama-Chinatown area is mostly made up of Filipino, Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Micronesian, Samoan and Tongan residents.
"Community input at this meeting will help determine the future of this community," Masuno said. After tomorrow's meeting, a draft plan will be developed that will include agencies and businesses that will best meet the residents' needs.
The Pacific Gateway Center recently developed a "kitchen incubator" at 723-C Umi St. to assist low-income entrepreneurs with their food businesses. Twelve kitchens are available at the site. The center, of which Masuno is economic development coordinator, also provides free assistance in writing a business plan, bookkeeping and filing taxes.
"We're trying to get these cottage businesses and grow them to create jobs," he said. "For the kitchen incubator, our objective is to get their business up to a level so they can qualify for a commercial loan," Masuno said.
In the last three weeks, Masuno said, he and his colleagues have been looking at other prospective incubator sites.
"We need to be proactive," he said. "There's a lot of good people that live, work and own businesses in Kalihi. We need to capitalize on that.
"It has to be a communitywide effort."