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Samoan Business
Center opens its
doors to other
Hawaii groups
It's expanding its services
By Brett Alexander-Estes
to other qualified entrepreneurs
Star-BulletinTHE boiled bananas and corned beef being laid out today at the grand opening of the Samoan Service Providers Association's Business Service Center may be traditional Samoan fare, but the ceremony also marks the expansion of the center's programs to other populations.
"The center is unique to SSPA in the sense that the program is not exclusive to people of Samoan ancestry," said William Emmsley, executive director of SSPA. "Those who can verify their status as either Native American, immigrant, refugee, or are of low-to-moderate income levels can now participate within our program."
SSPA is a community-based nonprofit organization established in 1984. In addition to the Business Service Center, SSPA administers two other programs, both of which are restricted to people of Samoan ancestry. The North King Street center provides training programs and facilities that equip qualified applicants to start their own businesses."(The SSPA is) doing job training, business training, business incubation and provides temporary offices for new start-up businesses. They're doing that at the grass-roots level within the community," said Manuel C. Menendez III, executive director of the Honolulu City & County Office of Economic Development.
According to Thomas Atou, SSPA business director, the association's Oahu Business Incubator Center training program is "the foundation of the center upon which everything else is built."
The training program leads clients through a series of required business readiness and entrepreneurship courses, said David Parish, SSPA business incubator manager. "A lot of the time (clients) don't have a formal education and training, so we're really working from ground zero," Parish said.
Course material starts with personal development and finance and runs through business basics, operations, marketing, and finance. It culminates in a three-week program that structures a client's business plan.
Completion of requirements allows a client to set up shop in one of the center's small furnished offices. Both in-house and outside clients can use the center's executive conference room as well as a shared office equipped with a copier and fax machine, a computer with Internet access, and a Macintosh station with graphic-design capabilities.George Vaai completed SSPA's business readiness training program and started his debt management company, F&D Financial Services, in April. "Before, I never had a plan or a strategy," said Vaai.
Vaai runs his business from the center and also uses the marketing and advertising assistance available there.
Currently five in-house businesses occupy the center's offices at 1208 N. King St. SSPA says the center has already provided support to about 200 people.
"We don't want to put (clients) in the water if they don't know how to swim yet," said Parish, who adds that in addition to in-house training, facilities and counsel, the center provides its clients with access to outside financial and legal sources. "(There's) a certain period during which they benefit greatly from subsidized offices as well as specialized services."
As part of a nonprofit agency, the center receives funding through the federal government's Administration for Native Americans, the state's Office of Community Services, and community development grants administered by the City & County Office of Economic Development.
The center's annual operating budget is about $335,000, said Atou, adding that the majority of the its funding comes from the ANA.
