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TheBuzz

BY ERIKA ENGLE

Sunday, October 28, 2001

Find a niche,
and scratch it

From the "create your own opportunities" department: a new ethnic business and community directory is in the works.

The Mabuhay! Hawaii Filipino Directory was born from a sales call to Menehune Water Co. Inc. where PowerHouse Publications LLC owner Tom Watson was pitching advertising. There he met Randy Rivera who said he used to work for GTE in Manila.

"And from there we just started talking," Watson said.

"I always knew there was a market for a Filipino directory, but I needed someone who knew the community to really market it," he said. That's where Rivera fits in.

Introductions were made, and PowerHouse has developed a collaborative relationship with the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. "The response has been outstanding," he said.

Nelly Pongco Liu, president-elect of the chamber, believes the directory will be a big benefit -- that the Filipino community "would like to make a difference in the community (as a whole)."

"We're looking forward to (the directory) -- I think it's a good program," she said.

Watson's enthusiasm exploded recently upon seeing the latest Korean directory.

"It's two inches thick, and in the Korean language," she said. "I just got really fired up."

The Filipino directory will reflect the advertisers' chosen dialect but Watson expects many will run bilingual ads to attract more business.

The plan is to launch the directory "concurrent with the Fil-Com Center, that's a big deal in Waipahu," Watson said.

PowerHouse is also supporting the chamber's Scholarship Fund Gala, Fashion Show & Silent Auction Nov. 3 at the Hawaii Convention Center, featuring Miss America 2001 Angela Perez Baraquio as keynote speaker.

PowerHouse purchased the 40-year-old Windward Yellow Pages Register and Leeward Yellow Pages Register in March of last year. Partner Bryan Cadiz recently left the company, and Watson's wife, Yvonne, moved in to partner with her husband.

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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