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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Conference designed
to nurture native
Hawaiian know-howNative Hawaiian artisans, crafters and food producers have until Friday to sign up for a two-day series of business workshops on developing a native Hawaiian trademark.
Hale Kuai Cooperative, an 8-year-old organization supporting sales and marketing of products made by native Hawaiians, is sponsoring the event, which is open to members and nonmembers.
Most of Hale Kuai's approximately 100 statewide members are mom-and-pop producers of goods including food, clothing, jewelry and art, according to conference coordinator Nanette Napoleon.
Many have full-time jobs and many are "not at the level where they can get their products out there in higher-end venues."
Product sales are primarily at craft fairs, but some members' wares are available at traditional retail shops and galleries.
The Native Hawaiian Producer Conference will run 1 to 6 p.m. Friday, July 25, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Sessions will cover marketing and pricing, the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund, Web site development and marketplace issues for native Hawaiian producers.
Speakers include Maile Meyer, president of Na Mea Hawaii and Laurie Baron, president of Nohea Gallery.
Baron and other retailers of Hawaiian-made products agree about the benefits suppliers may reap from such a conference and plan another, separate event in September.
"For us the important thing is to find people who are ready to wholesale," she said.
Some Hale Kuai members are well-established but others are new on the scene. "They're coming from scratch, some don't even have labels for their products," said Napoleon.
The sky may be the limit for the new producers, according to Baron's sales.
"The amount of revenue that comes in from crafting is pretty significant," but she constantly fights the perception that her four stores carry only very expensive items. "Half of our transactions are in the $25 to $50 range," she said.
Registration forms for the Hale Kuai conference are available at www.halekuai.com or by calling 239-8430.
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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