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HAWAII
Kauai 'Prepare Fairs' to help homebuyers

The Contractors Association of Kauai is coordinating two "Prepare Fairs" in coming months to help people on the Garden Isle navigate the first steps to home ownership.

Exhibitors at the Prepare Fairs will include real estate companies, mortgage lenders, materials suppliers, and escrow companies, as well as nonprofit and government organizations such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Habitat for Humanity, the Kauai County Housing Agency, the Hawaii Home Ownership Center, the Legal Aid Society, and the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.

The first Prepare Fair will be on Saturday, May 14 at Kauai Community College in Lihue; the second will be on Saturday, July 23 at the Hawaii National Guard Armory in Hanapepe.

Admission is free. Parents attending the fairs can have their children looked after by Girl Scouts while they attend workshops and speak with exhibitors.

The two fairs are being funded by a $30,000 grant from the Alexander & Baldwin Foundation to the Self-Help Housing Corporation of Hawaii, which is working with the contractors' group to present the fairs.

For more information about sponsoring an exhibit at the fairs, call Karen Taketa, of the Contractors Association of Kauai, at 246-2662.

Feds 'invest' in UH business center

The University of Hawaii's Center for Entreprenuerial Studies is getting a shot in the arm from the U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration.

The federal agency announced Thursday it was making a $215,000 "investment" in the university, to help continue the activities of the center.

"This EDA investment will maintain an economic development program that is attracting new business opportunities and creating higher-skill, higher-wage jobs for local citizens," the agency said in a news release.

According to the release, EDA serves as a "venture capital resource to meet the economic development needs of distressed communities throughout the United States."

Alaska Air partners with Northwest

Alaska Airlines Vacations and MLT Vacations Inc. are partnering to offer vacation packages to Hawaii and other locations.

MLT Vacations is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, and under its agreement with Alaska Airlines will be using Alaska Airlines flights for its vacation packages to California, Nevada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines Vacations, in turn, will be using Northwest Airlines flights for travelers who want to visit Hawaii.

"This is something that our vacations customers have been asking about for years," said Brad Walker, Alaska Airlines director of leisure marketing. "Even though we don't fly to Hawaii, we've created a unique partnership with MLT Vacations and are confident our customers will experience the same level of service and high standards they have come to expect on other Alaska Airlines Vacations."