Charles Rose, Keali'i Lum, Richard Kido, UH Mānoa's Susan Yamada, team coach Michael Steiner, and Kehaulani Lum accept the first place prize of $10,000 in the Business Plan competition. - Photo: Courtesy Shidler College of Business

Ka lei o ka lanakila

Civic club's maile farm wins business plan contest

By T. Ilihia Gionson / Ka Wai Ola

The winner of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Shidler College of Business 2009 Business Plan competition isn't a business at all. Ali'i Pauahi Hawaiian Civic Club's plan for Ka Mahi'ai 'Ihi O Wailea – a community-based maile-growing social entrepreneurship project – took the top prize April 30, a first for a nonprofit organization in the competition.

The Aiea, O'ahu-based club was the first Hawaiian Civic Club ever to enter the competition. The plan involves a commercial maile farm on 20 acres of land in Wailea, Hawai'i, about 10 miles north of Hilo.

It will be the sole commercial venue for Hilo maile, but this is more than a simple maile farm.

"We're introducing Hilo maile at a commercial level. But we're not selling culture, we're building community," said Ali'i Pauahi Hawaiian Civic Club Pelekikena Keali'i Lum.

The project is dedicated to returning Hawaiians to the land. And to help, there are 20 partners in the endeavor, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Alu Like, Nā Pua No'eau, Hilo High School, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, Hui Kū Maoli Ola, the Hilo, Laupāhoehoe and Prince David Kawānanakoa Hawaiian Civic Clubs, landowners, community groups and more.

Ka Mahi'ai 'Ihi O Wailea began coming together more than a year ago. Through the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs' Economic Development Committee – in partnership with Hawai'i Maoli – came a program called E Ho'owaiwai I Ka Pono, or bringing prosperity through righteousness. The program's aim was to help more Native Hawaiians get into business through education, training and workshops.

More than 60 groups entered the annual business-plan competition. Second place went to MB Therapeutics Inc., for a plan involving noninvasive, targeted drug delivery systems. Third place went to Technoalgae, focusing on development and research in the field of microalgae-based biofuel.

The total value of Ali'i Pauahi's prizes was $30,000, including $10,000 cash, professional consultation services, and space at the school from which to run the business.

Winning the competition is a remarkable achievement for the Ali'i Pauahi Hawaiian Civic Club, but member Kehaulani Lum gives the honor to her kūpuna. "Our ancestors are powerful indeed, for truly, it is their cultural technology and spirit which grounds our vision and touched the judges' hearts and minds in a monumental way. We are humbled by this incredible outcome."