Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 12, 1 December 2007 — OHA Mālama Loan for businesses, education and home improvement [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA Mālama Loan for businesses, education and home improvement

By Lisa Asatū | Publicatiūns Editūr When Maui kalo fanner lohn Kaina Ir. wanted to start a business, he got a low-interest loan from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs that allowed him to buy equipment, rent a haekhoe and more than double the number of patches he had from two to five. "It's just a matter of growing the product. Most people love to eat poi," said Kaina, owner of JJ's Kalo, Fish and 'Āina Co., whieh also grows ti leaf, bananas, and last year started selling lū'au leaf to Takamiya Market in Happy Valley. Attracted by the low-inter-est rate, Kaina received $10,000 from OHA's Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund, whieh he noted, "is strictly for those of Hawaiian ancestry." Two years later he's eyeing a larger, 2-acre site in Kapuna and is considering applying for another loan from OHA to help him buy a fishing boat to further grow his business. Last month, OHA unveiled a new loan program to do just that.

The OHA Mālama Loan aims to help businesses grow and consumers pay for home improvements and education. It offers five-year, 5 percent loans for up to $75,000 for Native Hawaiians, based on credit score. "Achieving a strong and vibrant Hawaiian people and nation requires successful enterprise and participation in eeonomie and commercial activity, while opening opportunity to infuse Hawaiian culture, values and world view into these iniīiatives," said OHA Board of Trustees Chairperson Haunani Apohona, at the Nov. 15 unveiling. A sneak preview of the new program was shared with more than 250 attendees of Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce's Business Fest earlier in the week, where Lt. Gov. James Aiona told the group that about 8 percent of Hawaii businesses are owned by Native Hawaiians but they account for only 2 percent of state tax revenue. Mark Glick, OHA's Eeonomie Development Director, said that about 700 Native Hawaiians over the past year have said they want to participate in the OHA Mālama

Loan program. They include Catherine Kin Lee, who wants to start a Christian Cafē Ministry in Wai'anae Mall, where people could eat, drink and eome for spiritual nourishment, and Therese Sanchez and Christine Hall, who want to start a wellness academy based on Native Hawaiian values and beliefs. "This is all about getting credit and capital to Native Hawaiians," Glick said. Congress established the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund 20 years ago to provide businessrelated funding on reasonable tenns and conditions for Native Hawaiians. The fund is implemented by OHA and overseen by the Administration for Native Americans, whieh has called on

OHA to add more loan products, speed up the loan-approval process and heeome the lender of first resort for Native Hawaiians. As a result, loan-approval times will be decreased to within five days for eligible applicants, from six months or more. OHA and First Hawaiian Bank, its strategic lending partner in the venture, also strive to lend the fund's entire $24 million in two years. First Hawaiian Bank president and chief executive Don Horner said his bank is up to the ehallenge. "All I ean say to you is, E Komo Mai - as of today we are making loans!" Applications are available at all 58 branches of First Hawaiian Bank. The fund's board of directors retains loan-approval authority. S

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Maui kalo former John Kaina Jr. eyes expansion of his business with an OHA loan. - Photo: LisaAsato.