The Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce 2nd Quarter Membership Meeting by Platinum sponsor Central Pacific Bank was held at the Hilton Kaua‘i Beach Resort. It provided 150 attendees a great evening to network, meet new members who recently joined the Chamber
The Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce 2nd Quarter Membership Meeting by Platinum sponsor Central Pacific Bank was held at the Hilton Kaua‘i Beach Resort. It provided 150 attendees a great evening to network, meet new members who recently joined the Chamber during the first half of 2009, meet the 2009 Golf Scholarship Tournament recipients, receive the latest update about what’s taking place at Central Pacific Bank, and learn about Kaua‘i’s newest entry to the interisland airline market, Mokulele Airlines.
Since January, 34 businesses and individuals joined the Chamber, including Talk Story Bookstore, Camp Consulting LLC, and Mac Made Easy, which represent a variety of industry sectors from throughout the island.
The new members attended a New Member Orientation presented by Board of Director member Sally Motta who is also the Chamber’s Treasurer and Chair of the Membership Committee. During the meeting, the new members were also introduced to the membership.
For the business component of the meeting, winners of the Membership Drive were selected. The winners each received two roundtrip tickets on Mokulele Airlines and a free 6 month subscription to the Chamber’s website to advertise their business.
The recipient of the first two roundtrip tickets for the New Member was Hui O Pa‘akai and the New Member Recruitment Drive winner was Sally Motta of Pacific International Mortgage.
Peter Yukimura of Koa Trading Company was the Grand Prize winner of two roundtrip tickets, whose name was randomly drawn from business cards collected from the members during the evening.
The keynote for the evening was presented by Bill Boyer, Founder and President of Mokulele Airlines, whose topic was “Growing an Airline in Hawaii’s Current Economy.”
Boyer briefly talked about his earlier experience with Alaska Airline as a baggage handler and of his entrepreneurial spirit in which he invented the digEplayer which is now used on all the major airlines throughout the world. The digEplayer is a portable movie device which he invented and, eventually sold. Boyer also spoke about his plans to grow the airline including airline partners such as Alaska Airlines, Republic Airlines and its newest partners, United Airlines and Philippine Airlines.
Boyer also spoke about increasing other benefits for customers of Mokulele Airlines including finalizing its Membership Program which will be available to its customers during the latter part of summer.
Midway through Boyer’s presentation, attendees were asked to “stand up and stretch.” Unbeknownst to the attendees, they were asked to look under their chairs as each table had a prize which was another set of roundtrip tickets, one for each of the 15 tables. A total of 21 roundtrip tickets were given away throughout the meeting.
The evening concluded with a special presentation by Brenda Jose on behalf of Executive Director Mason Chock of Leadership Kaua‘i. A plaque presentation was made to the executive team of Central Pacific Bank for its financial support of $3000 since 2004. The plaque was also in recognition of the banks’ on-going support of investing in Kaua‘i’s future business and community leaders.
The Chamber’s next event coordinated by the Chamber’s Events & Activities Committee, which is chaired by Joy Koerte of Fujita Miura Public Relations, will be held June 30. A Business After Hours/Open House and networking event — sponsored by The Garden Island Newspaper — will showcase the completion of the interior and exterior renovations, give attendees a change to meet the team and learn about the newspaper, including its printing presses.
The event is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at its Kuhio Highway building.
The month of July will kick-off with the 2009 Annual Governor’s Luncheon with Governor Lingle from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., July 9 at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club. The Governor’s topic will be “Legislative Update — 2009.”
For more information and to register on-line, visit the Chamber’s website at www.kauaichamber.org
• Randy Francisco is president of the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce and can be reached at randall@kauaichamber.org.
