Kahoomiki’s obesity program wins business plan competition

The Hogan Entrepreneurial Program announced on April 21 the winners of the Hogan/American Savings Bank Nonprofit Business Plan Competition.  Kahoomiki’s Obesity Prevention Program took the first-place prize of $12,000 in the fourth competition. Winners were announced at the Mystical Rose Oratory on the Chaminade University campus.

Lanakila Pacific came in second place for their Printing for Good Project and won a prize of $6,000. The third place prize of $4,000 was awarded to Hawaiian Hope’s Internet Café. American Savings Bank’s donation of $25,000 helped make these prizes possible.

The Waianae Clubhouse Productions program by the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii won the “most compelling” project prize of 100 hours of free integrated communications service valued at $12,000 donated by Loomis-ISC.

“In previous years, we have seen some of the finalists use their prizes as seed money and grow into successful ventures,” said Director of the Hogan Program, Dr. John Webster. “In the current climate when nonprofits are hard hit by budget cuts, we hope this competition, the prizes, and the relationships that are built through participation prove encouraging to all,” he said.

The additional finalists and their programs for this year included: Hope Help & Healing Kauai’s Na Kamalii O Kauai; National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii’s Center of Excellence for Chronic Disease; Sustain Hawaii’s “Ainability;” the Learning for a Lifetime Foundation’s Homework Plus.

There were 57 business plans submitted to this year’s competition. Of those, eight finalists presented their projects on April 13 to a group of judges from both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, including: Lisa Maruyama, president & CEO of HANO; Robin Campaniano, general partner of Ulupono Initiative; Cheryl Kauhane Lupenui, president & CEO of YWCA of Oahu; Jerry Rauckhorst, president & CEO of Catholic Charities Hawaii; Ellen Cunningham of Ellen M. Cunningham & Associates; Debbie Hallof, president of Business Advisory Group, Inc.; Darren Kimura, president & CEO of Sopogy, Inc.; Sally Little, president & CEO of Entrepreneurial Solutions, LLC; Anna Marie Springer of the Chaminade Board of Regents; Ed Kenney, chef and owner of Town and Downtown restaurants.

Previous winners build on success in the business plan competition

The Waianae Organic Farmers Cooperative, also known as Mao Organic Farms, won the Nonprofit Business Plan Competition in 2004 for a farming venture aimed at social entrepreneurship by growing organic food and training young leaders working for a sustainable Hawaii. Their initiative went on to win second place in a national nonprofit competition organized by Yale University.

In 2007, Re-Use Hawaii developed an initiative to keep reusable building material out of the waste stream, and in use in our community. Re-use Hawaii opened a warehouse in April 2009 that has quickly become a resource for homeowners, artists, woodworkers, and others.