The nonprofit Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture seeks to open a West Oahu small business incubator center with the help of $500,000 in pending funds from the federal government.
INPEACE, which has specialized in educational programs for Native Hawaiian communities for more than 25 years, envisions opening the center in the spring of 2022 if the funds can be secured through U.S. Rep Ed Case, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations.
The committee earlier this month passed its Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill to fund agencies like the U.S. Small Business Administration, and other programs to support small and minority-owned businesses amid pandemic recovery. The bill, which included Case's Community Project Funding request for $500,000 for INPEACE, will head to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
“INPEACE’s Leeward Community Small Business Incubator Project will provide critical assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs directly in their community so they do not have to transit across the island to obtain key services," Case said in a statement. "With support from the Committee, INPEACE can expand its current business development program capacity, which primarily services Native Hawaiian and veteran communities, to meet the growing needs of our Leeward community."
Case, who has been on the Appropriations Committee since 2019, issued a release that said the funding bill is the first since 2011 to include specific requests from members of Congress to fund deserving projects in their districts.
Saydee Pojas, INPEACE program director, told Pacific Business News that the organization was told the funding could be released sometime in January, which would pave the way for a spring opening.
Pojas said the incubator will be located in the Kapolei area and that the money would support "establishment of the physical Business Incubator/Community Outreach Lab and programming to provide technical assistance on business development and technology.
"The construction of the Leeward Community Small Business Incubator Lab will bring business resources, training and assistance directly to West Oahu," Pojas emailed. "This project will provide business owners serving Oahu's underserved communities with a space and technology to take advantage of technical assistance and training opportunities.
"It will also allow federal, state and local experts to offer classes in West Oahu that will help these business owners be more competitive for grant awards and better understand the regulatory landscape. This project is a long-term investment in West Oahu to improve the number and quality of small businesses in Oahu's fastest-growing population center.
"In addition to helping the local economy and job creation, it can help improve the community more broadly by creating jobs in the community, saving residents hours of commute time, which will allow them to spend more time giving back to the community."
