Posted on: Sunday, July 08, 2001

Waipahu promotes entrepreneurial spirit

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hundreds of potential entrepreneurs of Filipino ancestry live on O'ahu, but many of them need a little encouragement to enter the business world.

Officials at the Filipino Community Center are hoping to provide that encouragement by using successful Filipino entrepreneurs to teach and inspire others to start businesses. The center, along with First Hawaiian Bank, will present a series of workshops beginning July 31 at the bank's Waipahu branch to promote the entrepreneurial spirit.

The series, "How to Start a Really Small Business," also is aimed at revitalizing the once-thriving Waipahu business district. The workshops are the first under FilCom Center's Hanapbuhay Hawai'i Program, which focuses on economic development.

Although the workshops are geared toward Filipinos, the series is open to everyone, said Rose Churma, interim executive director of the center. She said the program is targeting individuals, such as yard cleaners, who want to form their own businesses but don't know how.

"We're not talking about opening a retail store somewhere with a capital of $50,000," Churma said. "We're talking about individuals who can get off the welfare payroll by really just being ingenious and being creative."

But Churma said many Filipinos, particularly immigrants, have no idea how to start a business. These workshops, she said, should help them get started.

Taking part in the workshops will be Eddie Flores Jr., co-owner of the L&L Drive Inn franchise; Lito Alcantra, who worked as a janitor before forming his own contracting firm, Group Builders; and Apolonia Agonoy Stice, president of Hawai'i Beachfront Vacation Homes.

"In essence, the people who are teaching the course are not theory driven, but really more based on hands-on experience," Churma said. "What we found out was for a lot of people, it is really having the push to do it. They're scared. So we're using actual life examples to motivate them."

Some of the people who complete the program will be eligible for space at the Filipino Community Center, which is scheduled to be completed early next year in Waipahu. The center will feature office and retail space, as well as provide a venue for cultural events, Churma said.

"I really want for Waipahu to be lively again, for people to discover the richness of the area," she said. "We need a little more push and collaboration with our neighbors to create a different ambience, not of a hard-on-its-heels place, but a real historic town. That's my dream."

The workshops are free, but a $40 deposit is required that will be refunded upon completion of the series. For information on the workshops, call 847-6401, or check the FilCom Web site at www.filcom.org.