Letters to the Editor

HIDDEN COSTS

Your "Tanks a Lot" article [February 2005] on benefits of military spending in Hawaii did not factor in hidden costs. Cleanup of unexploded ordnance and hazardous waste on 15 million acres of shut-down military ranges was estimated to cost up to $35 billion nationwide. And land taken for military use cannot supply revenue and quality-of-life benefits from other uses--homes, businesses, farms, and public parks.

Cory Harden,
Hilo, HI
Via email

GO HOME, GUY!

I really like Guy Kawaski. I think his new book is right on target, I've been to his boot camp for entrepreneurs, and his boutique investment firm, Garage Technology Ventures, fills an important void in the ever-widening funding gap. But his flippant rhetoric in a recent interview with Hawaii Business Macrh 2005]about Act 221 and the State Private Investment Fund (SPIF) reflects the fact that he's been in California for too long and has lost touch with what it takes to start and sustain a business in Hawaii.

Guy says, "People need to chill out about this theory that successful businesses need to stay in Hawaii," and that "the purpose of a company is not to create jobs. It's to make customers happy." The SPIF program is not so much about keeping companies in Hawaii or generating more jobs. That will merely be a consequence of the program, which is meant to assure that there is sufficient venture funding to help start-ups achieve success in Hawaii rather than having to leave to find venture capital elsewhere. He also misses the point of Act 221, which is to stimulate investment in Hawaii 's technology sector and direct some of the holders of Hawaii 's $90 billion in net worth to invest in Hawaii companies.

Guy also says, "if a person has great talent and can make it in Hollywood, he should go to Hollywood." Why can't a person with a "great talent" for technology make it in Hawaii? Why should they have to leave for a job on the mainland if their real goal is to raise a family here? We can build the companies, and thanks to Act 221 and hopefully SPIF, the money will come. The businesses that succeed will make their investors happy and the cycle will repeat itself creating a sustainable tech sector with meaningful high-paying jobs for Hawaii 's young people and their families. And that, Guy, is why so many of us on the ground and in the trenches here in Hawaii believe that Act 221 and SPIF are important tools for building entrepreneurship in the islands.

Bill Spencer,
President, Hawaii Venture Capital Association
Via email

CITY OF INDUSTRY

The article, "Changing Landscape" in the the April 2005 issue features a great story about Gary Shinn. However, in the article, he states that "City Mill was on the brink of bankruptcy" in 1993. The last time we were on the brink of bankruptcy was in 1930, during the Great Depression, and my grandfather paid back his debt in full. We are a fiscally conservative company and have been financially strong since the Depression. In 1993, the year in question , we opened stores in Hawaii Kai and in Mililani, and did extensive renovations to our Pearl City Store. Currently, we are doing well, happily competing, and very deeply appreciative of the Hawaii community that supports us.

Carol Ai May,
Vice President,
City Mill Co. Ltd.
Via email