Register Now for North Shore Chamber's Annual Business Expo May 25th

Aloha Members,

Sign up for the Third Annual Busines Expo.  We have a great line up of speakers that will help you in your business and allow you to recharge your batteries.  This is a great value!  $40 for members and $50 for non-members for breakfast, lunch, cocktail reception and six seminars!! 

Do you want to promote your business to the North Shore community?  Get an exhibitor booth for $200 for members!  Includes two people from your company and all of above.   

Please fax or email your registration form to us today!

Mahalo to our sponsors Turtle Bay Resort, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaii Human Resources, Kamehameha Schools, and North Shore News.  Mahalo to Waialua Soda Works and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly for featured drinks at lunch and reception.    

Mahalo,

Antya

Taste of Waialua This Saturday

Aloha Members,

Support North Shore Agriculture and Help Keep it Country!

Experience the 2011 - Fourth Annual Taste of Waialua

On Saturday, April 23, 2011 from 8:30 am - 5 pm, Island X Hawaii / Old Sugar Mill Brand Coffee & Chocolate will host a celebration of North Shore grown coffee, cacao, produce, food, art, film, music, and surf industry manufacturing at an open house exhibition in the Old Sugar Mill, Waialua.

The North Shore town of Waialua was once a bustling sugar mill town producing what locals said was the "World's Best Sugar" but in 1996 the Waialua Sugar Mill stopped production and closed its gates after over a 100 years of operation. In recent years, however, there has been a quiet resurgence of shops, businesses, and local product manufacturing that has helped transform the Old Waialua Sugar Mill into one of Oahu's newest visitor destinations. The mill is also the processing site of Waialua Coffee and Cacao / Dole. Free mini tours of the coffee and chocolate mill as well as free Waialua Coffee samples are offered daily at Island X Hawaii. Come join us on Saturday, April 23rd, for a gathering of local art, food, music, and community groups and to celebrate the rebirth of the Old Historic Waialua Sugar Mill town.

Event Schedule and Highlights

 

8:30 am     Waialua Farmers Co-op Market opens featuring Waialua grown fruits and veggies. The Co-op is made up of former sugar workers, growing their produce on what was previously sugar land. To see a complete listing of Co op members, please go to www.tasteofwaialua.com.

 

9:30 am     At Island X Hawaii, the Hawaii Coffee Association and Dr. Shawn Steiman of Coffea Consulting will present a history of coffee in Hawaii and the emergence of Waialua Coffee and Cacao. Afterwards Shawn will demonstrate several different brewing methods using Waialua Coffees. Shawn Steiman, a.k.a. Dr. Coffee, will also be available to sign copies of his book, "The Hawai'i Coffee Book: A Gourmet's Guide from Kona to Kaua'i". Coffees brewed for the seminar will be available for sampling for the remainder of the event.

Free, behind the scenes Coffee & Cacao Mill Tours will be offered by "the founder of Waialua Coffee and Cacao"  Mike Conway from Dole. Space for this mill tour is limited so please call Bill Martin at 779-7439 to reserve. Be sure to taste the Natural Shave Ice made from Waialua Coffee and Waialua Chocolate and other real fruits at Island X Hawaii.

The North Shore Chamber of Commerce will present a short history of the North Shore area and provide information about the Chamber's ongoing historical North Shore tours. For more information please call (808) 637-4558 www.gonorthshore.org.

 

10:00 am    The music starts with a performance of Makua's (Coco Leong) Sunset Beach Elementary School Ukulele Class. This will kick off a special day of North Shore Hawaiian music, hula, and the open market exhibition of Waialua arts, crafts, food, and community groups informational booths.

A new addition to the Taste Of Waialua this year, is an all day concert stage funded by Friends For Waialua Town through a grant from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the City & County of Honolulu. Featured will be North Shore and Waialua based artists: Bla Pahinui and Friends, The Abrigo Ohana, Kalei Gamiao, Ke Kani Nahe, Halau Hula Makana a ke  Aloha and Roshan & Shivani / Clear Sky.

Members of the Waialua Sugar Mill Surf industry will open their doors to visitors with Third Stone offering free tours of their surfboard factory and Sugar Mill Films hosting showings of their films Finding Aloha, North Shore Experience and Hawaii Shark Encounters.

North Shore Bath and Body offers daily tours of their soap factory and demonstrations of their soap making process. 

For more information about Taste of Waialua, please contact event coordinator Bill Martin at (808) 779-7439 islandxhawaii@msn.com, www.tasteofwaialua.com, www.islandxhawaii.com

For information about the concert contact Kathleen Pahinui with Friends for Waialua Town at (808) 637-8545 pahinuik001@hawaii.rr.com, www.waialuatown.info

Mahalo Nui Loa to: 

Castle and Cooke Waialua, LLC. Friends for Waialua Town, City & County of Honoulu, Hawaii Tourism Authority, Dole's Coffee / Cacao, Waialua Farmer's Market Co Op, Community Kitchen, Hawaii Coffee Association, North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Department of Agriculture Seals of Quality Program, and the people of the North Shore.

Hope to see you there!  Stop by our booth and learn more about our Historical Haleiwa Walking Tours.  Sign up to go on one begining May 1st. 

Aloha,

Antya

Chamber's Annual Meeting is Wednesday, April 27th 8AM at Haleiwa Joe's

Aloha Members,

Our next membership meeting is our Annual Meeting and Elections on Wednesday, April 27th 8AM at Haleiwa Joe's.  As usual Haleiwa Joe's will provide a wonderful continental breakfast ($5 for members, $10 for nonmembers).  An agenda and more information will be forthcoming.

Mahalo,
Antya

ACTION NEEDED: Oppose GET Tax Increase Today!

Action Alert

	Hearing on Proposed GET Increase Wednesday, April 6 in WAM Committee

ALOHA Chamber Members:
The Senate Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a hearing on a bill that INCREASES THE GENERAL USE TAX as an option to raise revenue to balance the State's budget. 
HB 793-Proposed SD1 is being heard on Wednesday, April 6 at 9:30 am in the auditorium at the State Capitol (Hearing Notice).
Please submit testimony by 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 6. We also encourage you to attend the hearing. 
HB 793, Proposed SD1, proposes to:

• Temporarily increase the GET and public service company tax rates by 1% from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2013.
• Temporarily provides food and other tax credits. Effective July 1, 2011; repeals on June 30, 2015.
• Temporarily suspends tax exemptions for certain persons and certain amounts of gross income or proceeds from the GET and requires the payment of tax.

If you have any questions, please e-mail smenor-mcnamara@cochawaii.org.
Go to this link to take ACTION NOW!
http://www.capwiz.com/hawaiichamber/issues/alert/?alertid=39273501&PROCESS=Take+Action
Mahalo,
Antya

Waialua Robotics Competes With Leaders in Las Vegas

Aloha Members and Friends,

Please congratulate Waialua High and Intermediate Robotics Team, Glen Lee, teacher, and his team of community mentors! See below press release.

It's expensive for the students and mentor team to travel to these competitions, so any donations would be much appreciated.  Please mail your check payable to WHIS  67-160 Farrington Hwy., Waialua, Hi 96791 and let them know you are a Chamber member or friend.

Mahalo,
Antya Miller, Executive Director

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 2, 2011
WAIALUA ROBOTICS COMPETES WITH LEADERS IN LAS VEGAS
Six Hawaii Robotics Teams Continue Prep for Global Championships

HONOLULU -  Following their second regional win last weekend at the FIRST in Hawaii Regional Robotics Competition, Waialua High School robotics team competed again today at the Las Vegas Regional among 39 teams from across the country.  Waialua finished as a Regional Finalist and was recognized with two awards including:

*Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, which celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit by recognizing a team that, since inception, has developed the framework for a comprehen- sive business plan to scope, manage, and achieve team objectives.

Woodie Flowers Award presented to Mr. Floyd "Dango" Matsumoto, mentor for the Waialua students, recognizing an outstanding engineer or teacher participating in the robotics competition who best demonstrates excellence in teaching science, math, and creative design.

Waialua also competed in the New York City Regional in early March, winning both the overall tournament as well as the Chairman's Award, the program's highest honor.

Waialua High, McKinley High and Kealakehe High School robotics teams won this year's FIRST in Hawai'i Regional Robotics Competition, qualifying them to move on to the 2011 FIRST Robotics Championship at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri, April 27-30.  In all, six teams from Hawai'i schools have secured spots in the international championship, ensuring the Aloha State will be well represented in the prestigious competition dubbed the "Super Bowl of Smarts," including:

• Kealakehe High School
• McKinley High School
• Sacred Hearts Academy (previously qualified at Worcester Polytechnic Institute Regional Competition)
• Waiakea High School
• Waialua High School (previously qualified at New York City Regional Competition)
• Waianae High School

The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their mentors to solve a common engineering problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules. The competition allows students to apply academic knowledge and innovation, while developing teamwork, problem-solving and critical thinking skills that will better prepare them to continue their education and enter the workforce.

FIRST in Hawaii Regional Robotics Competition, the fifth annual event, is scheduled for the same weekend next March.
About Robotics Education in Hawai'i
FIRST Robotics is one of six programs which are supported by the Hawai'i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC), including FIRST, FIRST LEGO League, Underwater ROV, Botball, VEX Robotics and Micro Robotics.

Recognizing the importance of promoting robotics education at an early age and sustaining students' interest in STEM education throughout their schooling, Hawai'i's six robotics programs joined together to form the Hawai'i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC). The six of the robotics programs are coordinating efforts to promote robotics education in elementary, middle and high schools statewide.

To learn more about robotics education in Hawai'i, visit the Hawai'i Robotics Organizing Committee website at: www.hawaiiiroc.org

Corrie Heck
Chief Coordinator
Hawai'i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC)
Phone: (808) 351-3865