Meet the newest 10 local companies joining mana up's cohort 9!
Hawaii Business Magazine
Good advice from digitally savvy entrepreneurs for those who want to increase their online sales. Second of two parts. Here are some of the lessons they learned, plus advice from experts in retail, IT and digital marketing.
1. It's Easier Now to Build an Online Store
2. Make Connections and Get Feedback
3. Collect Data
4. Build Partnerships
5. Leverage the Hawai'i Brand
Hawaii Business Magazine
Many retailers see how important e-commerce has been during the coronavirus pandemic. As their bricks-and-mortar shut down, many retailers strengthened their social media and online advertising and added products to their websites.
Hawaiʻi Magazine
Small businesses can take many forms, from that little acai bowl stand down the street to that corner grocery store that’s got the best Spam musubi—you know the one—as well as a resident artist. And they’re all being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For Oʻahu-based artist Nick Kuchar, who has made a name for himself illustrating iconic Hawaiʻi landscapes in his signature retro style, it’s all about staying busy and positive in these uncertain times.
Hawaiʻi Magazine
Who doesn’t want a gift from Hawaiʻi?
(Even I do—and I live here!)
We bet your mom would, too.
With Mother’s Day nearing, here are 12 gift ideas—at all price points, for all moms, every one made or designed in the Islands—that will make her imagine she’s in paradise.
(Order soon, though!)
Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaii’s long-term economic plan is a blank slate by design to be filled in by an ensemble cast, says Alan Oshima, Hawaii’s economic recovery chief.
Hawaiʻi Magazine
In ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), holo ʻai means to move food to where it needs to be, and that’s exactly what local axis deer harvester Maui Nui Venison has done with its Holo ʻAi initiative.
“Weʻve donated just over 10,000 pounds of venison and we have 2,000 pounds more slated for this week,” says Kuʻulani Muise who, along with her husband, Jake Muise; his friend, Kimo Tuyay; and Tuyay’s wife, Min Tuyay, manages and operates Maui Nui Venison.
Hawaii Business Magazine
We are digging deep into e-commerce (as wholesale sales channels have had to close), redesigning our website experience and making it easier for our customers to shop well from home. Mohala Eyewear designs eyewear to break the one size fits all standard of the sunglasses market, with fits for all face shapes inspired by Hawai‘i’s diversity. We are [also] updating our website to be an education tool that teaches women how to choose sunglasses for their unique face, shape and nose bridge.
Hawaiʻi Magazine
It sounds like the dream Hawaiʻi life: Buying an old farm in Puna on Hawaiʻi Island off an ad on Craiglist to start growing coffee. You wake up to the quiet of a farm, living minutes from the ocean, basking in the Island sunshine. Oh, and you’ve got your own coffee, too.
Part of that is true for Kelleigh Stewart and Brandon Von Damitz, the husband-and-wife duo behind Big Island Coffee Roasters.
Aloha, We're starting monthly newsletters for our Mana Up community - mahalo for being a part of it! We will share updates from our local entrepreneurs and the latest in the world of Mana Up. We hope their stories inspire you as they do us, and that they illustrate how important it is to support local companies.
Hawaiʻi Magazine
The team at HAWAIʻI Magazine decided to highlight Hawaiʻi-based businesses in a new blog series called “Shop With Aloha,” to encourage you to support them in whatever way you can.
To kick if off, we’re partnering with Mana Up Hawaiʻi, a Honolulu-based accelerator for consumer packaged goods with an e-commerce store that sells curated Hawaiʻi-based goods, from reef-safe sunscreen to chocolate bars made from locally grown cacao.
Honolulu Magazine
On Maui, there is a food resource that is literally running wild: deer. As food banks see a 30% increase in need, a number that is only rising, “we can’t ask farmers to grow lettuce quicker, ranchers to overharvest cows, but we can harvest more deer,” says Jacob Muise of Maui Nui Venison.
Hawaiʻi Magazine
On this week’s “Have Aloha Will Travel” podcast, Kevin and Cat talk story with Mana Up Hawaiʻi co-founder, Meli James, from much more than six feet away.
In this episode, Meli speaks to the “Have Aloha Will Travel” crew about Mana Up’s mission, which is to provide mentoring opportunities to local small businesses as well as sell and highlight Hawaiʻi-made products on its website and storefront (2201 Kalākaua Ave., Space A110, Honolulu), which is now temporarily closed due to COVID-19.