Maui's Potential
September 19, 2011 | 04:26 PM

This was a fun article for me, and these comments are good ones. Julie is right in pointing out that the "Coconut Heads" would certainly have to provide incentives for companies to start or locate here by reducing tax burden and solutions for the cost of living. The article mentions that Arakawa & Regan might be on board with this. What about Abercrombie and the state legislature? They are the ones who strap local businesses with the most regulation and tax.

Mike has a good point too about location. Kihei or Lahaina would are locations worth considering. Kihei already has the technology park that can be built upon. Lahaina is stock full of families left to rely primarily on the service industry for low paying jobs. Many of these workers have a wealth of skills and experiences they have abandoned in order to relocate here. Lahaina has the most beautiful beaches and weather. Adding high paying tech-related jobs here would provide a life balance second to none.

Mike also has a valid concern about the education situation. Ideally, we would set up a technical school here for college and high school AP - maybe technical camps for middle school. From the article, I am assuming this is being discussed.

My husband and two young keiki moved to Lahaina from Scottsdale, AZ 18 months ago to be in a beautiful location while we worked on our start up BarterJack.com. We can attest to all of the challenges mentioned above, as well as the reason Maui is a perfect location for others to do it IF THEY ARE FINANCIALLY ABLE. In order to stay here, we have had to stall development of our project to do other projects that could bring in immediate income. Entrepreneurs would have to be willing to pay a higher % in taxes and living expenses to do what is already risky, requiring more capital than a more business-friendly state. We are facing these obstacles today.

We love Maui and want to stay, raise our children, launch our product and provide excellent jobs for our friends in our community. Thanks to this article, perhaps I can play a larger role in making that a reality for myself and others. Keith Powers, please contact me. I would like to lend my support to your effort.

ALOHA



Wendy Hooper
Lahaina