 Aloha, thank you for joining us again today with SBA and today I'm going to be talking with Jay Fidel about some of the things that are going on with SBA. We talk a lot about what makes small businesses successful and what it takes to be successful in small businesses and how we communicate that out to the community and one of the best ways that SBA has done that is with our annual SBA Small Business Awards. Small businesses are just around the corner so we thought we'd talk a little bit about that today because on this program we're also featuring some of those small businesses who have been honored and recognized for their accomplishments through the SBA awards over the years. This program has been going on for probably about 35 years as the President of the United States has always celebrated National Small Business Week to honor the accomplishments, the contributions to the economy and just what small business in America is all about. And we see outstanding achievers here in Hawaii and this legacy goes on and on. The SBA awards are among the most prestigious that we see in the islands and I think some of that has to do with our process. So we're going to talk a little bit about the awards, what they're for, who can apply, how to apply and just, you know, why this process is make such credible awards and recognizes the right people in our small business community for the right things that small businesses do. So James, join me to talk about that. I was telling you before this show that the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum had its energy day on the 16th of August and it gave six awards out. I mean, and this has been the last two or three years but it's growing, it's a growing feature of what they do and why because A, it recognizes achievement, it recognizes commitment and B, it also tells everybody that the people who won have done a good job and that they also want to consider being committed that way, they want to try to get an award themselves. And this raises all boats when you do that. Right. It's a very inspiring thing. It is. You know, other people's story and say, I can do that. I believe that and it's a good thing to replicate. So people also learn. They can find mentors through the program and we've got, you know, a long, long legacy of doing this, these programs and we do. We see remarkable stories come out. We see community leaders step up out of the ranks of these award winners who kind of gain their confidence as well or increase their confidence in some different areas. So we find it's a great thing for SBA to be able to do but it's also a very worthy accomplishment. One of the things that people are always amazed at is our process that we go through because there is some serious vetting. It's not like just a puff piece or anything to get one of these awards. Oh, I'm sure it's not. So how tough is it? Well, it just takes, it does take a little bit of time for the nomination. So we'll be opening the nominations in middle of September and then they run, the nomination term goes for a couple of months. So they'll be coming into our office around November 11th or so. But we do ask for our small business awards. There are a number of different categories. We recognize the small business person of the year, which is probably the big cheese, the biggest award that we have. We recognize an entrepreneurial success and that award is looking at somebody who has started as a small business but have grown their business into a larger business, no longer eligible for SBA's assistance, but have gotten SBA assistance at some point in the life of their business. So they're great role models. They've created a lot of jobs, different things like this. One of the things that does make our small business awards different is we do look at financial criteria. We do ask for kind of abbreviated financial data, revenues, you know, you're... You're looking for dynamics. You're looking for a business that is growing, improving, doing it the right way. Each award is a little bit different, but that financial piece, what are your revenues over the past three years? How have they increased? What are your sales? What is your pre-tax income? How many jobs have you created? So sometimes people are very sensitive about reporting that data, but we also keep it very close to the vest. We treat it with a great deal of confidentiality. We shouldn't worry about the competition taking advantage of that. Yeah, no, we don't disclose any proprietary information, but we need the financials for the small business person of the year, the entrepreneurial success, the exporter of the year, the young entrepreneur of the year, and the family-owned business. So each one's a little bit different, and we have... We, out of all of our nominations, we vet them and kind of scrub them up. We have a committee that comes in, very different personalities and people... From the community. From the community, bankers, small business owners who've gone through the process before. It's a really sharp thing. You know, you just don't have to come in and demo though, you know. You don't have to get on stage until you've won, but, you know, they come through and some of these guys are accountants and CPAs, so they're looking at the numbers. Other people are community leaders. They're looking at how you give back. Some of them are involved in human resources and unions, and they are looking at how you treat your employees. So it's a real comprehensive picture for each one of these small business awards. But it's been really gratifying, and some people say, please let me judge again this year because this is just so motivating. It's so cool to see what these small businesses are really doing and how involved they are in their community. It establishes aspirational values. You know, it establishes the things we ought to strive for in this business community. It brings the community together, doesn't it? It really does. People get to know each other. They get to admire each other. They get to mentor and mentee each other. All that is a positive thing to bring it together. And we're very inclusive because we do pull in all of the islands. We do make sure that we are hearing about what's going on in Kauai and who's really working with the community, who's excelling in their business, what projects are going on, and we look at all different kinds of industries we've had for overseas and retail. So who should apply? Should I apply? Any industry works? I mean, anybody doing business work or, for example, if I'm struggling, should I apply? Or maybe I should wait. You should probably wait if you're really having, you know, you haven't found your footing yet. And maybe you're not considering yourself a going concern because we do look at your staying for the small business person of the year. It's staying power, increase in revenues, creation of jobs, how many jobs have you created? We have winners who have maybe created over, you know, a period of time or four to five years may have created five or six, seven jobs. And that's a big gain for their industry. But we also have people who have created over 200 jobs, you know? So they're really, you know, making a big impact. But seven jobs, you know, in Camuella can be a lot of jobs, you know, it makes, it's the impact on your community. So it kind of scales itself. So yeah, it's a relative thing, but look at all the factors, circumstances. Those CPA judges are going to look at, you know, your revenues and say, okay, yeah, you are increasing year over year, or you've reinvested in your business. You're being a smart business owner. What are you doing? Making all the money out of your business. So they do, I mean, the numbers do tell a story. So you have runners up, I mean, there's one winner or you have a winner and a runner up, something like that. Our process, we have objective scoring. So out of, we have about 14 judges and they all come in and they score the nominations, all individually, numerically. And so then we figure, we calculate the scores and we pull the top candidates based on those scores. That's it. The top candidate wins the award. Not always. We have a discussion about that, too. Oh, to be subjective. You know, so there is that factor of, you know, what did you put into your nomination? What is it impressing the judges? So we have a lot of really close ones. This year, the first time ever, we had the small business person of the year had an exact tie, numerically, on Maui. And the conversation with the judges couldn't break that tie. They couldn't pick one over the other. They were both very, very different industries. Two awards. One was in a restaurant and hospitality industry and growing, creating a lot of jobs. The others was a much longer term, steady contracting business who did air conditioning, fuel format, manufacture, and things like this. So they were very, very different, but they couldn't decide. We went to the whole board and had everybody vote and they were just dead even. So we had co-winners for the first time ever. And it was the right thing to do. They're both, you know, just solid businesses and proud of their awards and excited about their next ideas. When you do look at the innovativeness of the product or service, you know, if you've just kind of, you know, hanging on, you know, and doing the same thing, either tell us why you're just doing the same thing and why that makes sense or tell us how internally you've changed or innovated. Yeah. And so small business owners. Sometimes it's real value that nobody can see. Exactly. So you look closely. Sometimes a lot of it is internally focused and it may be in their management systems, it may be their human resources, it may be what they're doing with their employees that you may not know outside the company, but you still see a strong, steady business going on. So this is largely paper. I mean, I submit an application to be considered for the award. There's the application. There we go. There's the application. This is just a four-page application. There's some very simple information on it and usually there are four or five criteria for each award and you just get a little paragraph to describe it. A lot of our nominations come from the bankers. You know, that's, they've been a real solid community. We have a nominator's hall of fame that's been around for about 25 years to recognize these people who've done a lot to make the success of our small business community more visible. So we've got staying power growth in your number of employees, increase in sales. So you have to write up subjective answers. Write that up, you know, a little commentary. Response to adversity, like a natural disaster or a downturn in the economy. Then we just have you verify that you're submitting the information. You have a sponsor, generally. You can self-nominate. That's perfectly fine. Or you can have somebody else nominate you. You both sign off and send it over to the SBA and we look at it. It could be SBA clients or anything. No. They don't have that any relation with you. There's only one award that we ask that you've had SBA assistance, but it can be any small business. You don't have to work with us. You don't have to know for us. You may have to look up our address. But that, and that one is the entrepreneurial success award. A couple of questions. Small to big. One is, what about nonprofits? The nonprofits can apply for this? For most of these awards, you have to be a for-profit business for SBA awards. There go income and all that. Yes. You can be the entrepreneur. You can be the exporter of the year. An exporter of the year award honors an individual who generates a good portion of their revenue from exporting outside the United States. We're looking at not just outside Hawaii to the West Coast. Could be Canada, but you do want to be exporting outside the United States, working with that trade deficit, bringing more dollars to the United States. That includes, exporting can include tourism. Educational tourism, cultural tourism, sports tourism, anything along that line. So I write this up and I'm tooting my own horn when I do that. And I'm saying, I'm telling you, this is real. This is true. I'm not shading it, it's true. Now, are you going to talk to me? Are you going to say, Jay, let me talk to you about what you wrote down here. I have some questions about what you submitted. Does that happen? Okay. Well, if you self-nominate and you write me a fairy tale, we'll probably... Fairy tales are nice. Fairy tales, you know, it has its time and place, you know. We have you verify that, you know, the information that you've submitted is factual. And then if it pencils out, you know, we do scrub them so we do check your NAICS code. There are some facts. We do chase down with this and look at a vetting process and kind of scrub the nominations to make sure that everything kind of fits. You're putting an imprimatur on it. Yes. We've looked at this and whatever they said, it's true. Yeah. The other thing I want to ask is, you know, it reminds me of a situation where, yes, you can have a sponsor. But suppose I have a lot of friends in the community and, you know, I'm a popular fellow and I want to give you five sponsors, more 10 or 50 sponsors. Is that going to make it better for me? Nope. Okay. It's first one. The first one that comes in, you know, they can all vouch for you and they could make statements, but I'll tell you a little bit more about that when we come back from this day. Okay. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Hello. Aloha. Ah... Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. Welcome to this past five week of your interview four up and we'll be looking at the next two or five hot days. I'm John. Now, your turn, so you decided if you were letting your heart get to it, why we go through this. A lot of us are not making our livings doing this and a lot of us would do this with our last dying breath if we had that choice. And that's what I love to talk to people about. I hope you enjoy watching it and I hope you get inspired because there's an artist inside you too. Join us on center stage at two o'clock on Wednesdays. Bye. Talk about preparing for the storm. So we're back again talking about the 2017 SBA annual small business awards, some of the most prestigious awards for small businesses here in Hawaii, and recognizing a variety of businesses, all different industries, all different types from across the state. As long as you're a small business that's doing well, has a likelihood of success, and you're willing to tell your story and share it with all of us to be inspired and motivated to do better things here in Hawaii. So we're back with Jay, who has 50 friends who are going to nominate him for our SBA awards. Again, the nomination forms will be available in the next week at our office. If you're interested in getting more information, you can just call us over at the SBA Hawaii District Office at 541-290 or email me. That's fine too. We'll get you a copy of the nomination forms. Very simple forms, about four pages, and it just is basically what are you doing with your business, how do you measure success, and some very simple information. If you have a lot of people who are vying to nominate you, you really have to work with them to pick one. The write-ups do make a lot of difference in what you're going to be conveying to the judges. Oh, they write up stuff too. They nominate you and they say why. Right. It doesn't have to be self-nominated. Typically, we get almost 100 nominations every year, and the majority of those come from bankers who are recognizing their customers or their clients, and they have a lot. They're pretty savvy about what's ticking with your business, so they'll identify a candidate who's doing some interesting things, who is growing their business, so they hit all of those measures or criteria, and the bank may also encourage them to recognize small businesses, so it's good for their customers. Suppose I win. If you win? Suppose I win, and now you vetted me with the committee, you've checked my bona fides, my presentation, you're satisfied, I win. I get the points, I guess, and I win. What happens is there a... You want the good news first or the bad news? No. Really? It's bad news? What, what? No. I don't think it's bad news. I mean, we do try to, we celebrate, we start the nominations in the fall. They go through the selection process that usually starts about December and finishes in January, but we also do have, since these are SBA-hosted awards, we do vet them, you know, through our EEO office and some things like that to make sure that, you know, your business is legit. They don't want to be embarrassed. You know, so, and we don't want to embarrass anybody else either. We haven't ever had any problems with that at all, except it does make some people a little bit nervous, but, you know, it's a very simple process, and it just does assure us that we made the best choice. And then we start, we make the announcement in the early spring, and then we have a series of activities or events that, you know, to honor them. The state winners go and are recognized by the governor and the state legislature. We have a number of events, a big annual statewide small business awards luncheon, where we bring all the awards in or award winners from all the islands in, because when you, as we look at the scores and we, the judges submit their evaluations, we select at the county level and from each of our county winners or our top winners, we select state winners. State winners go to a regional competition and often regional competitions and every small business person of the year for the state of Hawaii goes to Washington D.C. to compete for the national title. Ray Jardine, who was on this program a couple of weeks ago, was the state of Hawaii small business person of the year for 2016. He went to Washington and he was just knocked out because he was named second runner up. So that means our small business person was evaluated as the number three small business in the United States. Pretty good. Pretty good. A lot of publicity attached to that. It wouldn't hurt your business to be named and to have an award like that. Right. And we get commendations for the winners from the mayor, the congressional committee, our congressional team recognizes them and often wants to come out or goes out to meet them or visit their businesses as well. So it can be, as I said, it's a pretty heady award. It's pretty prestigious. If I decide I want to apply and I fill out the form, and that's going to take me a little while to write it up in a way that's accurate and persuasive. How much of a commitment of time is it for me to go through this process? Well, once you write the nomination, then the time is ours to kind of get through everything. And then it depends on what events and where the events are that you want to or like to participate in. Because there is usually some of the travel costs are borne by the winner and things like that. We don't have that kind of sponsorship or ability at this point to pay for that. It's going to give me a physical award, a plaque, a framed award, maybe some kind of trophy type award. Yeah, we give you a trophy. You do? Yeah? Yes, of course. All right. I put it in my office. I might even look at it. Sometimes you have to build one of those, I love mewalls in your home. I love mewalls. Because there are recognitions and things like that because we do try to put it out there to the community as well about, as I said, who's doing these amazing outstanding things for our community and for their employees. Some people win multiple awards. I mean, year after year they win an award. Does that happen? Not as much with our award categories. We have seen several people get over time multiple awards. For example, Town Lam, who owns Latour Bakery, started as Ballet Sandwich Shop, started a brand new business just making sandwiches and his business has grown phenomenally. I remember at the beginning. He started with a small SBA loan to get his sandwich shop open and then started adding more. So, Tan was a young entrepreneur of the year. As the business grew and he started getting more locations and franchising it, he got bigger. He became the small business person of the year for the state of Hawaii. Then that year he won the national award. He was the top small business person in the United States basically for developing his growth plan for the increase in number of employees, the increase in revenue, and all these kind of started this kid out of Vietnam. And now he and his sons have the big operation in the Latour cafes all over the place, but he was the top small business person in the United States. You've been following him with him. He's been in your family for decades, many decades. And just how they've carried on that entrepreneurial tradition and the commitment to a quality product. He said when he first started out and he got that first loan I want to be the best and the biggest bakery in Hawaii. You're making me hungry. I'm sorry. But he has a great story and a great business so we're hoping to have him and his sons on this program soon. Is it a pay forward kind of thing where, so I win in say 2016 and in 2017 you call me up and say, Jay come on down and participate in giving the award to the next group of winners. I mean is this an ongoing continuum? We have a lot of the winners continue to be involved with the program and we have many of them who have come on board to actually be judges as well. So there are different ways that they do participate sometimes they come on into some of our workshops and our programs to again tell their story or share their expertise or that little thing that help them differentiate themselves. So Dave Erdman, Ray Jardine, it's amazing people. They become household names. They have done these or gone through these awards programs. So can we shift gears and talk about the storms? Yes, I guess we better do that. Just one more thing that we do, but please if you have any questions about the SBA awards, don't hesitate to contact our office. We're available at sba.gov backslash hi. Get to see Jay. But we'll be happy to talk to you about them and give you some recommendations. But we do have the flip side is that we have Hurricane Madeleine coming our way. I guess she's up to a category four and expected to hit the big island. But one of the things a lot of people don't realize is what SBA's role is in disasters and disaster recovery. So since 1953 we have been stepping right in with FEMA to help small businesses, big businesses, homeowners and renters recover from disaster. So FEMA does that first initial piece but within two to three days sometimes even sooner than that, SBA is on the ground. So we look at how we can really help small businesses get back to work, get their doors open again, get their employees back. That means loans, what does that mean? SBA loans are the primary. Initially FEMA may be helping with housing and some capital outlay, some cash to keep people going, get you food security, red cross steps in. But the next step in really initiating recovery is to get the resources available to get started again. So SBA will do long-term low-interest loans. Special to disasters. Right. And usually it's a result of a declaration by the president. The governor will help bring in a team and they come in. First thing SBA and FEMA do is start to assess the damage, go out into the communities and see what's really happened. How many homes are damaged? How many businesses have damaged? What is the evaluation of the damage? What's needed to get them going again? So often a lot of people, the biggest thing they need to do is really prepare. And the time is now. It's not just getting water and batteries and filling the gas tank. You really need to take a look at where your identifying papers are. Get some of those key accounts. Make sure your contact numbers. First and foremost, it's people. It's property because those losses can be hard to recover. If your people aren't taken care of, you can't open your doors again. So make sure you have a way to contact your people. Email may not be working. Make sure you know phone numbers. Make sure you have some addresses, just in case you need to go and check on them and hopefully be able and willing to do that. First reaction is always, we need to take our family and home. But your business is critically important too. Back up your computers. Back up your documents. Make dual copies. Keep one and put them in a safe, dry place. Keep a copy away from your business and maybe with you or away from home or in a safety deposit box. Because all of these things too, you're going to have to show what your ability is, what your capacity is. Because if you're going to ask for, okay, my building blew down in the storm, you're going to have to be able, and the contents are all gone, you're going to have to be able to justify a request for assistance as well. So you've got to have some documentation. You don't have to have that for your insurance anyway. Right. Well, I wouldn't wish it on anybody, but the possibility of another iniki is right here. A few days away, and we've been lucky for the past few decades. Yes, we've been really lucky. It's roulette. And we could have a bad time any time, especially with the increasing number and severity of storms and climate change. So I think we have to attend to these things. I'm really happy you mentioned this, because I think you can survive. You can live. You can eat. You can be okay, but you don't want to die of a business. At the end of the day, you have to have a way to continue and support yourself and your employees. And we've seen some really heartbreaking stories in the last couple of weeks about the floods and the other storms that have been going on in the mainland. Yeah. But it can happen to us any time. I'm very grateful. We're a tiny little island out in the big, big ocean. So we've been very, very fortunate to miss. But do prepare. Do be ready. Take a few minutes. Go to sba.gov and look for disaster recovery or disaster readiness. Get a little checklist to help you along with your business as well as your home and take care of you and your family. We'll see you next week.