Hawai'`i SmallBiz Week Newsletter from The Business Research Library (BRL)
OF THE HAWAI`I SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER NETWORK A Partnership Program between the University of Hawai`i at Hilo and the U.S. Small Business Administration

Previously Published Issue

14 Sept. 1998

A Summary of News for Small Business in Hawai`i

Vol. 2 - Issue 13

HAWAI`I
•DBEDT To Lead Trade Mission To China in November
•UH-Hilo Ranked Third in U.S. News College Survey
•County Buying Power Estimates For Hawai`i Released
•Hi-Tech Hawai`i Forum Scheduled for October 1998
NATIONAL
•Hawai`i and Alaska Most Taxed States Per Capita
•U.S. Chamber Calls For Business Tax Cuts
•At-Home Workers Increase; Reversing Earlier Trend
•"Go For It!" Web Site To Help Build American IT Workforce

INTERNATIONAL

•Shanghai Ice Cream Market Heats Up

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HAWAI`I

DBEDT TO LEAD TRADE MISSION TO CHINA IN NOVEMBER
In November 1998, DBEDT is planning to lead a trade mission of Hawai`i businesses to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdon, and Hainan, China. The mission will provide an opportunity for up to 40 business persons to network with Chinese businesses and officials through seminars, professional meetings, and field visits. For more information on travel plans and information meetings, please contact James Dorian at (808) 586-2352, or e-mail [email protected].
(Trade/Invest Hawaii's Monthly Bulletin, August 1998).

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UH-HILO RANKED THIRD IN U.S. NEWS COLLEGE SURVEY
The University of Hawai`i at Hilo is ranked third in west regional public liberal arts colleges in the 1999 America's Best colleges rankings released in the August 31 issue of U.S. News and World Report. The report places UH-Hilo behind only Evergreen State College in Washington and Texas A&M University-Galveston, both which made the top 10 overall list for the 61 liberal arts institutions (public and private) in the broad western region. UH-Hilo also has the distinction of having the highest rate of full-time faculty out of all 61 schools. Ninety-nine percent of the faculty are full-time.
(UH News Press Release, 24 August 1998)

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COUNTY BUYING POWER ESTIMATES FOR HAWAI`I RELEASED
Market Statistics' county-by-county estimates of "Effective Buying Income (EBI)" indicate Hawai`i County and Oahu County as "slowdown counties" and Maui County and Kaua`i County as "hot spots counties". Nationally, America's biggest cities lost some of their buying power in the last decade, while suburbs and small Sunbelt cities picked up the gains. EBI is an exclusive measure of money income minus personal tax payments. EBI is a shorthand way of measuring a market's potential, but the numbers may be misleading unless viewed in context. Examples are given. "In real markets,
slow growth is the rule".
(American Demographics, August 1998)

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HI-TECH HAWAI`I FORUM SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 1998
A one-day Forum focused on the high technology industry in Hawai`i is scheduled to take place on October 8th from 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM at the Hawaiian Regent Hotel. The concept for the Forum is focused on action that can be implemented by the government, the University, and the private sector separately and in partnership to secure Hawaii's role as the high-tech center of the Pacific. The Forum is being convened by Hawai`i Governor Benjamin Cayetano, Chamber of Commerce of Hawai`i President and CEO Stanley Hong, and University of Hawai`i President Kenneth Mortimer. Queen's Health System is also a sponsor. Contact Gregory Barbour, DBEDT, for registration materials.
(Voice of Business, 14 September 1998)

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HAWAI`I AND ALASKA MOST TAXED STATES PER CAPITA
In a recently released report entitled, "State Government Tax Collections: Fiscal Year 1996-97", listed Hawai`i ($2,601.47) and Alaska ($2,658.64) as the nation's highest taxed states, on a per capita basis. In the contiguous states, taxes were highest in Connecticut ($2,49.07), Minnesota ($2,395.06), Delaware ($2,381.47) and Michigan ($2,079.58). The lowest was New Hampshire ($779.92). Low also were South Dakota ($1,041.32), Texas ($1,184.46), Tennessee ($1,232.56), Alabama ($1,269.78), Louisiana ($1,297.39) and Wyoming ($1,379.90). More information is available at
www.census.gov/govs/www/sttax97.html.

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U.S. CHAMBER CALLS FOR BUSINESS TAX CUTS
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently urged the Congress to enact several business tax relief measures before its current session adjourns in October. The Chamber's tax cut priorities ranged from small business concerns such as the repeal of estate and gift taxes and deductibility of self-employed health insurance costs, to extending the expiring research and experimentation and work opportunity tax credits. The group also called for reducing or eliminating corporate capital gains taxes, repeal or simplication of the corporate and individual alternative minimum tax (AMT), reform of "complex and burdensome" subchapter S provisions; relief from the "irrational web of esoteric foreign tax rules that inhibit American business from competing in the increasingly complex international business area. They Chamber also urged pension simplification in tax legislation. Full-text of press release available at
www.uschamber.org/media/releases/September98/0910B98.htm.
(U.S.Chamber of Commerce Press Release, 10 September 1998)

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AT-HOME WORKERS INCREASE; REVERSING EARLIER TREND
In a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department, the number of Americans who worked at home steadily declined between 1960 and 1980, largely reflecting a drop in the number of family farmers who elected to give up farming. But the most recent decennial census in 1990 shows a
dramatic increase in the number of peple who worked at home, up 56 percent from 1980, to 3.4 million people. Given the advancements in personal computers and Internet technology since these data were collected in the 1990 census, the Department expects even more significant increases in the
proportion working at home by Census 2000. A set of tables, entitled "Working at Home", can be found on the Internet at www.census.gov/main/www/subjects.html#w and click on "Work at
Home".
(Census Brief 98-2, March 1998)

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"GO FOR IT!" WEB SITE TO HELP BUILD AMERICAN IT WORKFORCE
To build "an American information technology (IT) workforce," U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley announced the creation of a new Web site, www.ta.doc.gov/go4it/, containing descriptions of some 171 IT worker development programs being run throughout the country. According to the Secretary, "The Commerce Department's new Web page "go for IT!" will address the shortage of information technology workers. There are many innovative programs going on around the country to build a high-tech workforce, but people do not know about them. Now, for the first time, everyone can find them in one place." There are two Hawai`i programs listed: the University of Hawai`i's Distance Learning and Instruciton Technology (DLIT) program and the Maui High Performance Computing Center (MHPCC).
(Southern Growth Policies Boards' Friday Facts, 21 August 1998)

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SHANGHAI ICE CREAM MARKET HEATS UP
A local industry association estimates that 80,000 tons of ice cream will be sold in Shanghai this year. The city's huge market has spurred the growth of local ice cream manufacturers. There are nearly 100 of them churning out more than 1,000 varieties of ice cream. Feng Fusheng, an official from the Association, says the fierce competition has made it hard for smaller manufacturers to survive, while big companies are expanding rapidly. Taste, quality and price are still main factors when customers choose ice cream. According to Feng Fusheng, most Shanghai consumers prefer ice cream priced at or under 3 yuan (US$0.36).
(Shanghai Star, 10 July 1998)