For Keiko Napier, owner of the Hanapēpē-based Aloha Spice Co., "Mana Up represents my love for Hawai‘i and its entrepreneurial core."
"Learning how to have a small business on Kaua‘i is difficult without help and I know that Mana Up has all the resources and connections to help us understand better."
Mana Up, a business accelerator and venture fund co-founded by Meli James and Brittany Heyd, introduces Hawai‘i-based companies to global markets. It recently announced the 10th cohort of companies for a six-month accelerator program that focuses on helping business owners scale their operations.
Aloha Spice Co. was one of just 10 companies selected for the latest cohort from a record 201 applicants. You can read more about the current cohort here.
The launch for Cohort 10 was held Tuesday at Washington Place. Aloha State Daily attended the launch and spoke to a few of the small business owners participating about why they applied and what they hope to get from the program.
Napier, who also owns Banana Patch Studio and a restaurant called Japanese Grandma's Café, says Aloha Spice products are made on the Garden Isle's west side, focusing on organic whenever possible. The all-female crew makes the spices in a plantation house next to the historic Hanapēpē bridge, she said.
"The atmosphere is not only [permeated] with beautiful smells, but the actual reminiscing of the old days."
Billy Carter, owner of Kaua‘i Gourmet Nuts, started his business seven years ago, said the company had been growing and expanding when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
"We survived. We got through it. Then on the other side of the pandemic, we built ourselves back up to where we were before, a little bit more successful. At that point, I decided to take a little bit of a break from expansion, hire a full staff and get the company running on its own," he told ASD. "Now that I'm free from the bounds of doing the daily work, I'm ready to expand again."
Carter says that applying for Mana Up was based on his desire to see more wholesale accounts throughout the Islands and to open more retail shops.
"We're hoping to just collaborate with all these other companies and share our knowledge and get their knowledge and connect," he says.
Artist Arlie Pemberton owns Hale‘iwa-based Arlie Glass, the brand name behind her art, and creates handcrafted glass flowers and lei inspired by Hawaiian flora.
Pemberton, who has been doing glass blowing for 16 years, told ASD that she created her first glass puakenikeni lei in 2020 and has been expanding upon that ever since.
"It's really reached a point now where I can't do it all alone," Pemberton says. "Mana Up, I think, can help me scale quite a bit, whether it's just hiring on a few folks or finding glassblowers elsewhere to help me make my product. I'm really hoping to lean into the smaller products to source elsewhere, and then have more time to get back to the root of why I'm doing it and do the art."
Since its inception, Mana Up has worked with 105 businesses. The organization recently noted that alumni of the program generated more than $105 million in revenue last year alone, and have created more than 1,035 jobs across the state since joining the program.
As previously reported, the program culminates later this year with the Mana Up Showcase Broadcast and Global Livestream on Oct. 26, followed by an in-person Showcase Marketplace Nov. 6.
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
