Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Halloween Treats


"As Halloween Shifts to Seasonal Celebration, Retailers Not Spooked by Surge in Spending", from the National Retail Foundation. Nearly three-quarters of Americans (73.4%) will hand out candy, spending an average of $18.72 on sweets. About half (48.6%) plan to spend an average $15.63 decorating their homes or yeards. Consumers spend the most on costumes -- $21.57 per person (nearly 40% of all Halloween spending) -- though only a third of them (34%) will dress up. Three in 10 people (30%) will throw or go to a Halloween party.

From the U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Facts for Features and Special Editions: Halloween Issue" consists of collections of statistics from the Census Bureau's demographic and economic subject areas intended to commemorate anniversaries or observances or to provide background information for topics in the news.

Acquisitions - October 2006

Analyzing new profit opportunitites: A guide to making business projects financially successful. by K. Tobias Winter, Ph.D., MBA. [Upton, MA: Agityne Corp.], 2006. Dicussed are methods on how to estimate market sizes, prices and their interdependency. This book is for people who develop new products or services and want to evaluate their market potential or find ways to improve upon them to make them more successful. (book)

Native Hawaiian-and Other Pacific Islander-Owned Firms: 2002. 2002 Economic Census. Survey of Business Owners. Company Statistics Series. Issued August 2006. U.S. Census Bureau. (report)

Online Education in the U.S., 2005. (report)

Maui Market Segment Assessment: Transient Vacation Rentals On Maui: A Comparative Analysis of the Geographic and Economic Footprint. August 2005. The Kauaian Institute. 2005. A report on the Maui County transient vacation rental industry which includes all visitor accomodations that are not hotel rooms, hostels, aparements, condos, or timeshare units. This includes private homes available for short-term rental, and bed and breakfast(B&B) units. (report)

Socio-Economic Forecast: The Economic Projections for the Maui County General Plan 2030.Prepared by the County of Maui Planning Department, June 2006. If you need new and updated population, housing, and income projections for Maui County, this report is a must have. Librarians have used this report for many construction-related information requests recently. (report)

Hawaii Economic Trend, July 24, 2006 issue from the Bank of Hawaii's Economic Research Center, and prepared by Paul H. Brewebaker, Chief Economist, Bank of Hawai`i. Highlights include data on the residential real estate market, unemployment, income, population change, tourism data, and more. Data presented by description and also a wide variety of bar and pie graphs, and charts. (economic indicator)

Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, "Hawai`i Dealer:The Official Publication of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association". 4th Quarter 2006. This issue includes data on the shortage of auto technicians (wage rates, vacancy rates, etc.) and the used and new vehicle market in Hawai`i (registration numbers, dealership sales, to top selling models, and market shares).

Turner, Barry, edited by. The Stateman's Yearbook 2006: The politics, cultures and econmies of the world. A convenient and reliable starting point for information on internatinal affiars. A concise but comprehensive guide to world politics and economics.

Surety Information Office. How to Obtain Surety Bonds. Briefly, surety bond is a three-party agreement whereby the surety assures the project owner that the contractor will perform a contract in accordance with contract documents. Federal, state and local governments require surety bonds in order to manage risk on construction projects and protect taxpayer dollars. Many private project owners stipulate bonding requirements as well.

"Outdoor Recreation Participation Study, Eighth Edition for the Year 2005: Trend Analysis for the United States", published June 2006 by the Outdoor Industry Association. According to this study, 161.6 million Americans, aged 16 and older, participated in at least one of 22 active outdoor activities tracked in the study during 2005. While participation increased across the 22 outdoor activities from 159 million Americans age 16 and older in 2004 to 161.6 million in 2005, outings decreased by 11%. In 2005, Americans 16 and older took a total of 7.3 billion outings compared to 8.3 billion outings in 2004. Bicycling and fishing accounted for the bulk of that decline, with an approximate 800,000 and 300,000 outing decrease respectively. Despite that, both these sports ranked among the top five for most outings in 2005: bicycling (3.1 billion), trail running (1.3 billion), fishing (1 billion), hiking (800 million), and camping (347 million).

"Active Outdoor Recreation Economy Study", released August 2006 by the Outdoor Industry Association. The study details the enormous impact of outdoor recreation on the nation's economy. According to the study, active outdoor recreation contributes a total of $730 billion annually, supporting 6.5 million jobs (1 in 20 U.S. jobs), generating $88 billion in federal and state tax revenue and stimulating 8% of all consumer spending. This outdoor recreation economy is fueled by the more than three-quarters of Americans who participate in bicycling, camping, fishing, hunting, paddling, hiking, snow sports, and wildlife viewing activities.

"State of the Industry Report 2006", released by the Outdoor Industry Association. The Report finds that the Outdoor Industry is facing significant changes including an evolving participant and consumer as well as increased competition in the retail landscape. At the same time, the outdoor lifestyle is gaining in popularity and Americans are looking to accessible recreation as a solution to the inactivity crisis. The Industry continues to attract the attention of investors, and the outdoor business community has matured into a vibrant $33 billion industry. The forward looking 2006 State of the Industry report explores the potential in the Outdoor Industry through four key sections: Who's Playing, Who's Selling, Where We're Playing, and Where We're Headed.


You may also request a librarian to retrieve copies of documents from our digital archives. Email to hbrl.sbdc@hawaii-sbdc.org.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Upcoming Event: Visit SBDC/HBRL Booth at Maui 2006 Mayor's Small Business Awards Dinner

October 11th, 6 pm, Maui Prince Hotel.

The SBDC Maui Center and the Hawai`i Business Research Library will be hosting a trade booth at the Mayor's Small Business Awards 2006 dinners. Please join us in recognizing outstanding small businesses in our community. Award categories include Small Business of the Year {5 or less employees}, Small Business of the Year (6-50 employees), Young Small Business Person of the Year (under 40) and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

No-host cocktails begin at 6pm, with dinner at 7pm, followed by the awards presentation. If you wish to be included for the dinner, please contact the Maui Chamber of Commerce at 871-7711. Cost for the dinner is $40.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Register Now! NxLevel Entrepreneurial Planning Series

NxLevel Business Plan = Inspired Employees + Engaged Partners + Happy Customers

Attracting and keeping great employees, strategic partners, and customers means having a well thought out, compelling business strategy that both helps people make a difference and provides economic value. A great opportunity to “work on” your business strategy and the systems to support its implementation is the upcoming NxLevel Entrepreneurial Planning program starting on Monday, October 9th, at the Maui Research and Technology Center in Kihei. The program continues over twelve weeks on Monday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. The goal is to have a completed business plan by the New Year.

Our collegue, David Fisher, Center Director Maui SBDC, leads the NxLevel program, along with guest business professionals both from Maui and visiting. The best part, however, is interacting with your fellow participants. Past participants have included Pacific Biodiesel and Latitudes Lighting, who have both won the SBA’s Small Business of the Year Award. Other top Maui companies who have taken the NxLevel program include the recent Pacific Business News Top 50 Growth Companies, Kila Kila Employer Services and TMC General Contracting, along with their spin-off company, Island Concrete Manufacturing Systems. Professional friendships developed at NxLevel go on past the twelve weeks of the class.

The cost of the program is $499. For more information about NxLevel™, call the Hawai’i Small Business Development Center at 808-875-2402; to register online, click here.