Soft Opening

By kekepana.com

I gotta tell you about a great new website. I’m biased, of course, because I have a bit to do with it. It’s the newly-launched site of the Hawaii Pacific Export Council – an organization that I currently chair. It’s an exclusive bunch because we are all appointed to by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for our expertise in international business and our dedication to helping small companies break into international marketing. The Hawaii Pacific Export Council (HPEC) is only one of 56 such councils around the United States, and 30 out of about 1800 volunteers that serve on these councils to help their communities. Collectively, the export councils are known as DECs, or District Export Councils, a hangover from long ago when they were founded and the U.S. Department of Commerce was organized nationally into districts. The districts no longer exist, but the acronym sticks.

Each of the 56 councils approaches their task differently, though all work closely with their local Commerce office – in our case, the one in Honolulu. HPEC tries to help fledgling exporters in Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas and American Samoa. That makes us the largest DEC geographically, though most of our territory is very wet. It also makes us aware of the need to use modern electronics to “bridge” the gaps between our very far flung island communities. Our friends in the Minnesota DEC developed awonderful website, so we asked about modifying it for use out here in the Pacific. We ended up doing what amounts to a licensing deal with Minnesota – and we are gleefully “localizing” the resulting site for use in Hawaii and the American Pacific territories. We are only part way there and you will still find stray references to Minnesota.

The HPEC site provides an incredible variety of information of use to exporters, would-be exporters, or anyone doing research on business around the world. It is truly an export portal, linking the user to some of the very best in global business information. If you need to know how to get your company started in international marketing, it’s there. Where to get free export counseling. Avoid international scams. Figure out financing possibilities. Get a leg up on trade restrictions. Explore free market research worldwide. Fill out trade documents. Check duty rates. Get export training. It is all there. And much, much more.

I think my favorite part of the site is “Newspapers of the World”. If you have a trip coming up, take a look at the local papers where you are going, and get up to date like a local. Cool.

After the site is more fully developed, we will likely accept sponsors and advertisers as long as they are related to the site’s subject matter. HPEC is also a 501(c)3 non-profit, so if any of you wish to make a charitable donation, please get in touch.

It is a soft opening because we still have a lot of content to build out, but there is plenty already there for you to use. A couple mornings ago, I went on the site and found more than 200 simultaneous users. Somebody is hearing about it somewhere. I can’t wait to see the numbers when we officially launch the new site!