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| Story Title: |
Arc of Hilo Launches New Business Plan |
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| Client Profile: |
The Arc of Hilo, located in Hilo, Hawaii, is a non-profit organization with vocational training and employment programs for disabled individuals. They also operate a small farm and sell their products to the local market. The company employs 8 people. |
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| Situation: |
The Arc of Hilo decided to launch a project, Laulima Hana Enterprises, to provide training and utilize the skills of their clients. The project involved building a warehouse store for recycled building materials, starting a construction pre-apprenticeship training program, and setting up an incubator for entrepreneurial businesses with recycled products. Recycling building supplies that would normally go into the landfill by selling it through a warehouse resale store would be beneficial to the environment and the community. The Arc of Hilo Program Manager started developing a business plan and contacted the Hawaii MEP (Hawaii HTDC- MEP), a NIST MEP network affiiate, to work on a 3-year financial projection and a breakeven analysis. |
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| Solution: |
Hawaii MEP Project Manager, Laura Noda, assisted the Arc of Hilo Program Manager with developing assumptions regarding sales, sources of income, employees, payroll, payroll taxes and benefits, and other aspects of the project. They estimated the timing of building the structures, hiring management and employees, the start dates for the 14-week vocational training program cycles, and other activities. Laura Noda worked with the Program Manager to project income and expenses on a monthly basis for the first three years of the project. She provided a breakeven point for each year during the first three years of operation, and also critiqued the narrative portion of the business plan. |
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| Results: |
* Equipped with a business plan and financial projections.
* Ability to apply for government grants, corporate grants and
other sources of funding.
* Provided financial data to support sound business
decisions in launching new project.
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HTDC-MEP
- Success Story