People rather than goods new focus of 'Made in Maui'
Staff Writer
KAHULUI - You may have seen some of your friends and neighbors on television lately in the Made in Maui Trade Association's "... a Seal of Local Pride" promotion on the Paradise Television visitors channel.
The approach now emphasizes the people behind the goods rather than the products themselves.
The new direction for the Maui Chamber of Commerce-sponsored group also will include a remaking of its web site, www.madeinmaui.com.
Steve Rose, chairman of the association, says the web site, which has been an internet store, is now envisaged as "a networking and hub site as opposed to product selling."
The Made in Maui committee has evolved a lot since it began in 1986 to provide cooperative marketing assistance to small business.
In those days, its most obvious manifestation was bumper stickers, though less-visible work went on behind the scenes. With the rise of the internet, it moved into cyberspace.
A grant of $20,000 from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, matched by business funds, paid for the "local pride" multimedia campaign, which is scheduled to continue through Easter.
More money is being raised to rebuild the web site, and the chamber wants to enhance visibility of the Made in Maui logo on the island, and in cyberspace.
The membership of the association has changed and grown over the years, says Rose, and not all the members are small businesses.
Maui Pineappe Co. and Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co., two of the biggest businesses in the county, have been in from the start.
They represent food products, and food is still the biggest category for Made in Maui, with 19 of 69 members.
Other members provide artworks (Aloha Haiku Pottery), agricultural products you can't eat (Goble's Flower Farm), electronic and print publications (Third Wave Business Services, which is Rose's business and put together the multimedia campaign), soap (Maui Herbal Soap), business services (Maui High Performance Computing Center), activities (Maui Tropical Plantation), jewelry and apparel (Rare Treasures), real estate (Real Estate Maui Style) or construction materials and installation (Zack's Flooring).
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