Aloha mai kākou e hau'oli makahiki hou,
On behalf of the HCCNC's Board of Directors, I bring you our annual President's address, January newsletter, and announcements wrapped into one email. It's with great excitement and a sense of deeper shared purpose than ever before that we begin 2021. Last year was one of difficulty, new challenges, and transition as we all began a new decade (and HCCNC's 3rd decade in operation).
Both the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii were hit especially hard due to the role travel and tourism in our beloved homes. From individual to family, city to state, and small to large business, everything changed and impact was felt. We are so thankful and blessed for all the support over the past year from each one of you, whether it was simply signing up for our newsletter, attending a virtual event, or a donation or sponsorship to our 2020 Aloha Gala & Scholarship program.
Due to our business and individual donors and sponsors, we were able to award 3 scholarships to outstanding scholars from Hawaii studying in the Bay Area, and honor Sig, Nalani, and Kuhão of the Zane-Kanaka'ole ohana during our Aloha Gala. Watch the gala highlight video here.
In 2021, we look forward to continue to serve as a bridge and build the community between the SFBA & Hawaii, focused on business, culture and education. We will be focused on some incredible virtual events for the first half of the year, and continue to monitor the California health guidelines for events.
To kick off the year, we are excited that our very own Board Member, Hawaiian musician Steven Espaniola will kick off the event calendar next week, Shifting Your Small Business to Virtual. Steven will share his story of transitioning his in-person music teaching business to virtual, and growing it in the process. We encourage our many small businesses (and individual members) to join in, ask questions, and share their stories as well!
In February, we'll be hosting a panel of of leading experts in the travel & tourism industry for the SFBA & Hawaii, including the President of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, to share more what the future holds.
Please join us next week for the virtual event, and on behalf of the Board, thank you!
Mahalo nui loa,
Michael
HCCNC President, Board of Directors