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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0820.001 2010-2012 '� Phone: (808)961-8272 J YOSHIMOTO ; �,h;�. COUNCIL MEMBER - Fax: (808)961-8912 Council District 3 's Email: jyoshimoto @co.hawaii.hi.us HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL County of Hawai'1 Hawai`i County Building 25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1402 Hilo, Hawai`i 96720 MEMORANDUM TO: Council Chair Dominic Yagong and r Members of the County Council FROM: J Yoshimoto, Council Member 776 DATE: August 31, 2012 SUBJECT: Presentation on the Kea'au Youth Business Center Attached is the Kea'au Youth Business Center presentation from Mr. Larry Czerwonka. Please process this communication for the Human Services, Social Services and Public Safety Committee meeting scheduled for September 5, 2012. JY/dwe Attachment Comm. N g2-0. I Ref.To: 1'r!—FSSPSL- Ref. Date AUG 3 1 2012 Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer A Look Ahead for the Keaau Youth Business Center and for Hawaii Island as Well Most of you are familiar with the Keaau Youth Business Center (more commonly referred to simply as KYBC) and know it as a place where at risk youth are offered classes in the culinary arts, digital media, and sound recording. You know that over the past five years KYBC has helped hundreds of youth stay in the education system and graduate. Many students have even gone on to attend college. All amazing stories of triumph against the odds but also reminders that education alone is not enough. After all what good is an education if after graduation there are no jobs? What's to be gained by knowing how to create a phenomenal video if there are no local companies in need of a videographer? What do you do with the knowledge of how to mix tracks and create an amazing sound track if the closest employer is 2,500 miles away? In short, KYBC may have stopped kids from dropping out but what's the value in that if they still end up unemployed or under-employed or have to leave the Island to find a career? We have spent the last six months asking ourselves these same questions and have come to realize that we needed to take KYBC to the next level. To go beyond education and become something more. KYBC needed to become a bridge between education and employment. We needed to not only teach how to do things but also how to make a living doing it. In fact our latest program, Ohia Lehua, not only teaches the youth about food preparation and customer service it also provides them with a pay check (provided there is a profit after all expenses are paid). KYBC is out to turn at risk youth into motivated, engaged, and community minded entrepreneurs. We want to go from a grant funded operation to a money making business that pays taxes and gives back to the community in a variety of ways. We want to instill a work ethic and a life long love of learning into our local youth and guide them as we open their eyes to all that is possible and help them to realize that they can live here in Hawaii and sell to the world. No longer will they need to move off Island to find a job, they will become co-creators in the jobs of tomorrow right here, right now. We can already hear you asking the big questions: How will we do this? Where will we get the funds? Is it even possible? Let us start with the last question first: YES. Not only is it possible it is what we must start doing today if we hope to have meaningful employment for tomorrow's graduates. How we will do this is by taking full advantage of the media lab, culinary facilities and recording studio which are in place already and make them dual-use so not only will the youth be getting hands on experience (the best education there is) but they will also be generating revenues for KYBC (to keep the lights on) and as they advance through the system, income for themselves. You see, this island is filled with thousands of talented individuals ranging from artists, to musicians, to authors, to farmers, to ... well the list goes on and on and the point is we are surrounded by amazing people creating amazing products all in need of one or two things: PRODUCTION and/or MARKETING. Most businesses fail because they do not have a large enough customer base; and they do not have a large enough customer base because they do limited to no marketing, and they are not marketing off island, to the world! KYBC will help get local entrepreneurs a global footprint and find their market on-line. And unlike many adults, the youth are not intimidated by the internet. They know how to use it to create a buzz around a product. There are so many authors and musicians here on the Island with talent but not enough funds to turn that talent into a sellable product, again KYBC will assist in that process and help create that book or CD or short film and it will all be done through profit sharing with the artists as well as the use of crowd funding to get people to sponsor each project and cover up front costs so the artist will not have any out of pocket expenses. Let me state that again, KYBC will be finding ways to work with local talent to produce, package and market their book, CD, film and whatever else makes sense without the need for any cash from the artisan. Projects will be funded through profit sharing as well as sponsors from around the world through crowd funding. This is a win-win situation where KYBC not only gives youth hands on real world experience (and a pay check) but we also will be working closely with a wide cross- section of the community helping them find and grow a market for their products. The youth get an education and a pay check, KYBC gets income, local artisans that were held back by lack of funds or no understanding of how to market, get their product out to the world and makes sales and Hawaii gets paid by KYBC (and the local artisans) through general excise tax payments. We have started this ball rolling and will continue to update the community as we progress. Our next big hurdle will be finding land where we can build a facility where all of our existing departments can be housed as well as more room so we can also be giving classes to the community on how to reach out and sell to the world and innovative ways to come together and promote one another. KYBC is moving from educating at risk youth to empowering at risk youth. We want them to be creative, to take risk, to push the boundaries, and to become the employers and leaders of tomorrow and this plan will do that and will bring jobs and more opportunities to Hawaii.