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PHOTOS & VIDEO: Ahead of Small Business Saturday, Hirono Visits Kaimuki Small Businesses

HONOLULU, HI – Ahead of Small Business Saturday, Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, visited small businesses in Kaimuki to meet with business owners and discuss how federal programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program, enabled them to remain in business through the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Hirono was joined on the tour by Jordan Lee and Summer Shiigi, Kaimuki small business owners and cofounders of “Keep It Kaimuki,” a community-based business network of small businesses founded in 2017 to showcase the diversity of the Kaimuki neighborhood and its businesses.

“From bookshops, to cafés, to pet stores, and so much more, small businesses like those I visited today are critical to Hawaii’s economy and the communities they serve,” said Senator Hirono. “I enjoyed learning more about these businesses and the wide array of goods and services they offer, and hearing from business owners about how federal programs helped them weather the pandemic. As we enter the holiday season, I encourage everyone to shop local and support small businesses in their own neighborhoods.”

During the visit, Senator Hirono toured several local businesses, including:

  1. Coffee Talk, a café offering a variety of specialty coffee and tea beverages that received PPP funding;
  2. da Shop, an independent community bookstore that features many local authors in addition to national bestsellers, cookbooks, and children’s books, and also received PPP funding;
  3. Bead It, a bead store founded in 1992 that received PPP funding;
  4. Keep It Simple, a zero-waste store with additional locations in Waikiki and Kapolei that allows customers to bring reusable containers to fill up with things like laundry detergent, body wash, and hand soap; and
  5. Nana Ai Katsu, a katsu restaurant that opened in Kaimuki in December 2021 as take-out only and started in-person dining earlier this month.

Video of the Senator speaking with business owners is available to download here.

Saturday, November 26, 2022 is Small Business Saturday. Founded by American Express in 2010 and officially cosponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) since 2011, Small Business Saturday encourages people across the country to shop local and support small businesses in their communities. According to the 2021 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, spending at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday reached an estimated $23.3 billion in 2021. 

As a member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senator Hirono has worked to secure federal support for Hawaii’s small businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In August, she hosted the U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Guzman for a tour of organizations supporting small businesses and small businesses on Oahu. More recently, in September, she joined colleagues in introducing the Women’s Business Centers Improvement Act, legislation to reauthorize and improve the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Women’s Business Center (WBC) Program, a national network of more than 140 centers that offer counseling, training, networking, workshops, technical assistance, and mentoring to entrepreneurs, including the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business & Leadership on Oahu.

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