Accomplishments of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce
2009

Speakers at membership meetings: Steve Abdalla on “Recession Proofing Your Business, Sherry Menor McNamara on the Legislative Process, Paul Brewbaker on the Current Economy & Forecast, Historic Hawaii Foundation on Heritage Tourism and Preservation Tax Credits, and Dr. Fred Perlak of Mansanto.

Business After Hours events were held at Dole Plantation and Turtle Bay Resort.

Completed a Draft Strategic Plan for the Chamber which included a Board retreat, a workshop with members, a survey of the membership, and interviews of key leaders and stakeholders in the organization.

Worked on the restoration of the Chamber’s new building. The permit was finally obtained May 18th, the foundation, porch , ADA walkway, and plumbing, were all completed. The building was treated for termites and substantial work was completed on electrical. A decision to re-side the building took some time before tearing off old siding, repairing studs, putting up plywood, and then putting on new cedar siding from WA.

Did research for reprinting of “A Walking Tour of Historic Haleiwa,” and plaques for listed buildings. Many great resources were discovered in the process. Volunteer historian Barbara Ritchie did an amazing job.

Sponsored a tour of the North Shore for 24 hotel concierge, “A Day in the Country.” The day included a visit to Turtle Bay Resort for breakfast, Waimea Valley for a Nature Hike, Haleiwa Farmers' Market for lunch, stops to shop at the Haleiwa Town Center and the Waialua Sugar Mill, and cocktails at the Hawaii Polo Fields. The event was organized by the Haleiwa Farmers Market and was highly successful. None of the concierge had ever been to a polo match and all gained a greater understanding of what there is to offer visitors on the North Shore. When referring visitors to the North Shore in the future, they will be able to better represent the attractions they visited.

Expanded the distribution of the North Shore Map which is printed twice a year (60,000 copies each printing). Locations include the airport, car rental agencies, Pearl Harbor, hotel concierge desks and over 100 spots on the North Shore. The concierges are highly complimentary of the map and the concierge tour helped to increase the number of the map’s fans.

Assisted with the organization and promotion of the Haleiwa Art Walk the last Saturday of every month and organized the Historical Trolley Tours for the Arts Festival again.

On July 25th we held the Blessing for the Telephone Exchange Building as the Chamber’s new home. Kahu Rennie Mau from Liliuokalani Church performed the ceremony and about 70 people attended. In 2009, we raised $10, 075 in donations for the project and $20,000 from the Atherton Foundation to restore the building.

Organized a Disaster Preparedness Presentation attended by 50 people. Recruited volunteers for Red Cross training from this group and now have almost 20 volunteers from the North Shore. Initiated a North Shore Disaster Preparedness Steering Committee led by the State Civil Defense to get our community disaster ready.

Presented our 2nd Annual Business Expo hosted by Turtle Bay and title-sponsored by First Hawaiian Bank. The nine workshops, ten exhibitor booths, 100 attendees, guest speakers Jim Tollefson and Howard Dicus and the Business After Hours were all well received.

Held highly successful Christmas Party at Waimea Valley. Lee Bryant of North Shore Equipment Rentals was honored as the North Shore Kama’aina of the Year for all his work on the Telephone Exchange Building. We raised $9500 from the auction.

Held 9th Annual Christmas Parade in perfect weather. It was a great night for the parade and a great parade with 40 units, 475 participants, and thousands of spectators. The Parade Marshall was Miss Hawaii USA, Renee Nobriga from the North Shore.