April 2007 | Small Business News
Ten Reasons to Appreciate Hawaii Small Business
By John McDowell, U.S. SBA
Small businesses are the heart of Hawaii’s economy, and the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration is acknowledging them with the top Ten Reasons To Appreciate Hawaii Small Businesses.
10. Small businesses make up 96.8 percent of all Hawaii employers.
9. Small businesses create more than 50 percent of the American nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).
8. Small patenting firms produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.
7. The 113,800 small businesses in Hawaii are located in every community and neighborhood.
6. Small businesses employ 57.4 percent of Hawaii’s non-farm private sector workers.
5. Home-based businesses account for 53 percent of all small businesses.
4. Small businesses are 97 percent of America’s exporters and produce 26 percent of all export value.
3. Hawaii saw an estimated 3,763 new small firms with employees start-up in the last year measured.
2. There are approximately 58,100 minority-owned businesses and 29,897 women-owned businesses in Hawaii, and almost all of them are small businesses.
1. The latest figures show that small business creates 65 percent or more of America’s net new jobs.
The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics and it funds research into small business issues.
For more information, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo
State Fails to Protect Cable Consumers
By Sean McLaughlin, Hawaii Consumers
Hawaii Consumers noted the continuing failure of the State Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to protect local cable subscribers and citizens. Following DCCA’s press release on March 5, 2007 (http://www.hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/catv/main/whats_new/) announcing a small refund to cable subscribers in Maui and Hawaii Counties, this statement was released by Hawaii Consumers’:
DCCA’s cable regulation is an embarrassment, more attuned to a philosophy of ‘corporate welfare’ than to advocacy for consumers or the public interest. Their press announcement of ‘refunds’ to cable subscribers resulted from the most cursory ‘review’ of Time Warner reports. Yet even with clear proof of wrongful overcharging of local consumers, no audit has yet been conducted.
In fact, over the past dozen years, DCCA has never audited Time Warner Cable, nor conducted any comprehensive ‘franchise compliance audit’ to ensure that consumers are protected and public interest obligations are met. Such franchise compliance audits are considered a standard best practice by cable regulators around the nation.
Hawaii’s consumers should know that the State cable regulator’s office at DCCA has never, in its entire history, never itself been subject to independent audit nor management review. With millions of dollars of public funds and priceless communication network assets falling under State control without public accountability, this is a very sad fact.
DCCA’s cable regulation is supposed to protect consumers and represent the public’s interest regarding the cable communications industry in Hawaii – instead DCCA appears to be more interested in helping Time Warner to be a most profitable monopoly cable enterprise that reports ultimately to absentee owners who control cable’s media outlets for local voices!
After a series of questionable and secretive decisions, unresolved ethics complaints (regarding a potential conflict of interest with Time Warner), and heavy-handed mismanagement by the State that violates First Amendment principles and damages community access providers and local consumers statewide – it is time for a comprehensive management audit of State cable TV regulation in Hawaii.
Hawaii Consumers is a local advocacy organization representing consumers and public interests. For more information contact Hawaii Consumers, c/o Sean McLaughlin, email – sean808@earthlink.net, phone – 808-283-3174.
|
