Islanders' firms thriving

Sione Tavake has owned his own business for nearly 11 years.

"I was working in the social-work field and decided to apply to get a contract and was accepted," said Tavake, owner of New Leaf AlterNative, which provides outpatient care for troubled youth.

As a Pacific Islander, Tavake is part of a small but fast-growing business community.

The 429 firms in Utah owned by Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in 2002 was a 45 percent increase over 1997, according to "Survey of Business Owners: Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-Owned Firms: 2002," released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Tavake sees the growth as more Polynesians pursue their own American dream.

"It's just maybe they are really starting from the ground up," he said. "Most of the folks starting businesses now, they are kind of trailblazers in their own communities."

The growth in Utah is in line with national growth of 49 percent to 28,948 businesses over five years, said Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget.

Utah also saw "phenomenal growth" in revenue — 121 percent over five years to $152.4 million in 2002, Spendlove said. The growth rate was more than five times the 22.5 percent growth in revenue for all firms in the state, he said.

Nationally, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses generated $4.3 billion in revenue, up 3.4 percent since 1997; and nearly 13 percent had paid employees. The 3,693 businesses employed more than 29,000 people.

Spendlove cautioned that while the numbers indicate growth in Utah's smallest ethnic business community, they're also subject to large fluctuations because of the small sample size.

"It's safe to say we are seeing large increases in the number of firms owned by Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders," he said. "The revenue growth is three times the firm growth. It's a strong indicator of growth, but I'd be reluctant to forecast on that kind of growth rate, it's so high."

He also pointed out that even with the strong growth, "the number of firms owned by Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders lags behind their representation in the population," he said.

Pacific Islanders represent 0.7 percent of the state's population, but only 0.2 percent of business owners, Spendlove said.

One sign of growth is a fledgling Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce, which plans to publicly launch at an ethnic business conference in August. "Even though we are very small, we want to contribute to the economy of this state," said Fotu Katoa, director of the Office of Pacific Islander Affairs and an organizer of the chamber.

"These businesses are literally the result of the first generation," he said. "The second generation is going to do a lot . . . we are only going to increase in numbers."

The census report defines Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses as those in which Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders own 51 percent or more of the stock or equity of the business.

The report is part of the 2002 Economic Census and combines survey data from a sample of more than 2.4 million businesses with administrative data.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com