Ben Godsey knows how important entrepreneurs are to Hawaiʻi’s economy. As the president and CEOof ProService Hawaii, one of Hawaiʻi’s largest outsourced human resource providers, he counts more than 2,000 local small businesses as clients—most of them entrepreneurs.

A blessing was held at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business on August 11 to celebrate the completed renovation of the Tom W.S. Hee Undergraduate Computer Room into a state-of-the-art facility. The $600,000 lab renovation was funded from the estate of Clifford and Blanche Hee and named in honor of their son Tom Hee, who was an admired alumnus of the college and an accomplished banking professional, computer expert and community-minded volunteer.

Students across the University of Hawaiʻi System who are interested in entrepreneurship are invited to apply to live at Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE), the mixed-use student housing/innovation center under construction across from the UH Mānoa campus.

The state’s lone recipient of a $10,000 national accounting scholarship is a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business undergraduate student. Haiying Li, a junior accounting major, was named a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) scholar for the 2022–23 academic year. These scholarships are awarded to outstanding students who will likely pursue a career as an auditor.

A new scholarship for full-time undergraduate business students has been created at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business. The UH Foundation announced that Shidler alumna Linh Pham, BBA ‘00, and her husband Dao Pham have contributed $100,000 to establish the Cindy Doan and Hy So Duong Endowed Scholarship.

Shidler College Accounting lecturer Michael Dell’s accounting class recently assisted nearly 100 local taxpayers in completing their taxes as part of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Each student helped with approximately 20 returns each and met the requirement to pass three VITA examinations before completing the 50 hours of volunteer work.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business announced on May 13 that Omnitrak, a marketing and research consultancy firm, has gifted $50,000 to establish a new student award called the “Omnitrak Innovative Leaders Award” at the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE), which is housed within the Shidler college. Omnitrak established the gift in honor of the company’s 40th anniversary to support UH students pursuing their education and their business ideas.

Hospitality industry leaders recently visited the classroom as panelists and reviewers offering their industry knowledge and feedback to TIM School professor Jerry Agrusa’s Food Service Management (TIM 313) students’ final course project presentations. Leaders from multiple segments of the hospitality and tourism industry including hotels, restaurants, private clubs, marketing firms and the transportation industry were represented and offered valuable, practical knowledge and feedback.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Shidler College of Business marked the in-person return of Business Night, its signature student event, on May 5, at the Sheraton Waikīkī after hosting it virtually for the past two years. The annual event, now in its 61st year, has connected Shidler students with Hawaiʻi’s leading business professionals over the past six decades, while honoring the college’s top students for their accomplishments.

The National War College (NWC) from Washington, D.C., recently visited Hawai‘i and requested that School of Travel Industry Management (TIM School) professor Jerry Agrusa, Ph.D., provide a presentation to the group on “Understanding the role of tourism in Pacific Island Countries (PIC) economies and how climate change and pandemics affect tourism.”

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s School of Travel Industry Management (TIM School) at the Shidler College of Business held its 20th Celebrate a Legacy in Tourism gala on Thursday, April 7, at the Sheraton Waikiki. This year’s event honored Chef Roy Yamaguchi and TIM alumnus Dave P. Evans, who have each made significant and long-term contributions to Hawaiʻi’s tourism industry. The event also raised more than $260,000 for student scholarships at the TIM School. This year marked the first in-person Celebrate a Legacy in Tourism event since 2019.

The 55th annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICCS), held January 3-8, 2022 went virtual for the second time. Despite the online format, the conference hosted more than 1,400 participants representing 90 countries.

Rick’s Corner – Shafkat Anowar at AP Chicago 

Rick Varley is the director of Shidler College’s Internship & Career Development Office. In this column, Varley selects an outstanding student to share their internship experience during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, Varley placed 291 Shidler students in internships. 

In this inaugural feature, recent graduate Shafkat Anowar, BBA ‘21, shares a day in the life as a multimedia intern for the Associated Press (AP) in Chicago this past spring. Anowar recently accepted a full-time position as a visual journalist with the Dallas Morning News. 

The Shidler College of Business’ School of Accountancy held its annual Hawai’i Accounting Research Conference(HARC) from January 3-5. For the first time ever, the 3-day conference was held in a hybrid format at Kuykendall Hall at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, with more than 150 participants attending in person and another 150 participants attending online.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa broke ground Thursday, January 13 on the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE), an innovation and entrepreneurship center/student housing facility on the site of the former Atherton YMCA across University Avenue from UH’s flagship campus.

The First Hawaiian Bank Foundation, in partnership with Walter A. Dods Jr., First Hawaiian Bank’s former chairman, president and CEO, have made a combined contribution of $500,000 to the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation.

When information management technology associate professor Prasanna Karhade logs into Zoom to teach his two courses at Shidler College, the gallery of boxes on his screen always includes more than his current roster. Former students, colleagues and industry experts invited to class often round out the group. Much like his own journey through academia, Karhade values personal relationships and the connections they can forge. 

For the eighth consecutive year, Professor Stephen Vargo was named to Clarivate's Highly Cited Researchers 2021 list.

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa freshmen in the Shidler College of Business Direct Admit Program are getting hands-on experience in entrepreneurship, and proceeds earned are going towards helping future students in the program

The Island Insurance Foundation has committed $250,000 to the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation in support of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s RISE project, raising the total of private donations for the project to $1 million.

A world-class innovation and entrepreneurship center being built on the site of the former Atherton YMCA will receive $500,000 in support. Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) and American Savings Bank(ASB) have each committed a $250,000 gift to the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation for the live-learn-work community at RISE—Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs, which will be operated by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) at UH Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business.