PACE

More than 325 University of Hawaiʻi students have become the first residents to move into the new state-of-the-art Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE) student housing facility for the fall 2023 semester. The state-of-the-art building opened in August 2023 on the site of the former Atherton YMCA and is expected to transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem at UH’s flagship campus.

Two major efforts begin today tied to the University of Hawaiʻi Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE) project. Applications open for leasing at RISE, which is slated to open in fall 2023, and scholarships for 50 UH students interested in innovation and entrepreneurship through the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) PACE Leaders program.

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.

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.

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.

Former bank president Rich Wacker and his wife, Eileen, have committed a $250,000 gift to the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation in support of the UH Mānoa’s Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs (RISE) project, a world-class innovation and entrepreneurship facility coupled with student housing on the site of the former Atherton YMCA across from the flagship campus.

Did you know that UH Mānoa will be getting a new live, learn, work studio in summer 2023?

Shidler College alumni, friends and donors joined a virtual discussion on June 18 about this new project, as well as current Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) initiatives. Guest speakers Monica Umeda, co-founder of Akabotics and Susan Yamada, BBA ’82, director of UH Ventures, provided exciting updates to attendees.