Hub Coworking Hawaii

Hawai‘i's Best Coworking Space

Nam Vu

Keiki and Plow Work Day Recap

Hub Coworking at Keiki and Plow
Hub Coworking welcome sign at Keiki and Plow

At the Hub, you might have heard our motto of “Do well, do good”. This saying stems from our mission to foster the success of our members. The second part, “do good” goes a little beyond the traditional business idea of cultivating a community of working professionals. “Do good” comes from the need to feed the soul, to gain a sense of belonging and purpose, to build community with those around us.

Hub Coworking Members working at Keiki and Plow.

To put actions to our words, we host work days where our coworking members are invited to get out of the office, and give back to the ‘aina (land). We’ve hosted work days out at the Kōkua Learning Farm with our friends at Kōkua Hawai‘i Foundation, and community cleanups with the Surfrider Foundation O‘ahu Chapter, as a way to provide our members the opportunity to network outside of their immediate circles, visit places they might not have seen before, and of course to help our surrounding community.

Most recently, we visited Keiki and Plow– a family run, organic farm in Hawaii Kai that offers families a hands-on farm experience. On Saturday, November 6, 2021. The team at Keiki & Plow hosted about 25 Hub Coworking members and friends.

Hub Members at Keiki and Plow
Hub Coworking members at 11/6 Keiki and Plow Workday.

Our members volunteered to help with various projects on the farm such as transferring soil to plant beds, planting herbs and flowers, clearing pathways, pulling crops of weeds and spreading mulch around crops.

Hub Coworking members at Keiki and Plow
Hub Coworking Members clear weeds during Keiki and Plow workday.

We were all split into separate groups to complete our tasks, and Hub members with keiki helped to plant flowers and vegetables in the garden. It was a fun-filled day, and it was so nice to see some of our members out in the open again. Mahalo to the members that were able to make it–we hope to host another work day sometime soon! For more information on our member events and to make sure you’re signed up for our next one, follow us on social media @hubcoworkinghi.

Hub Members in Keiki and Plow vegetable patch
Hub Coworking members with Keiki helped to plant vegetables.
Hub Coworking Members at Keiki and Plow
Keiki and Plow Garden
View of Hub Coworking Hawaii’s 11/6 workday at Keiki and Plow.

New Vaccine Update for Hub Coworking Hawai’i

Aloha Hub Community,

To protect Hub members, in accordance with the updated mandates from the Safe Access Program at the City and County of Honolulu, effective 9/13/2021 the Hub will be requiring all employees and members, including all memberships, dedicated desks and offices, as well as all guests and non-members to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or proof of negative FDA EUA approved COVID-19 test (within 48 hours) to enter the the space beyond the front desk.

Acceptable Proof of Vaccination:
– Hard copy of vaccination card
– Photo of vaccination card
– Safe Travels Hawaii application showing proof of vaccination

Exemptions & Considerations:
– Proof of negative FDA EUA approved COVID-19 test (within 48 hours) – Home tests are not accepted at this time. See available testing sites from the City & County Here.
– If you have 1 of 2 vaccinations for Pfizer or Moderna, we will extend a grace period until 9/20/21 for you to become fully vaccinated.
– If you are just picking up your mail at the front, you are exempt from this requirement. Masks are still mandatory to enter the space.

To learn more about the Safe Access Program Click Here. If you need to make changes to your membership please email info@hubcoworkinghi.com and we will work with you.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Please be safe.

Hub Team

The Past Four Years at Hub Coworking Hawaii

Back on August 23rd, The Hub celebrated its 4th year of operation out of our Queen Street location. We are so honored to have made it this far as a coworking space, creative outlet and a gathering place. Together, we have grown through renovations, a rebrand, community volunteer opportunities and countless events–pau hanas, networking opportunities, movie premieres, crop swaps– just to name a few! We only hope that this growth continues long-term, and that we can provide the location, resources and opportunities for you and your business to, as we say, “do well and do good.” 

Before 2020, the Hub was a community resource for businesses needing a venue for their meetings and events. The Hub was and still is a gathering place for many of its own community members allowing the businesses in our own network to spotlight their products/services. While events have taken more of a back seat nowadays, we can’t help but to reminisce on some of the past events that we have had the pleasure of hosting. We hope to bring events back when we’re able to gather in a safe manner again.

  • Art@Hub Shows
    • The Hub has had the pleasure of having it’s space beautified by murals painted by local artists. Artists would create murals or installations on the common theme of “Community.” In exchange, the Hub would provide membership or residency for artists to continue their work or provide classes to the community. Each artist would also be featured in their own Art@Hub Show where they’d display their gallery of work. Local artists that have created murals or installations for the Hub are Lauren Hana Chai, Boz Schurr, Aimee Dukes, Shenae Tam, Bai Xin Chen, Ryan Higa, Aria Villafranca, and Lauren Trangmar.
  • Indie Lens Film Nights
    • In partnership with PBS Hawaii, we would transform our Main Event Space into a theater and feature independent documentary films focused on a variety of social issues. PBS Hawaii would even bring pizza, a popcorn machine and arare/mochi crunch. Some popular features were “Out of State” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Indie Lens Film Screening of Bedlam
  • Climathon
      • In fall 2019, we hosted the first ever Honolulu Climathon. We hosted the Climathon Honolulu Hackathon with guest judges Chelsea Harder of Hawaiʻi Green Growth, June Matsumoto of Pacific Islands Institute, and Chris Barzman from Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawaii. We focused on sustainable tourism and guided our participants with the guiding question of: “How do we reduce the human impact of tourism in Honolulu?”
        Climathon 2019 Winners Team Get Zero Wasted
  • Wellness Wednesday
    • Awakened Mana has been hosting Wellness Wednesday events once a month at the Hub since our early Impact Hub Honolulu days. They are creators of conscious events and products. With a focus on movement, health, sustainability, growth and community, their events and products inspire reflection and an awakened consciousness. Popular events have consisted of Sound Healing Meditation, Kombucha Brewing Workshops and Light Alchemy. 
  • Weekly Member Luncheon
    • Formerly held every Wednesday in the community kitchen, our Member Luncheon was an opportunity for our members to connect with each other during the lunch hour. We’d provide pizza or food from local neighborhood restaurants (thank you, Thyda’s Tacos!) and break the ice for everyone.
  • Monthly Crop Swaps – Back on! 
    • This series of events was born from members sharing their abundance from their home gardens and crops. Our amazing members would bring in apple bananas, mangos, marrungay leaves (malunggay/moringa) and all kinds of herbs to share with others. We figured why not make this a monthly occurrence? This was also the perfect pairing with Long Spoon Farms to help with the monthly efforts as they were providing a similar community service in Kaimuki. 
Crop Swap meeting in our community kitchen

Another growth point of ours has been our membership. Our core group of members has changed over the years, as we steadily welcome freelancers, digital nomads, entrepreneurs, small business owners and non-profit organizations seeking a flexible workspace. Our variety of month to month membership options and offices allowed our members to use our space at their convenience and scale up when ready. When COVID-19 made its way to the Hawaiian Islands, we were just as worried as everyone else. Our memberships took a hit and some long standing office members had to vacate. Since then, we’ve reached a new demographic of remote workers, businesses seeking office space that didn’t require a long lease and workers wanting an alternative space to their home office (or dining tables). 

We’d love to recognize several of our previous members, that have scaled their businesses over the years:

After working with some incredible entrepreneurs/companies, we were inspired to make a greater impact in our community. Since 2017, we have created and joined forces with a variety of programs that have allowed us to provide many mentoring, coaching and networking opportunities for our members and the greater community.

Programs:

The Social Impact Incubator Program helps fill the opportunity gap for very early stage entrepreneurs – especially educators – in Hawaiʻi. SIIP is a six month program where participants gain access to content specialists, top-notch mentorship, weekly learning modules and up to $8,000 in capital to take their venture to the next level. We are currently working together with Teach for America Hawaii on the second cohort of entrepreneurs.

The Hawaii Freelancer’s Network is open to any small business, entrepreneur, freelancer or business leader, current or aspiring! Via monthly workshops at the Hub, HFN helps to connect members to the greater community and share valuable knowledge and insights. 

  • Women’s Personal Finance Group

Women’s Personal Finance workgroup was a casual bi-monthly meetup at the Hub for any woman that wants to learn more about finances, better understand their own financial habits and needs, and get more comfortable asking questions and learning about this big subject. 

Women’s Personal Finance Group Meeting

 

The Benefits to Private Office Spaces

While most people in Honolulu know Hub Coworking Hawai‘i for our co-working spaces, we also offer the option of private office spaces. Catering to employers who want a dedicated space but may have half a workforce that’s remote, we offer members a chance to have an office that feels like their own – even if they’re not in it all the time. Our team sat down with Hub member and owner of accounting firm BCCA Brad Char to learn more about why he chose a dedicated office space for his team.

Here is what he shared:

Client Meetings and Room for Growth

“In the service that we provide, we are frequently interacting with customers via lunch meetings. While we liked having our own space, it felt very fixed,” said Char. “The Hub’s variety of office spaces allows us the flexibility to grow our team incrementally and interface with clients in a space that feels neutral.” 

Ease of Access and Amenities

Decked out with much more than your average office, The Hub offers access to complimentary coffee, tea, kombucha, a communal kitchen, plus showers and surfboard storage for those of us who greet or end the day by catching some waves. “There are a lot of additional things that we didn’t have prior, including much nicer amenities,” said Char. “For clients, coming here feels a lot more welcoming.”

A Space to Collaborate

Working with consultants and vendors? Onboarding new team members? The Hub is the perfect collaborative setting for people to jump right in. “Another thing I’m looking for in the near future is having an HR consultant to help with my company,” said Char. “I think The Hub would be a great place for them to come to when we have to meet.” After meetings, members can always return to the privacy of their office to follow up on immediate action items.

Location, Location

Our central location in Kaka‘ako is the perfect jumping off point in case you need to rush from one Zoom call to an in-person meeting in town. Forgot to pack lunch? We are within walking distance to some ‘ono local spots to grab a quick bite.

Whether it be coworking or working within the walls of your own space, The Hub offers the flexibility to fit your needs. Having a private office at the Hub allows you and your team to choose the working environment that best suits your business. Visit our membership page to learn more about packages and offerings.

Foreign Trade Zone

This morning I took a tour of the Foreign Trade Zone in Honolulu and the warehouse facilities there. I was quite impressed.

Some key points:

  1. It is run by the state, but is run like a business (they don’t get annual funding from the state).
  2. It’s kinda like coworking but for warehouse space. You pay for the warehouse space based on volume.  This means that you don’t need to pay for space you don’t need nor do you need to have staff, or a forklift, etc.
  3. Only goods that are imported or exported are allowed.
  4. You deliver goods there and store it and when you need to get some goods out you call them and they get it ready for pickup.
  5. Merchandise of foreign status  (before goods are cleared US Customs) can be stored in the warehouse for $.35 per cubic foot for the 1st month and $.15 thereafter.
  6. The FTZ is on US soil, but is outside of US Customs territory. If you import something and subsequently export it (internationally) you might be able to avoid paying customs import fees because technically it never reached the US. (This is my understanding of it.)

It sounds like a great program and fees seem really good.  So if anyone is importing goods or materials and needs storage space, look them up.

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

— Nam