HONOLULU —Led by chairman and CEO John Dean, Central Pacific Bank (CPB) and its executives have committed $200,000 to the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) to expand the Center and its programs. A new accelerator program will be a key feature. The Center, located in the UH Mānoa Shidler College of Business, facilitates entrepreneurial education and research commercialization at UH. CPB's gift will go towards the 5-year PACE initiative that was launched in February 2014. The goal is to raise $2.5 million to create new programs, grow existing programs, and renovate a new and larger location in the Shidler College of Business.
Left to Right: Vance Roley, dean, Shidler College of Business; Susan Yamada, executive director, Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship; Larry Rodriguez, retired executive, Central Pacific Bank; John Dean, chairman & CEO, Central Pacific Bank; Catherine Ngo, co-president & chief operating officer, Central Pacific Bank; Denis Isono, chief financial officer, Central Pacific Bank; Donna Vuchinich, president & CEO, UH Foundation; and Tom Apple, chancellor, UH Mānoa.
The new facility will enable PACE to create a vibrant co-working space for entrepreneurial activity at the university, double the number of entrepreneurial programs it offers, introduce an entrepreneurial curriculum to other UH Mānoa colleges, train key faculty on current entrepreneurial pedagogy, play a pivotal role in the commercialization of UH technology and innovation, and establish a presence in Asia as a leader in entrepreneurial education.
CPB co-president and chief operating officer Catherine Ngo and CPB chief financial officer Denis Isono also committed to join the newly formed PACE Board of Directors which is chaired by John Dean.
"PACE plays a significant role in Hawai‘i's economic diversification by supporting the growth of our innovation-based industry, as well as the development of high-skill jobs and an entrepreneurial talent pool in our state," said Dean, chairman and CEO of CPB.
Under the leadership of dean Vance Roley and executive director Susan Yamada, PACE has become the training ground for future entrepreneurs and business leaders as well as the bridge between the academic and business worlds. PACE has expanded to include 15+ programs to cultivate new entrepreneurs, encourage entrepreneurial thinking, spawn new businesses, and rekindle ties with Hawai‘i's business community.
"John Dean and CPB have been avid supporters of entrepreneurship in the community and at the university. Their leadership gift enables PACE to expand its role within the university by providing significantly more entrepreneurial programs to students and faculty. An increase in entrepreneurial activity benefits not only the university, but our State," said Yamada.
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The Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) is the home for an integrated set of leading-edge entrepreneurship programs at the University of Hawai‘i. Based in the Shidler College of Business, PACE is dedicated to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit among all members of the University and local community. For more information, visit pace.shidler.hawaii.edu or follow us on Twitter @PACEhawaii.
The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Established in 1949 as the College of Business Administration, the College was named in 2006 after alumnus Jay H. Shidler, founder and managing partner of The Shidler Group. The Shidler College of Business is renowned for its expertise in international management education and is consistently ranked among the nation's top graduate schools for international business by U.S. News. Long recognized for its Asia-Pacific focus, the College is a professional school offering a wide variety of degree, certificate and executive programs. The UH Shidler College of Business is the only graduate program in the State of Hawai‘I accredited by AACSB International. For more information, visit www.shidler.hawaii.edu.
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa serves approximately 20,000 students pursuing more than 225 different degrees. Coming from every Hawaiian island, every state in the nation, and more than 100 countries, UH Mānoa students thrive in an enriching environment for the global exchange of ideas. For more information, visit http://manoa.hawaii.edu. Follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/uhmanoa and Twitter http://www.twitter.com/UHManoaNews.
The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaiʻi System. The mission of the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation is to unite donors' passions with the University of Hawaiʻi’s aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing private investments to benefit UH, the people of Hawaiʻi and our future generations www.uhfoundation.org.
