Program Alert: The new April episode of Career Changers TV will premiere around 6 PM Sat. night, April 6, instead of its regular 8:30 PM time slot because of OIA baseball. Time is approximate since my show will be sandwiched between two games. However, you can DVR it at the regularly scheduled week day times, which are listed at www.CareerChangers.TV.

The photo above is what prompted me to do a two part feature on Pacific Biodiesel, our lead story in the April show. During the big APEC event in November 2011, I was visiting the scientific/technology expo at the Convention Center and saw PB's display. In addition to the sunflowers photo, there were samples of oil seed crops and used cooking oil that had been converted to biofuel. I got to talking with Beth Mathias, their director of marketing and sales, who told me how they started in Maui and were now growing test crops on Oahu and building new plants on the mainland, Japan and the Big Island.

My first thought was, wow, I'd love to film those sunflowers in bloom for widescreen high definition television! The biodiesel plant on Sand Island sounded like it could provide good visuals too. One of the challenges of producing a low budget local TV show about business and career stuff is that many of the stories are predominantly composed of talking heads in office settings. So I try to find interesting locations where we can shoot our introductions, and if possible, get a story out of that place. We did our April intros at Waimea Valley, and that turned into three separate pieces, which are included in the new show. (You can see the small screen low res versions on the CCTV YouTube Channel by clicking here -- looks way better on real TV though!)

Pacific Biodiesel was growing camelina when we filmed, in part, because there was a problem with sunflowers: birds love to eat the seeds. And it's the seeds that are crushed for their oil. What's interesting about the project is the connection to the military. They provided funding because biofuel could be used in an emergency if our oil supplies were cut off. PB can plant, harvest and convert biodiesel within a hundred to 120 days. Besides that benefit, the seed cake byproduct is high in protein and can be good feed for livestock, so it has added profit potential for local farmers.

Speaking of the power of images to get the public's interest, here's a shot of a celeb who needs no introduction. PB started out recycling cooking oil waste next to a Maui landfill... and now famous entertainers like Willie Nelson, Jack Johnson and Woody Harrelson have endorsed their community-based model.

They also recently went online with their Big Island Biodiesel plant, which cost about $15 million to build. This is homegrown, sustainable business at its best.

Next post: more about Waimea Valley and how they have turned around the business end by focusing on Native Hawaiian culture. It's a great example of sustainable tourism -- and in the process, they're bringing back more local residents to this island treasure.

Picking up where I left off in my last post, the second twist in Alanna's makeover for the current Career Changers TV show (airs tonight at 8 PM on OC16, which is actually channel 12 or 1012 on high def) came after Nordstrom Rack provided her with a new outfit for job interviews. Before I get to that, gotta thank Stella Porter, the store manager, who went the extra mile for Alanna by adding accessories and shoes. There's a reason the Nordstrom name is synonymous with great customer service, and you can see it in their staff's efforts from the top person to the assistants on the floor.

So we head over to the Paul Brown Salon at Ward, and Paul hobbles out, bent over slightly. He was having back spasms and had just recently recovered from a bad case of the flu while he was on the mainland. Yet Paul was committed to doing the makeover. The show must go on, as they say, and Paul is definitely a showman as well as a top notch stylist. Somehow, he blocked out the pain and focused on giving Alanna his full attention -- check that, not just his attention, but his entire staff. Again, superior client service from top man to newest employee. They had specialists for her hair coloring and make-up, and it turned out one of the assistants was a familiar face...

In my prior post, I mentioned we met Paul while filming a fashion show put on by students at the Paul Brown Institute, which is now part of Remington College and no longer run by Paul himself. However, he takes an active interest in the cosmetology school that bears his name, and he scouts new talent at events such as these. The show we filmed is part of this segment (click here) and was put together by Kalipo -- who is now working for Paul at their flagship salon in Ward Center. Another unsolicited testimonial for a major sponsor, Remington College. As I noted before, "for profit" colleges on the mainland have gotten a bad rap, but I've seen good results at both Remington and Argosy for students who applied themselves and took advantage of real job opportunities those schools offer. You can see the Nordstrom Rack and Paul Brown segment of the makeover by clicking here.

CORRECTION: Remington College changed to non-profit status last year, so technically is not considered a "for profit" school.

Awhile back when I was just starting the Career Changers TV show, I wrote half-jokingly in this blog that if I was looking for future business opportunities to franchise, I would go into tattoo removals... I mean, look at all those young girls who get tramp stamps and guys with face/neck tatts that seemed like a good idea at the time. Flash forward a few years, and that dainty butterfly now looks like a whale tale, and Mr. Cool Face Tatt doesn't seem so hip when Mr. Employer has already mentally crossed this inked-up dude off his list of possible hires. Not only that, the military has stricter policies on tatts; and some companies such as Hawaiian Airlines have a no-visible tattoos rule for certain jobs.

Little did I know that tattoo removal has, in fact, already become a big biz -- and there are different methods that are available. I had heard about lasers being used, but didn't realize that it doesn't work for all colors and can be pretty painful. Laser removal generally requires multiple visits and may result in scarring too. But there is an alternative method, which is offered by Joelle Johnson at her Kapahulu Ave. location at Hee Hing Plaza. She's a career changer herself, and you can see her segment tonight at 8 PM on OC16 or the low res YouTube version by clicking here.

*******

For other daily viewing times, visit www.CareerChangers.TV. You can also watch segments from past and current episodes on the CCTV YouTube Channel. BTW, did you catch KGMB this morning? Coincidentally, they had one of their reporters go out to SeaBreeze (now called H2O Sports) to try out their jet pack, which I just blogged about a couple weeks ago in this post.

"Tomorrow there'll be sunshine, and all this darkness past... this train, carries saints and sinners... this train, carries losers and winners...

This train -- dreams will not be thwarted... this train -- faith will be rewarded... this train -- bells of freedom ringing."

- Bruce Springsteen, "Land of Hope and Dreams"

Not gonna gloat, but yes, I felt like my faith in democracy was rewarded. Big Super PAC Money lost in the national races. The Fox News propaganda machine lost. Equal rights for gays won yesterday. The failed War on Drugs approach to criminalizing marijuana also took hits in state initiatives. And locally, rail will move forward. It's called progress, and that scares a lot of folks. Always has, always will.

Yet this is what makes America great. We move forward. Forget what you keep hearing about the status quo being preserved. That's nonsense. The elections proved that if Republicans continue to take the "just say no" obstructionist approach to government, they are doomed for extinction -- nationally and in Hawaii. Honestly, I wish we had a strong two party system because debate can be a good thing. But when one side is being run by Mainland right wing zealots and the local GOP candidates won't denounce them, there really is no choice, is there?

*******

Moving on, got some quick updates related to friends of my Career Changers TV show that we've featured in past episodes.

• Kathy Custer, owner of Keiki Sitters, sold her OBAMA Car with the only Hawaii OBAMA license plates in existence for $10,0000. Which is a bit disappointing since it hit that mark on the first day of bidding and didn't budge, even after it was apparent the President had won a second term. Still, Kathy was happy that the proceeds will allow two young students to continue their college education. (Click here for the back story.)

• On our current CCTV show, we interviewed Dave McClure, founder of 500 Startups, who was here for the Geeks On A Plane event that was part of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival. Earlier this week, Dave was on the new Bravo series called Start-Ups: Silicon Valley. Two young wannabe hotshots set up a meeting to ask him for $500K to fund their new online venture, and the hungover sister decides to take a nap under the conference room table while waiting for Dave... even though she and her brother know Dave is one of the biggest venture capitalists in the world. Needless to say, Dave is not impressed when he walks in and sees the disheveled young lady crawling out from under the table. It's actually a lousy show that bears little resemblance to what real start-ups go through. Instead, watch our segment on Big Island entrepreneur Darius "Bubs" Monsef to see how he turned a "goofy" idea about rating colors into a multi-million dollar business (here's the CCTV YouTube Channel link).

• I haven't watched this week's delayed Hawaii Five-0 Halloween episode yet, but another friend of the show -- Yvette LaFontaine, owner of the Costume Closet in Kapahulu -- told me she supplied some of the costumes that were used. Here's a segment we did on her for last year's Halloween show.

*******

Lastly, Hurricane Sandy devastated the small town in New Jersey where I grew up -- Union Beach, located next to the Raritan Bay. I saw videos and photos of houses that were torn in half or totally demolished. Nothing was recognizable. I used to get into arguments with intelligent friends back in NJ about whether global warming was real. They scoffed at Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" and Republicans denounced climate change as a myth. Well, if you look at his charts for how high the ocean could rise, it matches up with Sandy's path of destruction. Sea level rise will not happen gradually. It will occur in surges, according to scientists.

This is a wake-up siren for Hawaii. I have been arguing for years that the shoreline setback requirements on Oahu are NOT strong enough. People are building too close to the ocean. Yet the Honolulu City Council continues to ignore the reality of climate change and rising sea levels. What happened to Union Beach can happen to my current home town of Kailua and many other parts of Hawaii. When will we learn?

For daily viewing times of Career Changers TV, please visit our website... and for those who oppose rail, why not think about how we can make it better, instead of trying to stop  this train called progress. This is a chance to preserve ag lands, decrease carbon emissions from cars, revitalize areas around new terminal stations, and create good paying jobs.

Thank God, the elections are over! Due to incessant spamming, comments are closed. But if you really want to say something, email me and I will post it as long as it's civil.

PROGRAM ALERT: The new August episode of Career Changers TV begins running Saturday night at 8:30 pm on OC16. Please visit www.CareerChangers.TV for other daily viewing times. You can also watch segments from the show on the CCTV YouTube Channel (low res versions).

For the past few months, I've been telling people that what I'm hearing on the streets in Honolulu is things are looking good for businesses despite all the negative national headlines repeating messages of doom and gloom. Granted, the job outlook hasn't improved much for certain segments of the population -- but if those who are unemployed haven't upgraded their skills or changed their job hunting strategy, their prospects aren't going to change either. And yes, the uncertainty of what's going to happen with Europe's economic house of cards is a legitimate reason to worry about the future of big global corporations with stakes in those markets.

Yet I keep seeing evidence that good old-fashioned American entrepreneurship is not only alive -- it's thriving. It's like staring at the ocean in vain for glimpses of whales breaching, when right in front of you there are tidal pools teeming with tiny sea life that go unnoticed. Okay, that might be a slightly tortured metaphor to tie in my current show's Sea Life Park theme with the Startup Hawaii conference I attended yesterday, but I think it actually makes sense.

The "whale" everyone came to see was Steve Case, AOL co-founder and chairman of the Startup America Partnership, which is a bipartisan offshoot of President Obama's Jobs Council initiative. As Case noted, they were able to get Republicans and Democrats to come together on creating programs that would encourage innovation, while providing incentives for startups that can help boost the economy. So, you see, it's not impossible to find some common ground to build on.

What I found most interesting about Case's on stage discussion with Howard Dicus was that his key points mirrored what earlier speakers told the 300 plus attendees -- and those speakers ranged the gamut from local entrepreneurs who laughed about launching their ventures with less than $300, to executives at major investors in startup companies. In fact, George Kellerman, a venture partner out of California (went to UH) joked that Case's five positive reasons Hawaii can be a major player in startup innovation, sounded like Case cribbed notes from Kellerman's morning presentation.

Both guys, along with other panel speakers, noted Hawaii is a gateway to Asia; can attract talent because of our lifestyle ("brain gain" instead of brain drain); we have local wealth that can be tapped into, from successful folks who live here part-time or have moved to Hawaii; and it's much cheaper now to start a new biz, especially in the high tech or social media arena.

Which is what I am seeing and hearing on a daily basis. You no longer need to invest tens of thousands in computer hardware and hire high-priced programmers and engineers to launch a new internet-based company. What's more, there's been a proliferation of startup "accelarators," which are sort of a combination of venture capital investors and incubators. It works like this: someone like Kellerman's company, 500 Startups (name inspired by Dr. Seuss 500 hats book) will provide $50K to $100K in financial backing for a startup they like. They also provide physical space and mentors to offer guidance. If it goes well, they may "double down" on their investment for another year or two -- he says about 20 percent of their 350 investments so far fall into that category. In return, the accelerator gets a small percentage of the startup company's stock or equity -- around 5 percent but it varies depending on the potential. For instance, one of their early investments was Wildfire, which provides advertising services for Facebook... Google just announced they are acquiring Wildfire for $50 million. Kellerman wouldn't say how much 500 Startups will get for "exiting" that investment, but I think it's safe to say the return will be quite handsome.

That kind of payoff is making the accelerator biz very competitive. But the ones I met yesterday say their philosophy is based on the "pay it forward" model because in their own cases, many of them benefited from the help and guidance of successful mentors. There's much more I'll share when we air these segments next month on Career Changers TV. My question though is where was the local news media yesterday? I found a number of interesting stories -- local successes, national successes with Hawaii connections -- and the only news story I saw come out of that was on KGMB since Howard Dicus was able to get Steve Case to do an interview on camera.

I guess if the organizers wanted to get more local news coverage, they should have set the Sheraton Waikiki on fire or crash a car into the hotel lobby. Anyway, speaking of positive stories about startups in Hawaii, in our new episode we have a segment about an offshoot of Bess Press publishing called Pass the Projects. They're creating interactive apps for smart devices that combine traditional print media with digital media, including a very cool app for Sea Life Park. Here's a sneak peek.

Have a great weekend!

Yesterday I was at Sea Life Park filming segments for the next Career Changers TV episode that will begin running in August. They had a "soft" opening of the new Hawaii Shark Tank exhibit, which isn't completely finished yet, and have been making other improvements that locals will appreciate -- including special deals like the $12 entry price with a Foodland Makai Card (or get four tickest for just $40).

Sea Life Park's marketing manager, Claudette Springer, told me business is booming this summer. Attendance is averaging around 700 people a day, and individual spending is up -- probably because many visitors are adding on things like the dolphin, seal and shark encounters, in which you get to have an up close and personal experience with these magnificent sea creatures. They generate additional revenue from hosting weddings and parties on the grounds. That makes perfect sense when you consider the beautiful surroundings and location.

Naturally, a lot of visitors continue their sightseeing tour by heading into Waimanalo or Kailua, where many of the Sea Life Park employees also live. Who wouldn't want to work close to home if you have that option? And yet, that is precisely the double-edged sword tourism represents. Sea Life Park isn't in a residential area, so it's an ideal fit for the Windward side. But there are many other kama'aina who would love to work in Kailua, instead of having to commute to Downtown or Waikiki every day. However, since many Windward working folks do have to make the daily trek over the Pali, the reality is most of the shops and restaurants here depend on tourists for business during week days.

So I have mixed feelings about the proposed ban that would prohibit all commercial activity on or near the beaches. As someone who has fought for public beach access, I'm the first to say something needs to be done to regulate and control the proliferation of stuff like kayak rentals. On the other hand, when friends and family from the Mainland come to visit, I also have taken them to Twogood Kayaks to rent a couple of tandems for a day. Bob Twogood has been a supporter of public beach access, and he's a friend of mine. About two, three years ago though, it started to become obvious that maybe there was too much of a good thing going on, between the various kayak/windsurfing rental businesses and guys walking around the parking lot hawking cheaper rental rates to anyone within earshot. Bob himself will tell you he agrees there needs to be limits placed on commercial activities.

The problem is a total ban may do more harm than good in the long run, and doesn't address the root cause of the biggest problem -- overcrowding. Somehow, lost in all the finger-pointing at the ocean activities businesses, is why that beach area is so packed. Take a walk toward the north end, and there is about two miles of nearly empty beach. The reason is limited public beach access, due to all the gates and "NO TRESPASSING" signs put up on both public and private roads along Kalaheo Avenue. Instead of walking to the beach nowadays, most Kailua residents get in a car and drive to the only two beach areas with public parking lots.

It's a shame that State and county government officials haven't done more to take a long view of community planning, including things like regulation of all shoreline activities and creating more public beach park areas. Think about it: what is our most important resource? It's our beaches and ocean that attract visitors, who help fuel our economy, whether it's Sea Life Park, hotels in Waikiki, or a mom and pop store in Kailua. Yet there is no single governmental agency that has the authority or foresight to come up with comprehensive shoreline management plans to ensure we don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Instead, everything is done in piecemeal fashion, with the State DLNR and county councils wasting time rehashing the same old problems over and over, while our beaches erode and tempers simmer over access to what is left. There are no easy solutions, but creating a joint State-County Coastal Commission to implement long range policies and enforcement strategies might be a good start. Shutting down all the ocean activities and other businesses that operate around the beach will be a temporary solution at best that will put more people on the unemployment line. It could also hurt small businesses and shops throughout Kailua that have been benefiting from the influx of tourists, for better or worse.

I'm not optimistic about anything being done. As long as there is split jurisdiction between the State and the counties over the shoreline, neither will take complete responsibility for management of Hawaii's most valuable asset, and we will continue to see these beach battles throughout the islands.

***********

The Sea Life Park episode won't premiere until Sat., Aug. 4 on OC16, which means you still have a week to catch the hypnotherapy and Business Law Corps segments on the current Career Changers TV show. For daily viewing times, please visit our website. You can also watch videos on our CCTV YouTube Channel. Have a great weekend -- and if comments are closed below, it's because I get tired of deleting all the spam-bot fake responses I have to manually remove. Sigh.