Foreign-Trade Zone No 9 State of Hawaii Event Space

Excellent venue supporting foreign trade in the State of Hawai'i! Home of the Homer A. Maxey International Trade Resource Center at Pier 2, 521 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813.

Holy Heck Batman- this place is almost the hardest place in the world to find the first time. And I knew exactly where I was going.You go behind the old CompUSA towards INS but on the road by INS, You see a guard house, you are supposed to go to the right of the guard house- we did, but we went on the inside of the chain link fence. Wrong!You are supposed to follow the road that is on the outside of the chain link fence by the guard house. Inside is the truck off loading docks. Also went up the metered parking just to see if the place was open as we were early. Yes it is open, yes it is really right behind wall number 2 but no you have to drive around the said fence to get to the door that goes to the conference room. There is free parking if you come early to events. Otherwise- there is no parking in the area anywhere close if the lots there are full.Bathrooms are super CLEAN!!!!!! It is as if they just opened. Wow they are spacious and nice.Meeting room, normal- nice, tech friendly, but Darin's keen eye spotted the 1 thing different. There are load supporting beams at triangle angles on the far side of the room, yes you are in a building that is super close to the ocean and needs that support in areas.It can be cold for some people in the room. I was happy as can be coming from a car in the hot sun to a room in AC- nice for me. We had a SBA State DEBT meeting called HISTEP in this location, that seems to be a 11 part series. I came to #3 in the series to check it out for a friend that now has a business and know resources to help my employers do business internationally. Answering unasked questions- no it is not a for the public kind of building, but as the State DEBT or SBA for specific foreign trade business meetings for chances to meet there. Random suggestion- google maps and a diagram printed map may not help you find this place- Everything is on the ocean so that doesn't help give bearings either. Suggestion- go with someone that has been there before- just to save car lot spaces if nothing else.

First timer at a Yelp event. Lots to learn and to follow up on. Big Mahalo for Yelp supporting small businesses.Starting a preschool music program at the Chuck James Music Studio in Waipahu. www.readyforkinder.com

Within the Foreign Trade Zone there's a building called the Homer A. Maxey International Trade Resource Center Conference Center where we hosted a Yelp business owners workshop with the Hawaii Small Business Development Center this past week. It's so difficult to find good conference space and I was really surprised when I walked into the clean and spacious classroom style space. I feel as though I've discovered a hidden gem in the heart of Honolulu. There are a few visitor spots that are free and a paid meter lot as well. I'm not sure what it takes to secure their conference room space but I hope to be able to utilize this resource again in the future.