Economic Development, Government and Community Relations

Impact SmallBiz Accelerator

presented by HTDC

A partnership between Chamber of Commerce Hawaii and Hawaii Technology Development Corporation, the Impact SmallBiz Accelerator Program is a 5-month statewide program designed to support small businesses and early-stage entrepreneurs, fostering growth to diversify and fortify Hawaii’s economy through mentorship, training and an opportunity to showcase their business.

Open to all eligible businesses in Hawaii, the free five-month program offers mentorship, training and opportunity to showcase their business. Two cohorts composed of 8 businesses each will run as follows:

Cohort 1: September 2024 – January 2025
Cohort 2: November – March 2025

This initiative is part of the Chamber’s 2030 Blueprint Plan, a large-scale transformative master plan to shape Hawaii’s economic future as a top place to do business.

Mentorship

Entrepreneurs who work with a mentor are three times more likely to stay in business. A 2018 MicroMentor Impact report found that 75 percent of entrepreneurs globally who received mentoring increased their revenue and 82 percent survived their first one or two years in business, a crucial hurdle for startups.

Professional Development Training

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, small businesses have these failure rates in their first two years: 20 percent in the first year and 31 percent in the second. The Chamber’s pilot accelerator aims to give small, local businesses a better survival rate.