In this episode we are joined by our friend, business partner and United Fund Advisors Co-Founder, Chris Hasle. For over ten years, Chris and his team have served as consultants to Oahu Economic Development Board and our Community Development Entity (CDE) , Punawai O Puuhonua, which was created in partnership with American Savings Bank. Along the way, he and Pono Shim became close friends, navigating the needs and intricacies of business with aloha and how to uplift those areas that need capital investment the most across our islands. Through that CDE and with Chris' support, we have deployed funding to low income communities throughout Hawaii through the CDFI's New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program. Chris is a founding member of UFA and has worked in the tax credit industry since 2004. As a principal, he is responsible for driving the overall strategy and direction of the company and serving as a liaison to key stakeholders. Mahalo for tuning in! Episode Highlights 1:01 About United Fund Advisors 2:47 What is the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) Program? 5:09 Education, Values and Impact 6:23 Job Searching 7:02 NMTCs at OEDB through Punawai O Puuhonua; How did you meet Uncle Pono and begin working with NMTCs in Hawaii? 13:50 Continental US and Hawaii partnership 14:18 Friendship with Pono 15:48 Relational vs. Transactional Partnerships 16:58 Aloha as an evolving word 18:05 Pono's kidney donation 19:24 Punawai o Puuhonua's projects across Hawaii 22:22 NMTC and Community Impacts: quality jobs, commercial goods and services, social services - healthcare, education, minority owned businesses and indigenous communities, affordable housing, environmentally sustainable outcomes 26:06 Favorite NMTC project: Community Transitional School in Portland, Oregon 31:27 NMTC Conference and endless opportunity to uplift communities 33:00 The catalytic effect of capital investment 33:49 Do you have a dream NMTC project? 35:18 After doing business in Hawaii for over ten years, are there things that have left an impression on you and/or changed how you do business? 37:22 Friendship stories 41:38 Growing a good team 44:19 Chris: What does the "Above the Sides" podcast name mean? Queen Liliuokalani quote: “I could not turn back the time for the political change, but there is still time to save our heritage. You must remember never to cease to act because you fear you may fail. The way to lose any earthly kingdom is to be inflexible, intolerant, and prejudicial. Another way is to be too flexible, tolerant of too many wrongs, and without judgment at all. It is a razor’s edge. It is the width of a blade of pili grass. To gain the kingdom of heaven is to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen, and to know the unknowable – that is Aloha. All things in this world are two; in heaven there is but One.”
In this episode we are joined by our friend, business partner and United Fund Advisors Co-Founder, Chris Hasle. For over ten years, Chris and his team have served as consultants to Oahu Economic Development Board and our Community Development Entity (CDE) , Punawai O Puuhonua, which was created in partnership with American Savings Bank. Along the way, he and Pono Shim became close friends, navigating the needs and intricacies of business with aloha and how to uplift those areas that need capital investment the most across our islands. Through that CDE and with Chris' support, we have deployed funding to low income communities throughout Hawaii through the CDFI's New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program. Chris is a founding member of UFA and has worked in the tax credit industry since 2004. As a principal, he is responsible for driving the overall strategy and direction of the company and serving as a liaison to key stakeholders. Mahalo for tuning in!
Episode Highlights
Queen Liliuokalani quote: “I could not turn back the time for the political change, but there is still time to save our heritage. You must remember never to cease to act because you fear you may fail. The way to lose any earthly kingdom is to be inflexible, intolerant, and prejudicial. Another way is to be too flexible, tolerant of too many wrongs, and without judgment at all. It is a razor’s edge. It is the width of a blade of pili grass. To gain the kingdom of heaven is to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen, and to know the unknowable – that is Aloha. All things in this world are two; in heaven there is but One.”