A Non-Political Comment on Hawaii Candidates: Buying Local

I strongly believe in keeping my political beliefs out of the office. My office is where I do business, and I meet an incredible variety of people of all political persuasions–from anarchists to the far left and right. Most are somewhere in between, but where they are on the political spectrum is not of any concern to Kona Impact. All are welcome.

For many years we have done almost no business with local candidates, even though we offer very competitive prices and quick turnaround times for things like banners and yard signs. 

At times I would look closely at political signs and banners as I walked around town, and many had markings that showed they were made off-island, many in California. 

I wondered why these politicians for local offices like the County Council, the legislature, the mayor, and the district attorney would outsource all their needs off-island. It seemed that someone running for a local office would at least attempt to support the businesses in the community from which they want votes.

I liken it to small local businesses that do not source locally yet want local shoppers to patronize their business. 

Well, this year, we’ve seen a wonderful change in the willingness of several local candidates to seek out local providers and “buy local.”

This year, so far, we have made about 750-yard signs, many banners, postcards, bumper stickers, and more for three County Council candidates. They said Kona Impact had better prices, especially when shipping is included, and faster turnaround than Mainland companies. They all mentioned that buying local was important to them.

So, based on their “buy local” decisions alone, I would tell voters to give a first or second look at the following Hawaii County Council candidates: Shane Palacat-Nelson, Lee-Ann Heely, and Cindy Evans.

What We Would Candidates in Hawaii Do in the Future

We did hear from one candidate that they took flack from sitting politicians for advocating a buy local position for campaign signs. I won’t name names, but I find the duplicity of these “local” politicians not walking the talk to be quite amazing, and, indeed, quite disconcerting.

Of course, we’d love the business of everyone running for office, but that’s not going to happen.

What we’d like to see is the campaigns reach out for price quotes. We, as well as some of our competitors, are likely to be very competitive price-wise with many of the Mainland suppliers they use. If we’re not the best supplier, then by all means go elsewhere, but give us a chance.

For those who are interested, we can supply banners, yard signs, bumper stickers, and a lot more–all made quickly here in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii