The Maui News

The Maui Mompreneur Spring event is set for April 29 from 4 to 8 p.m. and April 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the University of Hawaii Maui College Paina Building, featuring 60 vendors and businesses.  

The two-day shopping extravaganza, which started in 2013, focuses on small local business businesses and nonprofits that specialize in handmade crafts. There will also be food trucks, baked goods, a free photo booth, face painting and balloon twisting for shoppers, along with a DJ playing music outside, and gift ideas for Mother’s Day and Teacher’s Appreciation Day. 

“We can’t believe how quickly time has flown by,” said event co-founder Luana HueSing-Ammasi in a news release. “We’re always grateful for the chance to support so many local vendors, and our new venue gives everyone plenty of room to shop.”

Proceeds from the event will benefit UHMC’s popular culinary program.

Mompreneur has a tradition of featuring a nonprofit table at each event to help build awareness in our community. This time, keiki from the Maui Hui Malama Youth Entrepreneurship Program will showcase products from their Maui Hui Makeke. 

Youth receive training in Hawaiian cultural values related to entrepreneurship, and gain business knowledge on budgeting, sales and market research as they develop their own ideas. Then, they put their lessons into practice by creating products for pop-up markets, which they organize themselves. 

For the first time, the event will feature an interactive Shopping Bingo game, where guests are given Bingo cards with 25 vendor logos, stamping their squares when they visit those booths. They’ll turn in completed cards for the chance to win hourly prize drawings with items donated by the vendors (shoppers must be present to win). 

“There are a lot of new small businesses in our community, and we love to give everyone we can a chance,” said Jovina Ka’eo, who started Mompreneur with friend and fellow vendor HueSing-Ammasi.