8-3 NWR Hawaii changing crops

It is the end of an era for what was once Hawaii's top economic engine. Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company has announced it will be ending its sugar operations by the end of the year. Instead it will be focusing on other agriculture. "With the end of sugarcane, we are trying to find the next crop for HC&S and a lot of it is crops that you already grow on the mainland." May Nakahata of the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company has-been touring mainland states across the US, including the Northwest, in search of new crops. "Like corn, sorghum, safflower, sunflower." Nakahata says market competition and relentless public pressure are the main reasons that, after 140 years of operation, HC&S will no longer grow the cane.

A new program designed to increase entrepreneurial activity and stimulate job creation in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest is now being offered in Portland by Oregon State University's College of Business. 

The goal of Launch Corps is to provide additional startup support services for select students who are enrolled in the college's Innovation Management MBA program and are also developing a business idea. This must be a new collegiate trend because over in Idaho, Boise State offers a similar entrepreneurial program.