Tech company builds on principles of ohana, koa, ho’okipa, laulima, lokahi

Vaughn Vasconcellos (right) joins the staff of the Maui Digital Bus and a crew of Kauanakai Elementary School 4th graders who explored a stream using tools for scientific analysis aboard the bus. They were participating in the Ho'okuleana Stream Monitoring Project set up as part of the curriculum of the Digital Bus. Vasconcellos, president/CEO of Akimeka LLC, is also president of the Alaka'ina Foundation, a nonprofit organization supported by Akimeka to sponsor the Digital Bus.

Vaughn Vasconcellos says his Molokai grandmother wouldn’t let him knife-hunt pigs with the uncles.

But she instilled in Vasconcellos island values that guide him as he builds a technology company headquartered at the Maui Research & Technology Park.

His reliance on Hawaiian principles of ohana, koa, ho’okipa, laulima and lokahi — family, courage of leadership, generosity, cooperation and harmony — helped to grow his consulting business into Akimeka LLC, an information technology company now operating on two islands and in four states.

Vasconcellos will point out that he had help, such as a Small Business Administration program supporting minority businesses in contracting with the federal government. As a Native Hawaiian, he got a hand up to qualify for federal contracts.

It was not a handout. Vasconcellos had to prove Akimeka’s ability to perform. He succeeded, building a startup with a pair of colleagues working on a telemedicine contract into a company with 50 employees in five years. In 12 years, it expanded to nearly 200 staff with annual revenues approaching $30 million.

He is grateful for the growth Akimeka has achieved. But he is equally gratified by his ability to keep commitments to employees and to the community — all reflecting his founding values.

Vasconcellos said Akimeka’s “family of organizations is expanding.” A second company he founded, Akimeka Technologies, LLC partnered with IT&T Systems Division and formed a joint venture (JV) to compete for the Pacific Missile Range Facility operations on Kauai. Their JV known as Manu Kai was awarded the PMRF contract for base and range operations in October 2008.

But Vasconcellos is equally proud of Akimeka’s accomplishments in on-going projects to upgrade capabilities in military medical services, such as a contract for an information-sharing link for the Department of Veterans Affairs to access medical records of military personnel transitioning out of active duty.

This Akimeka Web-based portal allows VA clinics to bring up medical records for soldiers transitioning from active duty to the VA.

Joined by Karen Sakihama, acting Hawaii District director for the Small Business Administration, the leaders of Akimeka LLC (from left), Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer John Harris, President/Chief Executive Officer Vaughn Vasconcellos and Executive Vice President Craig Floro, CEO of Akimeka Technologies, celebrate a second runnerup award in the National Small Business Person of the Year event held in Washington in May.

“Especially now, with so many active duty personnel who will need medical services as they transition out from service in war zones, there is an important need to allow providers electronic access to medical records. The Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs use different medical information systems and their electronic health records are not transparent.”

“We needed to secure privacy of their records while the VA clinics needed to have access to those records as quickly as possible. We opened a Web-based service for VA providers to access to the medical records of the soldiers.”

“It was done right here in this office on Maui,” he said, with his smile underlining the sense of achievement. “It is great to see that we can contribute to needs on a national level from right here.”

Even as Akimeka looks to achievements on a national level, it is reaching out and contributing “right here,” with efforts to promote science, technology, engineering and math education in Maui County.

Vasconcellos initiated the Maui Digital Bus five years ago, a technology-loaded vehicle with two teachers who travel to outlying schools to introduce students to computers and media systems in a mobile learning platform. The goal is access to technology for youngsters who might not otherwise be introduced to STEM opportunities.

As they learn the technology, Vasconcellos is gratified to see students developing awareness and concern for their environment. Student projects utilizing Digital Bus systems have monitored and analyzed island watersheds — streams, wetlands and the nearshore waters of the islands.

“Growing up as kids here, you’re always near the water, but you don’t always understand what is happening to the water. With what they are discovering in using the technology, the kids are learning about taking care of their environment.”

“They are the ones who are saying ‘This is terrible, we have to do something about it.’”

Equally high on his list of values is the commitment Akimeka makes to its employees, earning it a place in the Hawaii Business “Best Places to Work” for 2008.

The rating is based in part on the company’s economic contributions to Hawaii, but the rating considers Akimeka’s support of its personnel, including profit-sharing, matching contributions to 401K plans, fully-paid medical insurance and training opportunities.

All of the components earned Akimeka and Vasconcellos recognition this year as the Hawaii Small Business Person of the Year and a second runner-up award as the National Small Business Person of the Year for 2009 at a Small Business Week observance held in May in Washington.

Vasconcellos says he had returned to Hawaii when he saw a niche he could fill as a West Point-trained engineer schooled in automated data processing. He won a contract to deploy telemedicine programs for Tripler Army Medical Center as it extended services across the Pacific. At Tripler, he linked with an Army colleague, Craig Floro.

“I was in Boston with Unisys in December ‘95, when Boston had the worst winter I’ve ever experienced. I’m from Hawaii. I said that was enough; I’m heading back to Hawaii.”

“I had an idea to do a startup company that I thought I could develop here in Hawaii with my background in information technology systems. I became an independent consultant and I secured a contract at Tripler Army hospital just as it was beginning to expand its telemedicine systems to reach out to the Pacific Rim.”

“The command in Hawaii is responsible for military operations around the Pacific and Tripler is part of that command. That is a large area to cover where there aren’t enough doctors.”

When he met up with Floro, he said the two discussed the opportunities in developing software for health care workers in remote regions needing access to information. Naming his company Akimeka, Hawaiian for Archimedes, Vasconcellos concentrated his efforts on the niche he knew. Later, Floro joined Akimeka and along the way, they were introduced to the Small Business Administration 8(a) business development program.

Federal procurement rules require consideration for qualified small businesses in contract awards. The 8(a) program extends consideration for small businesses with minority owners, with provisions that help a business to set up partnerships to qualify for large contracts it could not handle on its own.

“It allows a small, minority-owned business to compete on a level playing field,” Vasconcellos said.

A business has to qualify, show work product, provide financial statements and prepare capability statements. But once a company establishes its capabilities in a specialty, the SBA will provide references when large contracts require those services from a subcontractor.

Vasconcellos said 8(a) makes it possible for a small business to set up partnerships with larger contractors to provide expertise in specialty areas when the smaller business bids on a contract. The key is opportunities created by the SBA connections.

“It increases the potential for partnerships for small businesses with a bigger business. Under the federal procurement rules, with a large contract, there is a mandate for a percentage of the work to be awarded to small businesses that are part of your team.

“Once you can establish your capabilities, show that you do good work and you are a valuable member of a contracting team, they usually come back to you for additional work.”

Akimeka President/CEO Vaughn Vasconcellos chats with Pomaikai Elementary School students on their display from a project to examine the problem of pollution of the ocean. The display was part of the program for the annual Ke Alahele Education Fund dinner held last August.

An element of Akimeka’s success is Vasconcellos’ decision to concentrate on what he knew he could do best in software development in telemedicine with the Department of Defense. The focus allowed Akimeka to grow without overreaching.

“We want to be successful with the Department of Defense. At the same time, being focused on working with the government allowed us to grow with a steady, sustainable program for creating jobs,” he said.

“Over time, there is a networking system that developed to support our efforts and serves our government clients.”

The network includes agencies in Hawaii, such as the Maui Economic Development Board, which developed the Maui Research & Technology Park and provides technical assistance for startup businesses, and Maui Community College, which established technology training programs to meet the needs of new technology businesses.

“Here on Maui, at Maui Community College, Chancellor (Clyde) Sakamoto is very progressive in terms of looking to the future and planning a curriculum that will meet the needs of technology companies,” Vasconcellos said. “He has consulted with agencies and businesses and his whole approach is to ask what types of skills and capabilities are needed by the companies that are in technology development.”

Vasconcellos cited the planning that went into MCC’s four-year applied science degree in applied business and information technology, as well as the development of a second bachelor’s of applied science degree in engineering technology approved by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents in May.

In establishing his business in Hawaii, Vasconcellos is focused on creating opportunities for young people from the islands, recognizing that a college degree is just an initial step to earning a living in a technology field.

Even after he earned his degree, he said much of what he knows about data processing and programming was learned by doing. Maui Economic Development Board efforts to promote internships are a plus for students who can work their way into technology jobs through the combination of classroom theory and on-the-job experience, he said.

“Our goal is to bring students into our operations every year through internships in which they are working directly with our lead engineers. The experience they get on-the-job is invaluable and the whole idea is to keep our local kids here or bring them back home because there will be opportunities for them.”

Support for STEM education permeates Akimeka. Akimeka engineers serve as adjunct professors for the University of Hawaii system to bring their experience to academic instruction.

With its base at the Maui R&T Park, Akimeka works with and recruits from MCC. Its new contract at the Pacific Missile Range Facility will have Akimeka engineers working with Kauai Community College and the Kauai District schools.

“One of my goals was to create opportunities on the Neighbor Islands,” Vasconcellos said. “Obviously being raised on Molokai, I have an affinity for Maui County and I want to support the people of Maui County. But even more, the environment here is a great environment for developing a technology business.

“With the county government, MEDB, the college, it’s been a very good environment for me to work with in building opportunities.”

He also has a role in outreach projects to promote STEM education from kindergarten on up. Patterned after a project Vasconcellos observed on the Big Island, he took a handi-van bus donated by Maui Economic Opportunity, had it rebuilt and equipped with computers and a digital wireless link that allows it to operate online wherever it might be. He now plans to construct a second Digital Bus.

“It’s an educational technology platform that we can provide to schools that don’t have the resources for technology training and scientific investigation. It supports teachers with the scientific instruments and technological systems they can use to introduce their students to the possibilities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math education).”

The project to promote STEM in underserved communities in Hawaii was initially supported by the Office of Naval Research. From 2004, grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency were awarded under the umbrella of a nonprofit corporation, Alaka’ina Foundation.

Vasconcellos also offers his expertise to entrepreneurs through his involvement with organizations such as the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, for which he has been a mentor to new business operators.

Vasconcellos said the development of his business is an outgrowth of the values he learned from his grandmother and family on Molokai.

“These are my roots,” he said.

That upbringing did not involve the subsistence hunting lifestyle often associated with Molokai. It did involve caring for family, and supporting and sharing with the community. “No hunting,” he said. “My grandmother wouldn’t let me go. My uncles, they hunted with a knife, real basic. Getting gored isn’t pretty.”

What’s in a name

Akimeka is derived from a family tradition. It is part of Vaughn Garner Akimeka Vasconcellos’ name, but it was first bestowed on his great-great-grandfather, Charles Titcomb.

Titcomb’s persistence in seeking to marry a Hawaiian princess earned him a sobriquet, “Akimekaikekihiokala.”

Akimeka is a transliteration of the name of Greek mathematician Archimedes; ikekihiokala is translated to mean “to meet, to share, to forgive.”