Rhema Services

Please share! Aloha friends, The live entertainment events industry in Hawaii is at a critical juncture. Governor Ige's Inaction Places Hawaii's Live Events Ind...ustry in Grave Peril. Our community needs your help! The live entertainment shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted 13 months and counting. During those 13 months, many of the businesses involved in the industry have been without any revenue or government support. These businesses are at risk of closing their doors forever. If that happens, Hawaii will lose valuable personnel, specialized skill sets, and essential equipment, which would put the entire industry at peril. The loss of the live entertainment event industry would be catastrophic for Hawaii. The best way to save these businesses is to plan for the return of large-scale live entertainment events. Currently, there is no official government plan to guide the reopening of large entertainment venues. This is at odds with several states on the mainland, which are already allowing staggered reopening of their large entertainment venues and are looking forward to full capacity in mere weeks. Please spread the news about our call to action, asking everyone with an interest in live entertainment to contact Governor Ige and Hawaii’s other elected officials to ask for a plan that will oversee the reopening of large entertainment venues. Mahalo for your much needed support. Rick Bartalini April, 30 2021 For Immediate Release RICK BARTALINI PRESENTS HAWAII’S LARGEST CONCERT PROMOTER CALLS ON GOVERNOR DAVID IGE TO IMMEDIATELY ESTABLISH A PLAN FOR THE RETURN OF LARGE SCALE LIVE ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS BARTALINI ENCOURAGES ALL HAWAII BUSINESS OWNERS AFFECTED BY THE LIVE ENTERTAINMENT SHUTDOWN AND ALL PEOPLE OF HAWAII WITH AN INTEREST IN LIVE EVENTS TO JOIN THIS CALL TO ACTION The shutdown of the live entertainment events industry, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, has had devastating global economic reverberations. In Hawaii, the industry is on the verge of collapse. It is absolutely critical that Governor Ige take action now and establish a plan for the return of large scale entertainment events, with the appropriate safety protocols in place. The future of the live entertainment events industry, and the wellbeing of the Hawaiian economy, hinges on Governor Ige following the lead of other states and immediately establishing a reopening plan. When the novel coronavirus initially swept the globe in early 2020, all live entertainment events were suspended in order to minimize viral transmission. The curtailment of events extinguished an important revenue source for artists and virtually all revenue for everyone else within the live entertainment events industry. While there is no question that the suspension of events was essential, it has left many businesses without any revenue at all for 13 months and counting. As Mark Montgomery, Vice President of Rhema Services, Hawaii’s premier audio provider, points out, ...our industry, with over 90% of our business gone and no plan in place to tell us when live events will be allowed to return, is still closed with no end in sight. The live entertainment events industry was the first to shutter and it will be the last to reopen. The businesses within the industry simply cannot hold on much longer. As President and CEO of Rick Bartalini Presents, Rick Bartalini is well aware that it takes a village of independent business owners to pull off a large scale live event. Bartalini points out that the live entertainment events industry is composed of many diverse, specialized businesses. Each of these businesses rely on highly skilled employees who perform crucial behind-the-scenes work including promoters, security staff, photographers, caterers, support staff, union stagehands, stage managers, concession workers, ticket takers, maintenance staff, ushers, merchandisers/merchandise staff, venue administration staff, various city workers, and vendors for sound, lighting, video and additional equipment. Each of these businesses and employees is an essential cog; without all cogs contributing their expertise, Bartalini is adamant that the industry will fail. But with no revenue, and with little or no government support, many businesses within the live entertainment events industry have had to downsize their staff considerably or even close their doors. The end result is a disastrous loss of skilled and knowledgeable staff, which will have catastrophic long-term consequences for the industry and for Hawaii’s economy. Bob Harmon, President of Eggshell Lighting Company, has been providing lighting services for Hawaii’s biggest concerts for more than 40 years. His business is currently at a standstill due to the pandemic. Although the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently rolled out the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant (SVOG) to assist those impacted by the live entertainment events shutdown, Eggshell Lighting, as a support company, is not eligible. With very limited revenue, Harmon reports that his company has lost a lot of its employees: Our talented, homegrown technicians are losing faith while on unemployment or worse, relocating to places that promise a better future. Patrick Ku, President of Rhema Services, Hawaii’s premier audio provider, is also struggling to hold on to his business, with very little revenue coming in and a staggering amount of rising debt. Ku explains that, Rhema has lost more than 90% of our gross revenues for 13 months. I have two Paycheck Protection Program loans that may be forgiven (though that is not guaranteed) and one Economic Injury Disaster Loan that will need to be repaid. Since those loans did not cover all expenses, I also dumped in all available personal monies. Rhema has paid its monthly rents, equipment leases, utilities, and employee healthcare for 13 months with very little income. At this point in time, debt is maxed out and we are past the point of no return. There is no option to turn back or cut our losses it's ‘all in.’ Like Harmon and Ku, Bartalini has also seen his company’s revenue dwindle substantially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Down 90% in 2020 and 100% in 2021 as compared to 2019, RBP’s revenue loss may be temporarily offset by the SVOG, if its application is approved. Bartalini is grateful that as a promoter, RBP is eligible for the SBA grant, though his application is currently pending approval. However, he is keenly aware that RBP’s post-pandemic success is dependent upon the many specialized support companies and skilled gig workers that he works with to pull off every event. For Bartalini to succeed, all live entertainment events businesses in Hawaii need to come out of the pandemic intact and ready to operate. For that reason, he is committed to doing everything he can to support the businesses that are struggling due to the shutdown. There is only one way for that success to happen: the return of large scale live entertainment events to Hawaii. And it needs to happen soon. It needs to happen while businesses like Harmon’s and Ku’s can still call out their skilled employees and haul their equipment out of storage. As Ku argues: If the government can’t provide financial relief for shutting us down, they need to give us a chance to find our own way back by loosening restrictions on large gatherings and letting us help ourselves. If the government will not accept responsibility for killing our businesses, at least take off the shackles and let us fight for our survival. On the mainland, several states have implemented highly detailed reopening plans for live entertainment event venues with an eye to hosting full capacity events by the summer of 2021. In California, for instance, the California Department of Public Health has detailed protocols for the resumption of live events, with Governor Gavin Newsome anticipating a full statewide reopening no later than June 15, 2021, including full capacity at music venues. California’s reopening strategy contains several points of reference that would be invaluable to Hawaii lawmakers as we move towards our own resumption of live events. California is doing quite well in bringing case rates down but Hawaii’s progress is outpacing California’s The LA Times reports that, as of April 29, 2021, Hawaii’s statistics show that 52.1% of the state population has received at least one vaccine dose, 33.6% is fully vaccinated, and the positivity rate is 1.4%. That compares favorably with California, where 48.2% of citizens have received at least one dose, 27.1% are fully vaccinated, and a positivity rate of 1.2% is currently being reported. Despite Hawaii’s strong management of the coronavirus, California is moving quickly toward full-capacity large-scale events while Hawaii doesn’t have a reopening plan for large live entertainment venues at all. The Reopening Strategy at oneoahu.org is an extremely comprehensive look at Honolulu’s reopening plan, with a tier structure that details capacity limits for a variety of businesses. Large live entertainment venues are conspicuously absent from this document. While there is no apparent plan to reopen large-scale live entertainment venues on the horizon, tourism to Hawaii continues and is picking up pace significantly. Since April 1, 2021, 501,171 travellers have arrived by plane in Hawaii. Over half a million people spent approximately 5-10 hours in close quarters, without any social distancing, and likely some of those people had their masks removed for at least part of that time, to eat and drink. If that’s permissible, it should also be permissible for large-scale entertainment venues to open. The 501,171 who arrived in Hawaii could have filled the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena 71 times, providing much needed revenue to the many live events industry partners and creating a massive local economic uptick. Governor Ige, it is time. A plan with an appropriate amount of lead time is absolutely crucial to the resurrection of the live entertainment events industry in Hawaii. Bartalini, who has over a decade of experience bringing entertainment’s biggest names to the state, explains why: Most entertainers need to be booked months in advance. This will be especially true immediately post-pandemic since many tours have already been postponed to 2022. Without a plan swiftly put into place, it’s unlikely live entertainment events will resume in the state prior to 2022. Promoters and venues on the mainland are already booking entertainers into market that is very hungry for live entertainment, minimizing the availability of performers to travel to Hawaii. Large live events cannot happen in Hawaii at limited capacity. The costs associated with producing a live event in a state isolated by geography, combined with the limited ticket sale potential of a small population, means that limited capacity events will not be profitable and artists will not be willing to commit. It was difficult to find entertainers willing to travel to Hawaii pre-pandemic; it will be extremely difficult post-pandemic unless there is a set reopening plan with detailed dates to negotiate with. The businesses that contribute to Hawaii’s live entertainment events industry need time to regroup and restart, potentially rehiring employees or training their replacements. Live entertainment events are a key contributor to Hawaii’s economy. In addition to the many varied businesses and individuals that earn money, contribute to the economy, and pay taxes directly because of the industry, live entertainment events have a wide economic impact on Hawaii’s hospitality and tourism industries, including restaurant, catering, hotel, and transportation businesses. Hawaii’s economy would suffer a tremendous loss if the live entertainment events industry was forced to shutter entirely. Businesses would go bankrupt. Employees would be forced to rely on unemployment or eventually relocate out of state. The local economy would suffer with hundreds of people out of work, or working at jobs that don’t require their skillset and hence pay a lower wage, resulting in less disposable income to contribute to the economy. Tourism would flag. But unless immediate action is taken to implement a reopening plan for large live entertainment venues, the possibility that the industry will flounder and fold remains strong. Additionally, the economic reverberations would be felt beyond the state. Various specialized mainland businesses rely on the opportunities presented by Hawaii’s live entertainment events industry. In addition to local specialists, Bartalini often brings in top talent from the mainland to assist. Brandee Wilder, Owner of The B Side Productions and a production veteran who tours with Earth, Wind & Fire, John Legend, and Diana Ross is one such specialist. Wilder explains: As the owner of an independent production company, I relied heavily on the shows and events that I was fortunate enough to work in Hawaii ... Hawaii has provided enormous opportunities for people like me that get overlooked in a saturated market on the mainland. If shows don’t resume soon, I don’t know if my company will last. While they are in Hawaii to work, specialists like Wilder contribute to Hawaii’s tourism, hospitality, and live entertainment events industries. Besides the economic reverberations, losing this cornerstone of arts and culture would be detrimental to all the people of Hawaii. Large live events provide an opportunity for people to unplug and recharge, to connect with performers and fellow event-goers, and to experience joy. This time together is a special moment that sparks the feeling of community. And for many, live entertainment events are an important component of their mental health well-being. Bartalini urges all Hawaii business owners who are directly or indirectly affected by the live entertainment events shutdown, and all people of Hawaii who would like live entertainment events to return, to join his call to action. Please contact Governor Ige and the government officials listed at the bottom of this document to express your own concerns about the dire need for live entertainment events to return to Hawaii. While only Governor Ige has the authority to establish and enforce this crucial plan, your other elected representatives should hear your concerns. A plan for the return of large scale live entertainment events to Hawaii, with appropriate safety protocols, needs to be established now. Soon it will be too late. Governor David Ige Phone: (808) 586-0034 Fax: (808) 586-0006 Email via webform at: https://governor.hawaii.gov/contact-us/contact-the-governor/ Lieutenant Governor Josh Green Phone: (808) 586-0255 Fax: (808) 586-0006 Email: [email protected] Senator Brian Schatz Hawaii phone: (808) 523-2061 Hawaii fax: (808) 523-2065 Washington phone: (202) 224-3934 Washington fax: (202) 228-1153 Email via webform at: https://www.schatz.senate.gov/contact Senator Mazie K. Hirono Hawaii phone: (808)522-8970 Washington phone: (202)224-6361 Email: [email protected] Congressman Ed Case Hawaii phone: (808) 650-6688 Washington phone: (202) 225-2726 Email via webform at: https://case.house.gov/contact/ Congressman Kaiali'i Kahele Hawaii phone: (808) 746-6220 Washington phone: (202) 225-4906 Email: [email protected]

https://www.khon2.com//hawaii-live-event-industry-says-t/

https://www.kitv.com//business-owners-fear-total-collapse-

There is progress being made here towards re-opening. The Hawaii Events Coalition has been working with the city and county of Honolulu on safely returning to events. The city is also allowing ‘structured events’ at large venues, including conventions and gatherings in banquet halls https://www.civilbeat.org//blangiardi-adjusts-tier-struct/

Dick was truly and inspiration to all who crossed his path. We are thankful to have been able to witness some of his journey. Our deepest condolences go out to Rick and the Hoyt family.