Three Ways To Make Your Office Truly Digital A great stack of banker’s boxes dominates the scanning room of Sterling & Tucker, a law firm that specializes in estate and financial planning. The neatly labeled boxes are packed with hundreds of legal files and financial documents – the lifeblood of a firm like this – but all of them are…
Q. We are growing our business and want to make sure that we are able to perpetuate it long after we are no longer active in the company. We have no children, so what are our options to ensure the business continues after we retire? Christine Lanning, Controller, Integrated Security Technologies Inc. A: Transferring ownership of a family-owned company is…
Want to escape from your downtown office into the fresh air? Consider a stroll to the Mission Houses Museum, across the street from City Hall and next to Kawaiahao Church. One of the museum’s three buildings, Ka Hale Laau, was built in 1821 and is the oldest wooden structure in the Islands. The coral block Hale Kamalani, family home of…
In 1960, K.J. Luke founded Hawaii National Bank. Since then, three generations of the Luke family have run and grown the business. K.J.’s son Warren Luke and his children Bryan and Cathy Luke say the secret to operating a successful family business is that the company will only function well if the family functions well first. HB: How has Hawaii…
The key to a peaceful work environment is trust, says Kalei Inn, principal consultant of Kalei Inn, Ph.D. and Associates. “Where there is trust, there will be a lower incidence of conflict in the workplace,” says Inn, whose firm specializes in leadership development, diversity management, team building and work-life balance. She suggests five ways to strengthen bonds between employees and supervisors. Use…
David Akina spent $50,000 over two years and sweated through evening and weekend classes for a master’s degree in business administration. He’s never been sorry, not for a single moment. That degree launched his company, Paradise Pages, into the stratosphere, gave him ideas for strategic partnerships, deals with vendors and business alliances. He felt secure when making decisions and avoided…
11:15 a.m., Tuesday Hawaiian Moon factory, Iwilei, Oahu Photography by Kevin Blitz >> About 18 employees work together each day to produce what Hawaiian Moon calls “Hawaii’s Finest Aloha Wear.” The company says it maintains a consistently high quality by having each operator focus on a single part of the garment. An average of 150 pieces of various styles, from…
$500 What Is It? The No Ka Oi black rooster was first bred by Paul Romias from stock developed by William McRae. These blacks, members of the Mel Sims family of roosters, are highly valued as breeding stock, say members of the Hawaii Game Breeders Association. Why So Special? Pat Royos of the association’s steering committee says Mel Sims roosters…
Early childhood education is everyone’s issue. It’s about having successful families and contented workers now, but it’s also about building a high-quality workforce for the future. As part of its mission to improve early education in Hawaii, Good Beginnings Alliance suggests ways businesses can provide family-friendly workplaces. If you need help implementing them, call the alliance at 531-5502 and ask…
John Henry Felix, dapper CEO of the Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, is a collector of South Pacific and Oriental art — a fascination he attributes to a childhood spent in the shadow of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and years traveling for the International Red Cross. The Orient Much of Felix’s Japanese collection is devoted to the exquisite crafts of…
The name of our magazine is Hawaii Business, but the reality has often been very different. At times, a more accurate title would have been Honolulu Business or, even, Downtown Honolulu Business. I am not blaming my predecessors; I have been guiltier than anyone. My office window looks out at the corner of King and Bishop streets, and sometimes I…
Inspiring and training entrepreneurs are the main goals behind Global Entrepreneurship Week and that’s why one of the week’s highlights is the pitch competition. Bee-Leng Chua, director of Hawaii Pacific University’s Entrepreneurship Center, says the competition’s focus is more on the pitch itself and less on the idea. “It teaches you to organize your thoughts, organize your presentation, organize your…
Kelly King thinks you should know more about your biodiesel. King, the vice president of Pacific Biodiesel, America’s oldest biofuel company, has long been a proponent for sustainably produced fuels and, when it comes to sustainability, she says local is better. For example, the Maui company is famous for building small plants that produce biodiesel from recycled cooking oil or…
In a state where most dairy farms have gone out of business, Waianae’s new Naked Cow Dairy is carving a niche with all-natural flavored butter and cheese. Naked Cow specializes in feta, cream and other soft cheeses, and butter with flavors such as macadamia nut, garlic herb, coconut, pesto, mango and apple cinnamon. Monique Van der Stroom opened the dairy…
The Corner Office Curmudgeon answers your questions on office life Retired Island executive offers workplace advice Call me a nerd, but I still don’t get how to handle the social-business kiss. What is the male role and what is the female role? As a male, do I lean in close and let the woman kiss my cheek while my lips…
About 30 Kohala farmers were devastated when their water was cut off three years ago by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake that badly damaged the 14.5-mile Kohala Ditch. When the ditch’s owner, Surety Kohala Corporation, said it couldn’t afford to rebuild, the community banded together and raised the money. The Kohala Ditch Project Steering Committee collected over $5 million in government…
If you’ve ever been called “big boned” — and have had a chip on your shoulder ever since — listen up. Lee-Ann Watanabe, a former couch potato turned triathlete, and Nicky Perry, a personal trainer who just competed in her first fitness competition, are combining forces to whip busy professionals into shape with their 2 Crazy Wahines Fitness Boot Camp….
As the state film commissioner, Donne Dawson runs the Hawaii Film Office, an agency responsible for simplifying the permit process for film and TV productions in the Islands. She acts as a liaison between production companies and agencies like the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Department of Transportation. She also works to ensure that the productions…