A visit to Alicia’s Market in Kalihi is like traveling in time, back to 1949, when the family-run business was opened by Raymond and Alicia Kam as a quaint neighborhood grocery store. Nowadays, the focus is on fish. Leonard Kam and his children sell about 1,000 pounds of ahi every week and offer more than 20 kinds of poke, including…
On weekends, Jeffrey Shonka likes to rip along the south shore of Oahu in his 20-foot Seaswirl speedboat. “Fifty-six is the fastest I’ve had it up to,” says Shonka, CFO of First Insurance Co. “At that point, my wife, Heather, tells me to throttle it back.” Shonka bought his first boat in the mid-1990s and was instantly hooked to high…
FSC is a small, two-year-old, Hawaii firm that works entirely in Asia, especially China. James Freeman – the “F” in FSC – talks about size, technology and what it takes to succeed abroad. There must be real challenges for a small Hawaii firm to work exclusively in Asia. Size hasn’t really been a challenge. If anything, size has been an…
Donna Vuchinich President & CEO, University of Hawaii Foundation After 25 years’ experience in public-university fundraising, Vuchinich was named president and CEO of the University of Hawaii Foundation in 2004 and spearheaded its Centennial Campaign, raising $336 million in 2009. How do you find mentors in the nonprofit world? There are so many opportunities to get involved in the community…
NAME: Kendall Sexton JOB: Owner and operator, Crosstown Couriers YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: Five CHALLENGES: Running Honolulu’s only bicycle-messenger company that services the area from Kahala to the airport is tough enough. Add unpredictable weather, bad drivers and a shortage of adequate bike lanes, and you start to appreciate what this Massachusetts native goes through every day. “I don’t think it’s…
When military families and retirees arrive in Hawaii, they often lack the local knowledge and connections that are so important to finding the right job. The Navy has tried to remedy that situation with the Joint Employment Management System, one of Hawaii’s largest job banks. “You know how people have aunties who know where the jobs are? For the military,…
Q. I need to hire a general manager, but no one working for me now has the right stuff. How do I find the best person? A. Recruiting can take a lot of time and, though many employers are proficient in their own professions – whether it’s law, tourism or something else – they may not be good at recruiting. One…
The technical term is “vertical integration,” and what it simply means is that you create your own raw materials, process them in-house and sell the finished products directly to the public. It’s a huge challenge to do it all yourself, but here are three local small businesses that make it work. “Constantly experimenting” Tedeschi Vineyards/Maui’s Winery There are many things…
Problem: Autism diagnoses are increasing as much as 17 percent a year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but school districts nationwide lack enough highly qualified teachers to help these children. Solution: A Hawaii startup called Autism Training Solutions (ATS) was created to fill the need for practical, online training. The founders are Emaley McCulloch and Amy Wiech, local experts…
Starting each August, the editorial staff of Hawaii Business debates the pros and cons of each candidate for CEO of the Year. Though we call the honor CEO of the Year, we never take just one year into account. We chose both Eric Yeaman of Hawaiian Telcom for 2011 and Mark Dunkerley of Hawaiian Airlines for 2010 because of their achievements over several years and because…
Sexton has been with Xerox for more than 30 years, guiding the Hawaii branch through dramatic changes in business and technology, and one of the greatest tragedies in Hawaii history: the mass murder at the Xerox warehouse in 1999. We talk with Sexton about how a global company remains relevant in a local market. Any large technology company is always invested in old…
The expansive Hawaii Convention Centerhasn’t always lived up to its original billing as a regular gathering spot between East and West. It is rarely fully used and has often sat empty since it opened in 1998, squeezed onto the former lot of a car dealer. But, in recent years, the number of meetings has grown and the convention center’s leaders think…
In the 4 a.m. darkness each workday, Eric Yeaman slips out of his house and into the garage. Closing the door, he flips on a large-screen TV for the latest news and sports, and runs three to six miles on his treadmill as a stress-reducing prep for another 12-hour day at Hawaiian Telcom. “I set things up in my garage because…
Caitlyn Laborte is a sophomore at Pearl City High School, but she’s already been to Wall Street and had a glimpse of a possible future for herself in finance. Laborte and 50 other students from Hawaii talked finance with the managing director of Morgan Stanley, George Van Amson, and with Michael Maii, an Iolani graduate and executive director at Morgan…
Cory Asuncion was born to sell. He jokes that he would have rented space in his mother’s womb if that had been possible. “I could sell oil back to the Saudis,” Asuncion says confidently, and with good reason. He’s had lots of practice. “I’ve been selling things since I was 8 years old to make money and it has just…