Name: Steve VanDermyden Job: Artisan bread baker and new owner of Coffees N Epicurea, a bakery and coffee shop in Captain Cook on Hawaii Island. Experience: Two years. STARTING OUT: Two years ago, VanDermyden was thinking about opening a restaurant and started to bake bread, something he had learned from his grandmother. “The first loaves were edible, but barely,”…
Waikiki chef James Aptakin has taken an enticing, sweet fragrance commonly used in perfumes and added it to flan, shortbread cookies, savory cornbread, mojitos and pineapple cobbler. The secret ingredient: sugar infused with oil from vetiver, a grass grown in Hawaii by a former Nuuanu soap maker. “The smell is addictive,” says Aptakin, who cooks at Mac 24/7. “It’s earthy….
Bill Riddle doesn’t sleep much. That’s how the president and CEO of Visitor Video Hawaii, which produces in-room videos for more than 30,000 hotel rooms across the state, is able to write a book, make wooden ship models, invent a golf putter, and build and fly an ultra-light airplane. But Riddle’s real passion is sailing. He started sailing in his…
We love them like family when they’re alive, so why not treat them the same way in death? A cemetery burial for your pet at Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe gives you a way to recognize that affection. Pet burials have been part of the cemetery since it opened in 1975 and there are nearly 500 pets buried near…
First impressions aside, each of these services has a definite niche. iCloud (icloud.com) provides 5 GB free storage to anyone who has purchased an Apple device; options to purchase more space start at $20 per year for 10 additional GB. Although iCloud is a slick solution if all of your mobile devices are iOS, it’s for the most part a…
Sam O. Hirota Inc. has a high-tech answer to Oahu’s pothole problems. The local company has contracted with the city of Honolulu to create 3D images of thousands of miles of city streets using technology derived from NASA’s Mars Rover. Unlike Google Streetview, the laser-imaging system called earthmine provides accurate measurements because every point has precise X,Y and Z coordinates,…
Name: Windy Keala McElroy Job: Archaeologist Years of experience: More than 10 STARTING OUT: When Windy Keala McElroy enrolled at Windward Community College, she quickly discovered a passion for anthropology, and went on to get bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in the field from the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Her first real archaeology job came after her presentation at a…
83 years after opening her business, Mary Shizuko Teshima still loves company. Mary Shizuko Teshima probably holds the Hawaii record for business longevity: 83 years after opening on her property in Honalo, she still lives behind the family restaurant and is delighted to welcome visitors. Teshima, who turned 105 in June, and her husband opened a general store on the…
With the wealth he amassed during a successful business career, Edmund C. Olson could afford to treat the rest of his life like a vacation. Instead, the 81-year-old Hilo resident continues adding to his significant Hawaii Island land holdings and business interests, diving into projects that keep him on the move. “I could have a beautiful yacht sitting out in…
Q: I have a successful company and am thinking of expanding to another island. What should I consider before taking the leap? A: The desire to grow is imbedded in the DNA of most business owners. Of course, any kind of expansion – whether a new product line, a second store or a new market – carries risk, but there are things…
Rob Pacheco walks up to what looks like an immense empty bathtub amid a desolate volcanic landscape dotted by ohia lehua and pukeawe trees. “This is my favorite place,” he says, pointing to the ancient Kaupulehu Crater, which descends hundreds of feet. During the 1801 eruption of Hualalai, this crater, which originally formed thousands of years earlier, refilled with lava….
11:37 am, Thursday Warehouse in Kakaako Photographer: David Croxford >> Nuulani Atkins works on Kamehameha Schools ahupuaa-themed float, “Kuu Home, Kulaiwi Aloha.” Atkins’ father helped design the float, which was presented at the 66th Annual Aloha Festivals Floral Parade on Sept. 22. The float, built on a chassis of an old KS work vehicle, took three months to complete. At this stage, the…
Three Styles: iRun Performance is a short-wired earphone for iPod Shuffle users who wear hats or shirts while they train. iRun Advantage is for those who strap smart phones to their arms or attach iPods to their sports bras. iRun Extreme is a waterproof earphone for water-sports enthusiasts. Philosophy: Local company iRun seeks to improve upon existing athletic products. “We…
The grand ambition of the No Child Left Behind law was proudly contained in its name: Everyone deserves a chance to succeed. That meant teachers, principals, school administrators and taxpayers should give every child – rich, poor or in-between – an opportunity to learn. It is an admirable goal: Don’t leave disadvantaged kids behind just because their parents are immigrants,…
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREW J. CATANZARITI Peek into Lorelei Saito’s seventh-grade social studies class at Punahou’s Case Middle School and you’ll see students sitting in front of personal laptops, completing multimedia projects to share with students in a classroom halfway around the world. Walk over to Punahou’s high school and you’ll see students in Douglas Kiang’s iPhone app-development class typing up…
Only a few years ago, job seekers anxiously awaited the Sunday newspaper because it was the best way to find a new position. In good economic times, there were as many as 20 pages, filled with hundreds of opportunities. Those days are gone. Today, employers rarely use the print newspaper to find workers and the unemployed are looking online. But…
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG YAMAMOTO Startup Weekend Honolulu condenses entrepreneurship into a fast-paced weekend of networking, programming, design and business development. Red Bull is optional. Four weeks after being laid off, 27-year-old Bryan Butteling stands before a crowd of entrepreneurs, software developers, designers and investors to pitch his business idea: an app that tells you which bars are showing your favorite team’s game….
You might think that compiling a list of the most charitable companies in Hawaiʻi would be straightforward. After all, you just have to ask: How much money does your company and its employees donate to charity? But, it isn’t that simple.
Hawaiʻi’s corporate foundations bring some stability to local giving. But foundations aren’t the only way for big corporations to give. And many companies supplement their cash giving with donations of time, resources and services.