If you are a connoisseur of unique and well-designed pens, you’ve probably heard of ACME Studio. But you may not know that the company’s factory and headquarters have been on Maui since 1988. ACME Studio was founded in 1985 in Los Angeles by the husband and wife team of Adrian Olabuenaga and Lesley Bailey. Influenced by their fathers – Olabuenaga’s…
If they can’t get home for the holidays, Wei Fang and Kina Mahi will help you send a bit of Hawaii to distant family and friends. The two business partners – already involved in a number of startups and other projects – have launched Makana, which features a gift basket with an array of Hawaii products, not just food. “Makana…
Chef Chris Okuhara says he wasn’t left with a crumb at the inaugural Honolulu Night Market in Kakaako in October. The co-owner of Miso & Ale, a “pop-up” eatery, says close to 1,000 people visited his booth, which served pork adobo sausage on a challa bun, Chinese beef-brisket stew with rice, and beignets with Apple Jack pastry crème. As a…
Move over, Jet-Puffed, there’s a new marshmallow in town. Kristin and Kui Bento have introduced Marshmahalos, a gourmet take on the spongy confection. “They come in a variety of flavors, including Royal Chocolate Mousse, Salted Caramel Crunch and Strawberry Lemonade,” says Kristin Bento. The Bentos started by making mochi when they launched their business this past summer under the name…
In the spirit of the season, we share some favorite free or low-cost online resources, with the hopes that you may enjoy them this holiday. www.audible.com: Choose from thousands of audiobooks, including bestsellers, biographies and business books. www.evernote.com: Keep your notes in sync from anywhere; Evernote apps abound, so no matter where you are you can access your notes…
Local company designs and builds unmanned aircraft systems. The military is a major user of unmanned aircraft, but Jeff Williams says it’s the civilian market that will “explode” with new products and applications in the next few years when federal regulations are rewritten. His company, Williams Aerospace, based at Campbell Industrial Park in Kapolei, aims to take advantage of that…
Owner David Jung aims to distinguish his new taxi company from competitors with two things: sustainability and good service. The company is called EcoCab and all of its vehicles are Hyundai Sonata hybrids, which the EPA rates at 35 mpg in city driving. Jung says he considered buying all-electric vehicles, but recharging can take up to eight hours, which makes…
Name: John David Nelson Job: Entomologist Years of experience: 14 STARTING OUT: Growing up on an Eastern Tennessee farm, Nelson says, insects were part of his daily life. But it wasn’t until he took an entomology class in college, then a summer job working with gypsy moths, that he found his calling. “Growing up, I had always dreamed of being…
Is your business already bringing in more than $1 million in revenue a year, but you want to take it to the next level? Dana Hauanio and her team are here to help. Hauanio is the Hawaii program director for the Minority Business Development Agency. She says her “niche” is companies that “have the potential to go from, for example,…
One of the critical milestones in starting a business is writing the business plan. It should be your first priority, given its standing as the road map for how your business idea becomes a reality. JW Ellsworth, counselor and mentor at Score Hawaii, suggests the following five steps to formulating your business plan. Perspective Research and use resources available online…
Call it Hawaii’s most unusual export. For years, the vast majority of calves born in Hawaii have been sent to feed lots on the mainland, where they matured, and then were slaughtered and shipped to grocery stores and restaurants around the country. Rarely did the beef return to Hawaii. But demand for locally grown food and grass-fed beef has prompted…
Question: I am involved in a construction project whose contract provides for performance-based penalties and rewards. What can I do to help get all the companies to work together? Answer: It’s essential that people who work together have good communication, teamwork and strategies for resolving problems that may arise. This can be accomplished in the process called Partnering, which helps all parties recognize that…
11:17 am, Tuesday The Whole Ox, Kakaako Photographer: David Croxford >> Robert McGee inspects beef at his butcher and deli in Kakaako. Its beef, pork, venison and lamb come from local sources that birth, raise and process the animals. Each week,Whole Ox orders a head of cattle, which weighs more than 600 pounds, and two heads of pork, each about 200…
Problem: Breast cancer strikes one of every eight women in the United States. “Everyone knows someone or is related to someone who has breast cancer,” says Dr. Beth Rhodes of the Breast Care Center of Hawaii. “But, today, (a breast cancer diagnosis) is no longer the tragic thing it used to be.” Mammograms: Early detection is crucial to treating breast cancer, and the…
During his first term, Barack Obama invited historians to the White House so he could learn about Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and other American presidents. History teaches us valuable lessons and Obama looked for guidance from some of America’s greatest leaders. Lincoln and Roosevelt still have much to teach us, but a better model for Obama’s second term is another…
McComas has led AlohaCare since 1996. The medical insurer’s largest group of clients are Medicaid/Quest beneficiaries in Hawaii, including families and individuals with incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. That’s about 75,000 people. Gov. Neil Abercrombie speaks of transforming healthcare – and health – in Hawaii. Tell me what that means to you in the context of AlohaCare and…
13 Insights from the BOSS survey of 401 local business leaders Seven of the 13 are good news, one not so good and two are just plain odd. You decide about the other three. 1. Overall Economy Maintains Momentum The BOSS survey’s Performance Index is at its highest level since the first quarter of 2008, which was when the Great…
For lawyer Ken Lawson, it began with a sports injury and a prescribed painkiller. It ended in disbarment and prison. In between were years of escalating dependence on prescription opiates, alcohol and cocaine, plus abuse of clients’ trust funds, missed court dates and increasing paranoia. The only thing that saved him was prison. On his first night there, Lawson says,…
The toughest challenge was recapitalizing the bank,” says John Dean, Central Pacific Bank’s soft-spoken CEO. Dean, who came out of retirement in 2010 to help save the struggling community bank, knew what he was getting into. This was his fifth bank and his fourth turnaround as a CEO, so he was keenly aware of how much money he had to raise and…