Photo: Odeelo Dayondon Friday 9:54 AM University of Hawaii Hangar, Kalaeloa Airport Photo by Odeelo Dayondon The Solar Impulse airplane will spend the winter in Hawaii, after completing the longest and most challenging leg of its round-the-world flight, from Nagoya to Kalaeloa Airport. Batteries, which allow the solar-power plane to fly day and night, need repairs after overheating on the…
FOR 30 YEARS, Darren Ho has created art he describes as “simply done,” with less detail than a wood or bronze sculpture, and with a lifespan of about four hours. Using a chainsaw and a few other tools, he turns 300-pound blocks of ice into motorcycles, ice bars, ships and more. Transforming one of the elements into art for his…
Start Galimba grew up on Oahu’s North Shore while his dad, Al, played a big role in dairy operations at Meadow Gold. He raised rabbits, birds and goats to sell. “I used to have a sign out on the highways that said, ‘Rabbits for sale, $20,’ ” Galimba says. When Meadow Gold closed its Oahu dairy, his family moved to…
“I WANT TO make people feel at home here,” says Supreecha Sangthong, nicknamed “Dang,” co-owner of Pae Thai Restaurant in Makiki. “I’m happy to cook for them, and I want to personally make sure they’re satisfied. I’m not so concerned about making money.” Employing this almost anti-business philosophy for nearly 20 years, Dang, 63, and his co-owner wife, Natsuree, 56, have…
CLASSIC BURNOUT SIGNS include exhaustion, lack of motivation and feelings of chronic stress on the job. Strike a chord? Executive coach Nina Cherry shares how you can end burnout and foster a better work-life balance. 1. Do what you love So much of our daily activity is fruitless and draining. Have you spent time envisioning and writing down your big, hairy,…
WAIMANALO – David Yarber hands out samples of his locally brewed kombucha, a popular fermented tea that’s touted for its health benefits, to a group of Japanese visitors at his Waimanalo brewery. It’s obvious from their nodding heads and polite smiles that they approve of his version of “the booch.” “When you have it on tap, it really makes a…
WE THINK WE DO good work at Hawaii Business magazine, but it’s always reassuring when we receive affirmation from others – whether our readers or peers. At the end of June, we got a lot of reassurance. In the annual statewide contest run by the Hawaii chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Business does well each year. In some…
Creator and His Product Richard Xie came to Hawaii for an MBA at Hawaii Pacific University and never returned to his native China. After graduation and a few stints in marketing for local wholesale businesses, he set out on his own. “I’m a risk taker and I thought, I better try for myself,” he says. He founded Hawaiian Sealife (HSL…
This Month’s Expert Blenn Fujimoto Executive VP & Specialized Markets Division Manager at Central Pacific Bank Q: I’m saddled with student-loan debt, but would like to start my own business. How can I get started? A: STUDENT-LOAN DEBT can be a major obstacle for entrepreneurs, partly because loan payments can make it difficult to save startup capital to establish your own…
Here’s Hawaii Business’ annual roundup of salaries for major league athletes who were born or grew up in Hawaii, or attended Hawaii schools. Our main source is Spotrac.com, a website that specializes in tracking pro athletes’ compensation. This year we have included both base salary and applicable bonuses because we feel it more accurately reflects a player’s overall compensation. These…
HAWAII’S MARCUS MARIOTA signed a four-year, $24,213,976 contract with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. The amount is fully guaranteed. The deal includes a $15,870,164 signing bonus. His average annual salary will be $6,053,494. In 2015, his base salary will be $435,000 with a $15,870,164 signing bonus. The second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Mariota was the last of the first-round…
The payday lending industry in Hawaii offers short-term loans with annual interest rates of up to 459 percent. The companies say they are providing an important service, but critics argue they are soaking the needy and driving them further into debt that is costly to repay. Legislation to cap interest rates died at the state Legislature this spring, but will…
TUCKED IN A CORNER of the Halekulani is Lewer’s Lounge, where everyone from jazz aficionados to the musically curious can listen to gifted musician such as Na Hoku-award winning singer and pianist Maggie Herron. Add a handcrafted cocktail and the Hawaiian murals would be the only reminder that you are in the Islands, not New York or Chicago. The bar’s specialty…
Noel Nedli is the founder and CEO of Room Service in Paradise, which delivers 50,000 meals annually from 75 Oahu restaurants, employs 45 people and grosses more than $2 million a year. But, back in 1991, Nedli was studying at Windward Community College and teaching tennis at the Kailua Racquet Club. The club’s pro asked him to give lessons to a…
IF YOU’VE SEEN the moon, the rings of Saturn and other galaxies in sci-fi movies, you should check them out in reality. Stars Above Hawaii offers twice-nightly tours with its powerful telescopes and other equipment from the Ko Olina Resort. The tours are a lot of fun, but there’s another reason to support Stars Above Hawaii: It ranked highest in percentage…
Kunz oversees a budget of $1.9 billion that pays for a staff of 25,000 and 289 public schools, including charter schools. Q: Energy costs for the schools are one of the largest parts of the annual budget. How are you tackling the issue? A: We have a project called KaHei, which is an entire look at our energy use. It’s not…
Muscular and athletic, Shingai Masiya was certainly college football material. He hoped for that coming out of high school, but the dream died. While he had come into the U.S. legally at age 13 with his family from Zimbabwe, a permanent visa wasn’t processed in time, leaving him today as a Dreamer, a young adult who grew up in America…
ATTORNEY GREGORY KIM believes that anyone with a good business idea should not be held back by the high cost of legal services. To help deserving entrepreneurs who can’t afford the $300 or $400 an hour that experienced corporate lawyers charge, he co-founded Business Law Corps, a nonprofit that provides pro bono law services. “We are here for anyone who has…
KELLI CRUZ IS a “doer.” She learned early on how to build things from her father, who was a carpenter, and create Hawaiian music from her mother, who was a hula dancer. “When I was 18, I picked up a guitar after I heard a family friend playing slack key,” recalls the Kaiser High graduate, who is now 31. “We would…
FEW ASPECTS OF LIFE are as thrilling, complicated, satisfying and maddening as our jobs. Victory can puff us up with satisfaction, a promotion and a bigger salary. Defeat can destroy our confidence. That’s because we express and define ourselves via our work. The Careerist helps you navigate the turbulent waters of Hawaii’s working world. Let’s see what’s on people’s minds this…
It feels like offshore-owned companies are taking over Hawaii, but the reality is their number peaked in 2007. Meanwhile, the number of locally owned companies has grown seven times faster since 1995. The same forces that ate so many local companies – globalization and technology – may now make them more viable. We profile four of these game-changing companies. As…
Hawaii Business launched the list of Hawaii’s Most Profitable Companies in 2011 to add another dimension to the Top 250 list. We use the “top line” of gross sales to rank our Top 250. But the top line won’t stay strong for long if profit, the “bottom line,” is weak. That’s why it’s important to report on the Most Profitable…
Few aspects of life are as thrilling, complicated, satisfying and maddening as our jobs. Victory puffs us up with satisfaction, a promotion and a bigger salary. Defeat can destroy our confidence, and that’s because we express and define ourselves through our work. I hope this column helps you navigate the turbulent waters of Hawaii’s working world. As with any new…