Since the launch of ScoopUSA we have seen a steady increase in Japanese investors wanting to invest in Hawaii. From visa opportunities to potential business mergers, the motives for these investors cover a wide range. Japan’s current economic woes are beginning to contribute even more to these investments; in the fourth quarter of 2019, the world’s third largest economy shrank…
Mike B. Pietsch President and COO, Title Guaranty Age 41 Mike Pietsch grew up in the family real estate business and never considered any other career. He held summer jobs at the company while in high school and joined it full time a few years after graduating from Boston College. “I was fortunate I just could learn it from the…
Nathan Peters Director of IT Field Operations Par Pacific Holdings Age 40 Nathan Peters came to Hawai‘i in 2003 to visit a friend. He never intended to stay. “Not really knowing anything about Hawai‘i, it was very cool coming to Hawai‘i and living in Waikīkī and just seeing how different things were and how beautiful it was here,” says the…
Cayenne Pe‘a Principal and co-founder, Alaka‘i Development Age 37 West O‘ahu native Cayenne Pe‘a recalls waking at 5:30 a.m. so she could catch the school bus to Kamehameha Kapālama. “I remember when we first moved out to Makakilo, there were no streetlights on the freeway,” she says. “Everyone was just driving out there in complete darkness. Just the fact that…
Melissa Miyashiro Managing Director of Strategy and Policy Blue Planet Foundation Age 38 Before Melissa Miyashiro joined Blue Planet Foundation in 2014, she says her life and career were on a “fairly traditional track.” After graduating from law school, she clerked at the Hawai‘i Intermediate Court of Appeals and later practiced bankruptcy litigation at a local firm. “Although the work…
Mark Kawika McKeague Director of Cultural Planning, G70 Age 49 Mark Kawika McKeague has been working for more than 20 years toward a vision of the Native Hawaiian experience and turning that vision into a reality. “That is my kuleana, to ensure that the ideas and values that make Hawai‘i our unique home are not lost,” he says. McKeague does…
Lina Le Enterprise Director of Human Resources Y. Hata & Co. Ltd. Age 29 “My parents are boat people from Vietnam,” says Lina Le simply. After escaping that country following the war, her parents took three years to reach the U.S., and along the way, Lina’s older brothers were born, one in Thailand, another in Indonesia. Once they arrived in…
Ka‘iu Kimura Executive Director ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center Age 41 “I think that we are in a time when there is greater awareness of the importance of Hawaiian knowledge and Hawaiian community engagement in things. And I think there is great opportunity in helping to further advance that in a way that is beneficial for all of Hawai‘i,” says Ka‘iu Kimura….
Evan Killips Project Manager, City Mill Age 33 “My first job was at City Mill at the Kaimukī store,” reminisces Evan Killips. “… So what do you make a 15-year-old do to help the store? The store manager gave me a big bag of returned nuts and bolts and told me to put them all back in their proper bin,”…
Michelle Kauhane Senior VP of Community Grants & Investments Hawai‘i Community Foundation Age 51 Michelle Kauhane is playing a key role helping to ensure a complete count in Hawai‘i for the 2020 census. Kauhane and her team at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation have coordinated with community organizations that will work with populations that may be difficult to reach. “For Hawai‘i…
John Hulihe‘e Senior VP and Manager Central Pacific Bank Age 46 John Hulihe‘e had a hand in business from early on. While growing up, he and his two sisters helped their mother with her garment manufacturing business, trimming fabric, tagging products and getting them ready for delivery. He credits his mother with instilling in him a sense of hard work…
Brittany Heyd Co-founder, Mana Up Age 34 In less than four years in Hawai‘i, Brittany Heyd has made an indelible mark on the entrepreneurial landscape. The co-founder and partner with Meli James in the accelerator called Mana Up has helped supercharge four cohorts of Hawai‘i startups. She says they have provided 41 companies with mentorship, new connections, venture capital and…
Aimee Malia Grace Director of Health Science Policy University of Hawaii Age 37 Aimee Grace decided at first that she didn’t want to be a doctor. But she became passionate about global health while studying human biology and international health and policy at Stanford University, and realized the value in understanding medicine. So she trained to become a pediatrician. She…
Kay Fukunaga Director of Financial Analysis Hawaiian Airlines Age 36 Kay Fukunaga isn’t afraid to take it to the mat. Literally. As a teen on Maui, her older brother dared her to go out for the St. Anthony High School wrestling team. “I was the team’s first female wrestler,” recalls Fukunaga. “It was one of the hardest things I have…
Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima Director of Renewable Acquisition Hawaiian Electric Co. Age 38 Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima’s job is both challenging and crucial. As the director of renewable acquisition for Hawaiian Electric Co., she deals with Hawai‘i’s energy future in concrete terms. Is this the right place for a wind farm? Can it withstand gale-force winds? Is the site accessible? Will this…
Cheryl Oncea, publisher of Hawaii Business Magazine, said it best at the magazine’s CHANGE event on Community & Economy on Thursday night: “Positive change does not happen without conversation and collaboration.” The event, held at the Honolulu Museum of Art, was the first in the magazine’s CHANGE Event Series, which will discuss problems and solutions around six issues contained in the…
Laurie Ann Chan Executive VP and Chief Administrative Officer Avalon Development Co. Age 38 Laurie Ann Chan originally wanted to be an architect. “I think as far back as elementary school I’d have my mom buy me graph paper and … this huge book of floor plans and I would draw my own floor plans,” she says. That changed during…
Matt Bauer COO, Kupu Age 41 Matt Bauer’s passion and connection to ‘āina stemmed from an early childhood experience. “I was hiking in the mountains as a 9 year old and we came across these ornithologists in the forest,” he recalls. “They had these mist nets up in the trees and were catching native Hawaiian forest birds, and I got…
Can’t work because your colleagues won’t shut up? This meditative mindset is better than murder. Q: I work in an open office with many kinds of personalities. When I need to dive deep into focused work my ideal environment is quiet. All too often, our open office gets frantically noisy with loud conversation or yelling (that includes celebrations or simply…
From left: Steve PetranikThursday, January 1, 1970, 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm Half of Hawaiʻi’s population is barely getting by. About 11% fall below the federal poverty level and another 37% are members of working families that barely make enough money to cover necessities like food, housing, transportation and child care, according to a report commissioned by Aloha United Way….
Hawaii Business Magazine honors 20 people each year who we believe will have an important and positive impact on Hawai‘i over the next two decades. They have already proven themselves by their accomplishments, intelligence, charisma, leadership and passion, but we expect even more from them in the future. Turn the page and learn about the 2020 cohort. View the profiles…
Lisa Doo Ayabe Partner, Cades Schutte Age 38 Lisa Ayabe’s first exposure to law was through her litigator father. “I’m not really an adversarial person by nature, but the law always interested me, and real estate in particular. I think we are so lucky to live in such a unique environment, so I thought transactional law, I’d be more suited…
Hawaii Business Magazine honors 20 people each year who we believe will have an important and positive impact on Hawai‘i over the next two decades. They have already proven themselves by their accomplishments, intelligence, charisma, leadership and passion, but we expect even more from them in the future. Scroll down to learn about the 2020 cohort. New profiles everyday: Honorees’…
Emi Au Senior VP, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis American Savings Bank Age 37 Emi Au loves animals and pondered a career as a veterinarian or doctor before choosing accounting while at the University of Southern California. “Just something about the debits equaling the credits, it was very intuitive for me; it made sense,” she says. “And I enjoyed…