Pau Hana with Jeff Shonka
On weekends, Jeffrey Shonka likes to rip along the south shore of Oahu in his 20-foot Seaswirl speedboat. “Fifty-six [mph] is the fastest I’ve had it up to,” says Shonka, CFO of First Insurance Co. “At that point, my wife,…
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Lessons Learned: Overseas Lessons
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…
Ask SmallBiz: Recruiting
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…
Hawaii’s Vertically Integrated Small Businesses
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,…
Innovation: Autism Training Solutions Teaches the Teachers
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)…
Editor's Note: How Hawaii Business picked the CEO of the Year
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…
Talk Story with Glenn Sexton of Xerox
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…
Did APEC change the Hawaii Convention Center’s Future?
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…
Hawaii Business CEO of the Year: Eric Yeaman
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…
Akamai Finance Academy Gives Kids Wall Street Experience
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…
Hawaiʻi's Buy and Sell Entrepreneurs
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…
Advice from the top
Bruce Johnson CEO, Fresh Island Fish Co. and Uncle’s Fish Market and Grill Johnson always loved fishing, but, as a young entrepreneur, he worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. Today, he owns a wholesale fish company and a seafood…