In March, the embattled Central Pacific Bank named John Dean as CEO and executive chairman. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the financial industry, including serving as CEO and chairman of Silicon Valley Bank. Q: You came to…
Some Republicans and Democrats stand out as best, but when we tried to ID the worst, business leaders were reluctant to name names. In this time of severe budget cuts, lots of people are unhappy with their state lawmakers. But…
Top candidates for governor explain how they would make it easier for businesses to succeed. Those in Hawaii struggling to maintain a business or start a new one can rest easy on one thing: Our next governor has no plans…
Tom Park, founder and owner of Leather Soul, which carries exclusive men’s shoes, can’t believe his success in following a dream. “I’ve always loved shoes, from when I was in kindergarten,” he says. In March, his flagship Waikiki store moved…
Need a comfortable, upscale place in Honolulu to meet and impress clients that doesn’t just serve lattes? Try the Plaza Club, renovated this year and located downtown on the 21st floor of Pioneer Plaza. Furnishings that had been around since…
I’ve been hunting archery since I was a kid,” says Jeff Grundhauser, owner of the 5,500-acre Arrow One Ranch in Kula, Maui. And for more than a decade, his prowess with a bow has helped keep the ranch afloat. In…
Life doesn’t run smoothly. Crises arise – with children, parents or other relatives – and the generation in the middle can be called on to deal with them. That might mean dropping everything else. “There are countless numbers of women…
You may have heard that Hawaii Pacific University’s dean of the College of Business Administration, U. Aytun Ozturk, holds a degree in industrial engineering and a Ph.D. in stochastic optimization and scheduling. But did you know this 33-year-old native of…
An emerging way for stores, restaurants and other businesses to connect with customers is location-based social-media networks like MyTown, Foursquare, GoWalla and Whrrl. Rob Bertholf, chief search architect of Chapter Three LLC, a San Francisco consulting firm, says there are…
Dustin Shoedel and Brian Brooks have an interesting new product – a relaxing drink made from kava and orange juice – and plan to tell the story of bringing it to market month-by-month on the Internet. The pair created RZO…
A signature sauce and five-generation recipe keep people coming back for shoyu poke from Kahuku Superette on Oahu’s North Shore. “I call it ‘mother’s love sauce’ and, once you try it, you’re addicted for life,” says manager Diane Primacio. Market…
Honolulu delicatessens are better known for serving musubi than sandwiches, but sometimes you just need a piled-high pastrami sandwich, location be damned. For obvious reasons, Giovanni Pastrami fills the need. I sampled the Pastrami Reuben sandwich, the restaurant’s most popular…