“I Love My Job”
It’s not easy for a company to inspire employees who are engaged, willing to put in extra effort and truly trust their organization. Nominate your organization for the Best Places to Work here. The team at…
Noelle Fujii-Oride
Noelle Fujii-Oride writes about affordable housing, working families, education, construction, climate change, tourism, entrepreneurship and more. She also leads the editorial department’s audience engagement efforts. Prior to joining Hawaii Business Magazine as a staff writer in 2017, she held internships at the magazine, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Honolulu Civil Beat. She is a graduate of UH Mānoa’s journalism program and now lives on Kaua‘i. You can reach her at noellef@hawaiibusiness.com.
Articles
5 Things Small Businesses Should Know About Monetizing Their Digital Media
The customer is king because customers control whether a business succeeds or fails. Today, effective ways to reach consumers include social media, websites and mobile apps. Navigating those platforms can be difficult for some small businesses, so Hawaii Business put…
5 Takeaways from the 2017 Wahine Forum
It’s 2017, and women are still striving for equal wages and better representation in the workplace. “How can we solve these issues?” asked Noriko Namiki, executive director of the YWCA of Oahu. “Today’s event’s theme says it all: ‘Work together…
Hawaii’s Rural Hospitals on Life Support
Here’s how Hawaii’s rural hospitals (barely) stay afloat. For some, things have gotten better, but others face an even more difficult future. State Sen. Josh Green works the weekend shift at Kohala Hospital's emergency room, and it's normally quiet. That…
Education at a Crossroads
New Chaminade president wants to build on the university’s strengths and add useful programs for undergraduates and older students Lynn Babington had a career in nursing before taking on leadership roles at universities. In August, she became Chaminade University of…
Behind the Scenes of ProService Hawaii’s Takeover of Rival HiHR
On a Monday morning last summer, a roar of applause broke out in a human resources solutions office in Hawaii Kai. "It was a celebratory time," says ProService Hawaii President and CEO Ben Godsey. "This was the company that we…
Hawaiʻi is Home for Many Musicians and Kumu Hula, but Japan Pays the Bills
For many Hawaiian musicians and singers, performing is both their passion and their livelihood. So, when there's not enough places to perform locally, or the pay is too low, they have to improvise. Some work day jobs and perform at…
5 Things to Know About the Customer Connection
There's an old saying, "The customer is king." Today, the customer really is a king: well informed, very demanding, willing to change their mind at a moment's notice - and with their phones - able to act on those whims.…
aio: Small Name, Big Promise
When translated from Hawaiian, the word aio is defined as “a wave that rises and falls without breaking.” But if you ask aio Hawaii founder Duane Kurisu what it means, he’ll tell you that “aio is about discovering who we…
5 Things to Know About a Digital Media Strategy
“A digital media strategy is not something that you should be afraid of,” said Thomas Obungen, digital and…
Leaders Gather to Merge Visions For a Better Hawaii
“This is about the past, the present and ... the future,” said Chris Hause, VP of marketing, sales and business development at Kaiser Permanente. “Tonight we are united by a cause of creating a bright future for all of Hawaii.…
A Solution to Homelessness: Build a Village
A small peninsula wedged between Sand Island and Keehi Lagoon Park doesn’t look like much. The mauka section is mostly dirt and gravel, and nondescript trees and shrubs cover the makai area. But by the end of this year, it…
Putting Soul Into Your Business
Soul. It’s defined in multiple ways: the immaterial essence or actuating cause of an individual life, a person’s total self, the moral and emotional nature of human beings. Back in the old days, being told that you had soul was…
Welcome to the Real World
Today's assessments aren't just limited to bubble tests. There's also "authentic assessments," which require deeper, more innovative thinking from students. At Hakipuu Learning Center, authentic assessments take shape in the form of senior projects where each senior picks a topic,…
Pass or Fail: Food Inspection
Inside the food and restaurant inspection process, where sanitarians look for things that could make you sick Michael Okamura isn’t a police officer and doesn’t wear a uniform, but he carries his badge and ID while on the job. His…
Honoring Hawaii’s Top Real Estate Agents of 2017
For many of Hawaii’s top real estate agents, Thursday night was a time to celebrate at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. About 400 people gathered for Hawaii Business’ 11th annual Top 100 Realtors Awards. Among them was Yvonne Summerfield, from RE/MAX…
Talk Story: Paul Turnbull
In June 2013, Turnbull took the top job at Mid-Pacific, a private school in Manoa with 1,580 students enrolled in preschool through high school. He talks about technology in education, project-based learning and other innovations in teaching. Q: You most…
Setting a Hawaii Baseline for Worksite Wellness
UHA Health Insurance couldn’t find any wellness surveys focused on Hawaii employers. So, it launched its own in February and those survey results will be the focus of a May 18 meeting of the Hawaii Health at Work Alliance (HH@WA).…
5 Steps to Transform Your Company Digitally
Every industry is undergoing a digital transformation. If your company lags behind, it could get crushed by faster moving competition, or abandoned by customers who want better digital service, says Renee McKaskle, CIO for Hitachi Data Systems. [caption id="attachment_21093" align="aligncenter"…
“I Love My Job”
It’s not easy for a company to inspire employees who are engaged, willing to put in extra effort and truly trust their organization. Nominate your organization for the 2018 Best Places to Work here: www.hawaiibusiness.com/bptw2018 The…
Five Things to Know About the Trump Effect
“Change is ahead for your small business, and how do you prepare?” Jane Sawyer, Small Business Administration Hawaii district director, asked a room of more than 100 people at the YWCA Laniakea on Thursday. Jane Sawyer,…
Hawaii Business Celebrates Dynamic Group of Emerging Leaders
Hanau ka aina, hanau ke alii, hanau ke kanaka. Born is the land, born were the chiefs, born were the people. That’s the Hawaiian proverb that guided Wednesday night’s celebration of Hawaii Business’ “20 For the Next 20” class of…
Harry Weinberg – Not Your Average Billionaire
Harry Weinberg amassed a fortune in local real estate and was renowned for being a financially savvy guy, who cajoled and exasperated the top executives of companies he invested in. However, what most surprised Kit Smith, who covered him for…
Water Warning
Most people are smart enough to stay out of the ocean when signs warn about bacteria in the water. The problem is we don’t always get that warning, or get it quickly enough, because Hawaii has 303 miles of recreational…
Three Things You Can Do to Protect Hawaii’s Water
Hokulea apprentice navigator Austin Kino has turned his passion into a business by launching Holokino Hawaii, a sailing-canoe tour based out of the Kahala Hotel and Resort. The goal is a cultural experience,…
The Need for Feed
The high cost of animal feed has long hindered the meat, poultry, dairy and seafood industries in the Islands, but local efforts on several fronts aim to reduce those expenses. Shipping feed from the Mainland costs about $150 to $200…
Bring Back Our Beach!
Oahu, Kauai and Maui are outlined by nearly 170 miles of sandy beaches, but about 70 percent of them are slowly shrinking from erosion, storms and a rising sea, according to a USGS report. Hawaii has the technology and expertise…
Hawaii Loves Horses
People who work with horses in Hawaii agree on two things: It’s a tough way to make a living and a great way to make a living. Tough, because the costs of importing and feeding horses are high and the…
Storm Warning
Hawaii's current building code does not require construction that could withstand a storm as powerful as Hurricane Iniki. In fact, some new local homes are built under the assumption that wind gusts won't exceed 100 mph - much less than…
Back to the Hill
Hawaii companies will return to Washington in June to show that the Aloha State's economy is more than just tourism and the military If you want to make a splash, sometimes you have to cross the ocean. The challenges faced…
Data-Driven Farming
Inspiration: Farmers told Vincent Kimura they needed an affordable way to protect their crops and increase their yields. Once he had an idea to address that problem, he teamed with Ryan Ozawa, Isar Mostafanezhad and Justin Hedani to create the…
Buy, Sell, Or Hold?
Meredith Mawhar says she settled on her new career because she was excited by the Research Challenge, a prestigious competition for college students sponsored by the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. Mawhar is a student at UH Manoa’s Shidler College of…
Is That Really A Service Dog?
Brian Kajiyama, an instructor in UH’s Department of Special Education, who has cerebral palsy, has an undeniable need for his trained service dog, Zeus. Such dogs get years of training so they can help their human partners, and Zeus can…
Nonprofit Corner: Giving Life to Hawaiians
The kupuna who founded Hoola Lahui in 1986 gave the Kauai nonprofit its name, which means “to give life or health to the nation of Hawaii.” “They picked the name because they thought it would reflect what was needed, which…
Staying Power
Hawaii’s oldest continuously operated companies and nonprofits include many familiar names and a few lesser-known ones. Here are 11 enduring ranches, churches, schools and other organizations, each with a history that stretches back at least 165 years. Mokuaikaua Church Mokuaikaua…
Got a Complex Problem? Map It Before Trying to Solve It
Overlaid on this picture is part of the Early Childhood Action Strategy systems map. TO TRANSFORM A system as complex as energy in Hawaii, dynamic thinking is needed, Dawn Lippert says. Systems maps and systems thinking help guide that dynamic thinking.…
New Ways to Measure Prosperity
LAST YEAR, THE TOPIC was growing Hawaii’s economic pie. This year, the annual conference of the Hawaii Economic Association will focus on how to expand other facets of prosperity, such as environmental well-being, sustainability and social quality of life. Everyone…
Nutrition in a Dessert
Creators: Arnie Koss describes himself and his twin brother, Ron, as entrepreneurs. Before creating Brio, they founded Earth’s Best Baby Foods. The brothers conceived the idea of an ice cream that was both nutritional and delicious from their mother’s craving…
We May Love Opihi Too Much
Like most things, the price of opihi often depends on supply and demand – and the supply is inconsistent, especially on Oahu. Some people, such as state Sen. Clayton Hee, are worried that overharvesting is hurting the long-term sustainability of the…
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