Steve Petranik has been an editor and reporter for almost four decades and now is the editor of Hawaii Business. Before joining the magazine in 2009, he spent 18 years as an editor at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and five years at the Honolulu Advertiser. He’s reported from six countries on three continents and his stories have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? The Hawaii Biotech Inc. core business plan relies on three decades of experience in developing vaccines to protect against emerging and re-emerging diseases. Therefore, HBI has initiated development of a vaccine…
How are you coping amid COVID-19 crisis? First and foremost, the safety and good health of our construction contractors, their construction workers and the Hawai‘i community as a whole is most important during the COVID-19 crisis. Subject to specific county…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? eMortgage Hawaii was founded in 2011 with the idea to make the entire mortgage process electronic and virtual. The last step in our development process occurred in 2019 when we released…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? We had earlier pivoted to a robust computer platform with our partner, Mana Monitoring, to detect and diagnose issues, dispatch service personnel and monitor security at PV installations. Hawaii Pacific Solar…
A scientific survey of 482 people asks: What happened to your job and what are some consequences of working remotely? Hawaii Business Magazine and the research team at Anthology Marketing Group collaborated on this scientific survey of 482 Hawai‘i residents…
Robert "Bobby" Fujimoto, retired chairman and CEO of HPM Building Supply, died Thursday in Hilo, according to a news release from the company. He was 93. Fujimoto was the grandson of Kametaro Fujimoto, founder of HPM, which was established in…
A scientific survey of 482 people asks: When will the local economy recover and what do you think about the performance of government leaders? Hawaii Business Magazine and the research team at Anthology Marketing Group collaborated on this scientific survey…
Virtual Interview: Katherine Don, Executive Director, Honolulu Biennial Foundation How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? This crisis has brought our board together to reflect on our mission to empower the arts in Hawai‘i; to articulate…
Virtual Interview: Katie Chang, Executive Director, Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our first priority was to continue leadership development for the 600 students in our leadership programs in high schools…
How are you coping amid COVID-19 crisis? As a company, we have not experienced a decrease in business as most businesses still require accounting, payroll and tax services. We have business clients in various industries and the diversity has allowed…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? We went back to our roots as reporters and storytellers and shifted the focus of our content to both informational and inspirational. We launched the CoronavirusHawaii.com website that provides daily updates…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? Over HPM Building Supply’s nearly 100 years in business, the COVID-19 pandemic is unique in the way that it has disrupted every aspect of our lives and every sector in our…
Virtual Interview: Rachelle Chang, Executive Director, Samaritan Counseling Center Hawaii How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Mental health is an essential service and is more important than ever. We continue to offer mental health counseling…
Virtual Interview: Quinn Vittum, Executive Director, Re-use Hawai‘i What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? In response to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Hawai‘i, and to keep our staff and the community protected, we temporarily closed…
How are you coping amid COVID-19 crisis? HiHealthCare is coping with COVID-19 through increased communication among the agency, staff, doctors, case managers and our clients and their families. We are quick to respond to health and safety standards, mandates and…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? As a media company, we consider all of the things we cannot do any longer and develop ways in which we can replace those with new methods. For example, using remote…
Virtual Interview: Deborah Zysman, Executive Director, Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our mission is to build a unified voice for Hawaiʻi’s children. We’re building a movement to ensure all keiki…
How is the Hawai‘i construction industry coping with this unprecedented situation? Hawaii Business Magazine conducted an email interview with Erin Kirihara, senior VP of Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), who is based in the firm’s Honolulu office, where she directs all…
Virtual interview: Todd Cullison, Executive Director, Hawai‘i Nature Center How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Hawaii Nature Center is continuing its mission to foster awareness, appreciation, understanding and stewardship of Hawai‘i’s environment through interactive and…
Virtual Interview: Anna Neubauer, President and CEO, Hawaiian Humane Society How has your organization been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our core mission has always been to improve the welfare of animals and to help maintain and nurture the…
How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis? Our primary focus during this time is continuing to provide critical financial services to our members, while protecting the health and safety of both our members and employees. We’ve done this a…
How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis? We are trying to stay strong. The restaurant industry has been pretty hard hit. We have over 200 locations in 15 states, all of which have had to close their dining rooms.…
How has HANO been able to continue its core mission(s)? Our mission is to unite and strengthen the nonprofit sector as a collective force to improve the quality of life in Hawai‘i. In the context of COVID-19, we continue to…
What has been your nonprofit’s latest pivot or innovation? At IHS, our purpose has always been to get people off the streets and expedited to housing. Yet in this crisis, we need those who are unsheltered to stay put. Instead…
Lanning is the SBA’s State of Hawai‘i Small Business Person of the Year for 2020 What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? Our latest pivots have been a second…
We are continuing to publish stories researched and written before the COVID-19 crisis, such as this one. The BOSS Survey interviewed 433 business representatives statewide; the 808 Poll reached 473 adult members of the general public statewide. Respondents to…
What has been your nonprofit’s latest pivot or innovation? We are seeking to convert, in a compressed time frame, from on-site clinical visits to remote tele-health visits. We have trained 100 medical providers in four weeks. We have developed daily…
Hawaii Business Magazine has asked each of the county mayors how their government is supporting local businesses and how businesses are supporting the county. Hawai‘i Island Mayor Harry Kim was the first to respond to our emailed questions. Here are…
We are continuing to publish stories researched and written before the COVID-19 crisis, such as this one. The BOSS Survey interviewed 433 company representatives statewide; the 808 Poll reached 473 adult members of the general public statewide. These surveys…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? We are creatively trying to help our island go virtual! What has been your company’s latest opportunity or opportunities? From hosting virtual craft fairs to helping spread messages about free food…
How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis? So far, we’ve been fortunate to have things be fairly business as usual. There are many other industries that have to cope with far more than us. We have been 100% remote…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? What has been your company’s latest opportunity or opportunities? We feel fortunate to be able to continue pushing toward our mission during these challenging times and remain agile as the situation…
What has been your company's latest pivot or innovation? The foundation of our company for the last 50 years has been to “make business simple” for Hawai‘i, and we are working tirelessly to do just that in response to the…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? Zippy’s Restaurants latest pivot is our No-Contact Pickup Service, which was recently rolled out for social distancing precautions as well as the safety of our customers and staff. We piloted this…
What has been your company’s latest pivot or innovation? A big part of what we do is provide energy efficiency education and professional development training. Like many faced with adjusting delivery models during this pandemic, we have had to transition…
What has been your company's latest pivot or innovation? At Coldwell Banker we have always had one focus: helping people live exceptional lives. The COVID-19 crisis has shifted how we deliver on that promise. First and foremost is the health…
The high-tech company says it will start testing the therapy and, if successful, make it available quickly Patrick K. Sullivan, the founder and CEO of Oceanit, says the local high-tech company has developed a potential therapy for COVID-19 using an…
How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis? COVID-19 has changed the security posture for our company in many ways. First and foremost, we have had a major ramp-up in new applicants from 55 applicants per week to over 130…
AlohaTrace offers a simple way for people in Hawai‘i to help fight the spread of COVID-19. The online platform asks you up to six confidential and anonymous questions. I completed the survey in only 20 seconds because I have no…
Hawaii Business virtually interviewed Ron Vance, President of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, Hawaii Region, and Chris Hause, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer and VP of Marketing, Sales, & Business Development at Kaiser Permanente. How are you coping…
