Business & Industry

Variety of Tenants at Barbers Point

Since it opened in January, Podium Raceway has been packed every weekend with screaming kids and screeching tires. The presence and popularity of the indoor electric-go-kart track signals a new plan for Barbers Point, at least for the short term. Until recently,…

Ex Cons Make Great Employees

Kahala Caterers had difficulty recruiting dishwashers and general laborers for its chef staff a few years ago. “People were coming in but weren’t motivated,” company president Winston Gample says. “They all just want to be executive chefs or the next TV…

5 Steps To Email Marketing

Smart email marketing makes the difference between emails that are read and those that go straight to the trash. Damian Davila, online marketing consultant and CEO ofIdaconcpts.com, explains how to make it work: 1) Short and focused Content is crucial,…

Innovation: Kuehnle Algae Replaces Oil

Problem Hawaii spends $5 billion a year on imported oil, but biofuels that can replace oil usually require a lot of agricultural land. Solution Using its library of algae strains, Kuehnle AgroSystems says it can select, analyze and optimize algae for specific…

What Makes A Great Realtor?

If only it could be bottled – that special touch that makes a Realtor great, not just for a quarter, but year after year. In the second year of publishing the Top 100 Realtors, Hawaii Business began highlighting the leading…

Blending Old and New Marketing

Tourists have hundreds of ways to spend their money; here's how more than a dozen small companies draw them in. Well-tended tourists in skin-baring dresses and tropical shirts sip after-dinner drinks on the terrace at Duke's restaurant, while a Hawaiian…

Launching a Business

In November 2009, in the difficult aftermath of the Great Recession, Matthew Bittick left a cozy position as principal broker and sales manager at the Hawaii office of PM Realty Groupto strike out on his own. Now, as his new company, Bishop…

Innovation: Wearable Ads

Wish you could afford to run commercials promoting your company and products all day long? Now you can with Pacific Digital Signs’ sexy new Digital Nametag. “This will definitely stop people in their tracks and deliver a perfect message every…

Social Media Can Wreck Your Career

Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is the latest celebrity to be fired over social media, because of callous tweets about the devastating tsunami in Japan. In February, Rep. Chris Lee, R-N.Y., resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives after stories emerged that…

Banking Revolution

Choosing a bank used to be fairly simple: People typically selected the bank that was closest to home or work. That was before the Internet. Now there's banking everywhere through smartphones, with First Hawaiian Bank rolling out its app this…

Businesses Support Public Schools

The new track at Lahainaluna High School on Maui, along with the field and turf, have been made possible because of millions of dollars worth of in-kind and cash donations by Maui businesses and residents. Additional changes are coming in…

Hopes & Dreams

Moderator Steve Petranik, editor of Hawaii Business Yu-Hsuan “Anthia” Chen, 25  Born: Taiwan MBA: HPU, marketing Plans after graduation: Start career in Hawaii, then return to Taiwan to help father’s business Maria Goto, 26  Born: Honolulu MBA: UH, general Plans…