Exploring Women’s Issues in Writing and In Person
Ahead of the 2025 Wahine Forum with 1,000 women attendees, this October issue explores workplace challenges, the 'motherhood penalty,' and celebrates trailblazing leaders.
Editor’s Note
My First 100 Days at Hawaii Business Magazine by Jennifer Ablan, Editor-in-Chief of Hawaii Business
In these first 100 days, the new editor says she has listened and met at least 100 new faces during a personal "listening tour." Good journalism doesn't just inform, it connects.
Hawaii Business Wins 19 Awards, Including 7 Top Prizes
The accolades were handed out during the Society of Professional Journalists’ annual statewide competition. Among those winning multiple awards for the magazine were Cynthia Wessendorf, Jeff Sanner and Noelle Fujii-Oride.
Editor's Note: I’m Trying to Understand My Privilege
I am among the most privileged people on the planet: a well-educated, healthy, tall, white, heterosexual male. I am not sure which of those adjectives provide me with more privilege than the others but I’m pretty sure the noun tops…
Here’s How We Decide What to Cover
We take our mission seriously: “To strengthen the local economy and help our communities thrive.” And to keep us on track with that mission, we created an editorial mantra: “Big Issues, Useful, Unique, Accessible.” Let me walk you through those…
Our Goal is Being Useful to You
One of the main goals of Hawaii Business Magazine is to be useful to our readers and one of our most useful services is Today’s Hawaii News. The email newsletter was launched in April 2017 to give you a quick…
Editor's Note: Immigration Has Upended Our Opinions
Conservative writer David Frum has stirred a hornet’s nest on the issue of immigration, and since that’s a topic that sharply divides Americans, I think it is worthwhile to dive in and provide local perspective. Frum’s article in the April…
Editor's Note: Bridging Schools and Businesses
The original question was: How can businesspeople and their companies support Hawaii’s schools? That question brought together about 20 people for a brainstorming session during the Hawaii Executive Conference in early October. The answer became the Education Bridge, a still-evolving…
Editor's Note: Is Legal Marijuana Inevitable?
A friend from California brought me a gift: two chocolate bars infused with THC, the substance in marijuana that gets you high and has medical benefits for some people. Except for the small red "THC!" flag in the bottom right…
Great Change Begins with
Heart & Soul
An outrigger canoe often serves as a powerful and apt metaphor for how Hawaii can move forward on the many challenges we face. In a canoe, a team paddles in unison toward a sometimes distant spot on the horizon. You…
Should You Vote Yes or No on Property Tax Measure?
The state Legislature is asking voters to approve a major restructuring of our tax system The state Legislature is trying to muscle into the counties’ main area of taxation, property taxes, and voters will choose Nov. 6 whether to let…
Climate Change Story is Our Most Important of the Year
If you are going to die in, say, the next 30 years and have no children or grandchildren and don’t care about the future of Hawaii, you can probably ignore our story on “The Cost of Climate Change.” For everyone…
Editor's Note: Most of My Ideas Aren’t Mine
I am often asked, “Where do you get your story ideas?” The short answer is from everywhere and everyone. I get story ideas when I walk past a construction site or a worn old building on my way to my…
Here’s What Makes America Great
I have been reading a lot of U.S. and world history as I try to understand a way out of our nation’s political divisiveness. What I reaffirmed is that capitalist democracy is the best economic and political system ever created…
No Easy Job
Kahauiki Village is a great model for helping homeless families, but duplicating it will solve only one important part of the homeless crisis The state Legislature has set aside $30 million to construct “ ohana zones” – six encampments providing temporary shelter…
Don’t Laugh: Our Political Inefficiency Is Really A Gift
When this magazine published its “Power Issue” in October 2009, we asked “Who Runs Hawaii?” The answer, of course, was complicated, but we managed to sum it up in a two-page chart listing the main players and in our lead…
Don’t Be So Certain It Can’t Happen Here
The most important book of our time offers warning signs History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes and I hear an ominous poem these days. Franklin Roosevelt committed one of the biggest sins of his 12-year presidency when he…
Do You See an Immigrant as a Colleague or Competitor, Catalyst or Criminal?
Immigration is complicated. It’s not a single issue but a thousand issues and factors mixed together, including diverse people, economics, crime, community, compassion, resentment, competition, inequality and so much more. There are two features in this issue that show the…
Even the Innocent Have a Role to Play
I feel trapped in a time machine that has taken me back three or four decades. Workplace problems like sexual harassment that should have died off long ago continue to flourish. In fact, the most persistent theme of history –…
We Work Hard to Earn Your Trust
Facebook is changing the way it evaluates millions of news sites around the world and that process will change what you see on your Facebook news feed. One key question Facebook will ask you and other users in its surveys…
Does the Rise in Women Leaders Mean Mission Accomplished?
From 3% to 22% That's a big rise in the number of female leaders. Does it mean a work in early progress or mission accomplished? Inside this issue is the 20th anniversary edition of Hawaii Business’ Black Book, a who’s…
The Opposite of Fake News
This year marks my 42nd anniversary in the news business. That includes four years working part-time in TV news while still in college but doesn’t count four earlier years delivering newspapers when I acquired my addiction to what was then…
The Cost of Silence on Hawaii Domestic Violence
If you think domestic violence does not affect you, you’re wrong. You may not be the one with the bruises, broken bones and worse, but you are paying part of the price – at your workplace and with your taxes. Twenty-one percent…
Hawaii Business Wins 8 National Awards and 14 State Awards
UPDATED 7/10/2017 ADDED 14 STATE AWARDS FROM THE 2017 SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS (SPJ) Hawaii Business is the state’s best business publication and we just won eight national awards and 14 statewide awards to prove it. The prizes were for…